The Birth of Jesus Christ

1 In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. 2 This was the first registration when¹ Quirinius was governor of Syria. 3 And all went to be registered, each to his own town. 4 And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, 5 to be registered with Mary, his ^rbetrothed,² who was with child. 6 And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth. 7 And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.³

The Shepherds and the Angels

8 And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. 9 And an ^sangel of the Lord appeared to them, and the ^tglory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear. 10 And the angel said to them, ^u“Fear not, for behold, I bring you ^vgood news of great joy that will be for all the people. 11 ^wFor ^xunto you is born this day ^yin the city of David a ^zSavior, who is Christ the Lord. 12 And this will be a ^asign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.” 13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying,

15 When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.” 16 And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger. 17 And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child. 18 And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them. 19 But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart. 20 And the shepherds returned, ^dglorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.

21 And at the end of ^eeight days, when he was circumcised, he was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb.

Jesus Presented at the Temple

22 And when the time came for their ^fpurification according to the Law of Moses, they ^gbrought him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord 23 (as it is written in the Law of the Lord, ^h“Every male who first opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord”) 24 and to offer a sacrifice according to what is said in the Law of the Lord, ⁱ“a pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons.” 25 Now there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon, and this man was righteous and devout, ^jwaiting for the ^kconsolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. 26 And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen ^lthe Lord’s Christ. 27 And he came in the Spirit into the temple, and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him according to the custom of the Law, 28 he took him up in his arms and blessed God and said,

33 And his father and his mother marveled at what was said about him. 34 And Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother, “Behold, this child is appointed for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is opposed 35 (and a sword will pierce through your own soul also), so that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed.”

36 And there was a prophetess, Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was advanced in years, having lived with her husband seven years from when she was a virgin, 37 and then as a widow until she was eighty-four.⁶ She did not depart from the temple, worshiping with ^pfasting and prayer ^qnight and day. 38 And coming up at that very hour she began to give thanks to God and to speak of him to all who were waiting for the ^rredemption of Jerusalem.

The Return to Nazareth

39 And when they had performed everything according to the Law of the Lord, they returned into Galilee, to their own town of Nazareth. 40 ^sAnd the child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom. And the ^tfavor of God was upon him.

The Boy Jesus in the Temple

41 Now his parents ^uwent to Jerusalem every year at the ^vFeast of the Passover. 42 And when he was twelve years old, they went up according to custom. 43 And when the feast was ended, as they were returning, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem. His parents did not know it, 44 but supposing him to be in the group they went a day’s journey, but then they began to search for him among their relatives and acquaintances, 45 and when they did not find him, they returned to Jerusalem, searching for him. 46 After three days they found him in the ^wtemple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. 47 And all who heard him were ^xamazed at his understanding and his answers. 48 And when his parents⁷ saw him, they were astonished. And his mother said to him, “Son, why have you treated us so? Behold, your father and I have been searching for you in great distress.” 49 And he said to them, “Why were you ^ylooking for me? Did you not know that I must be in ^zmy Father’s house?”⁸ 50 And they did ^anot understand the saying that he spoke to them. 51 And he went down with them and came to Nazareth and was submissive to them. And his mother treasured up all these things in her heart.

52 And Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature⁹ and in favor with God and man.

The Genealogy of Jesus Christ

1 The ^abook of the genealogy of Jesus ^bChrist, the ^cson of David, the ^dson of Abraham.

2 ^eAbraham was the father of Isaac, and ^fIsaac the father of Jacob, and ^gJacob the father of Judah and his brothers, 3 and ^hJudah the father of Perez and Zerah by Tamar, and Perez the father of Hezron, and Hezron the father of Ram,¹ 4 and Ram the father of Amminadab, and Amminadab the father of Nahshon, and Nahshon the father of Salmon, 5 and Salmon the father of Boaz by ⁱRahab, and Boaz the father of Obed by Ruth, and Obed the father of Jesse, 6 and ^jJesse the father of David the king.

And ^kDavid was the father of Solomon by the ^lwife of Uriah, 7 and Solomon the father of Rehoboam, and Rehoboam the father of Abijah, and Abijah the father of Asaph,² 8 and Asaph the father of Jehoshaphat, and Jehoshaphat the father of Joram, and Joram the father of Uzziah, 9 and Uzziah the father of Jotham, and Jotham the father of Ahaz, and Ahaz the father of Hezekiah, 10 and Hezekiah the father of Manasseh, and Manasseh the father of Amos,³ and Amos the father of Josiah, 11 and Josiah the father of Jechoniah and his brothers, at the time of the ^mdeportation to Babylon.

12 And after the deportation to Babylon: Jechoniah was the father of Shealtiel,⁴ and Shealtiel the father of Zerubbabel, 13 and Zerubbabel the father of Abiud, and Abiud the father of Eliakim, and Eliakim the father of Azor, 14 and Azor the father of Zadok, and Zadok the father of Achim, and Achim the father of Eliud, 15 and Eliud the father of Eleazar, and Eleazar the father of Matthan, and Matthan the father of Jacob, 16 and Jacob the father of ⁿJoseph the husband of Mary, ^oof whom Jesus was born, who is ^pcalled Christ.

17 So all the generations from Abraham to David were fourteen generations, and from David to the deportation to Babylon fourteen generations, and from the deportation to Babylon to the Christ fourteen generations.

The Birth of Jesus Christ

18 ^qNow the birth of Jesus Christ⁵ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been ^rbetrothed⁶ to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child ^sfrom the Holy Spirit. 19 And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to ^tdivorce her quietly. 20 But as he considered these things, behold, an ^uangel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will bear a son, and you shall ^vcall his name Jesus, for he will ^wsave his people from their sins.” 22 All this took place ^xto fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet:

(which means, ^cGod ^dwith us). 24 When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him: he took his wife, 25 but ^eknew her not until she had given birth to a son. And he called his name Jesus.

The Visit of the Wise Men

1 Now after Jesus was ^fborn in Bethlehem of Judea ^gin the days of Herod the king, behold, ^hwise men^{7 i}from the east came to Jerusalem, 2 saying, “Where is he who has been born ^jking of the Jews? For we saw his ^kstar when it rose⁸ and have come to worship him.” 3 When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him; 4 and assembling all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the ^lChrist was to be born. 5 They told him, ^m“In Bethlehem of Judea, for so it is written by the prophet:

7 Then Herod summoned the wise men secretly and ascertained from them what time the star had appeared. 8 And he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, “Go and search diligently for the child, and when you have found him, bring me word, that I too may come and worship him.” 9 After listening to the king, they went on their way. And behold, the star that they had seen when it rose went before them until it came to rest over the place where the child was. 10 When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. 11 And going into the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him. Then, opening their treasures, they offered him gifts, ^pgold and frankincense and myrrh. 12 And being warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they departed to their own country by another way.

The Flight to Egypt

13 Now when they had departed, behold, an ^qangel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Rise, take the child and his mother, and ^rflee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you, for Herod is about to search for the child, ^sto destroy him.” 14 And he rose and took the child and his mother by night and departed to Egypt 15 and remained there until the death of Herod. This was ^tto fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet, ^u“Out of Egypt I called ^vmy son.”

Herod Kills the Children

16 Then Herod, when he saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, became furious, and he sent and killed all the ^wmale children in Bethlehem and in all that region who were two years old or under, according to the time that he had ascertained from the wise men. 17 Then was fulfilled what was spoken by the prophet Jeremiah:

The Return to Nazareth

19 But when Herod died, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, 20 saying, “Rise, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, for ^ythose who sought the child’s life are dead.” 21 And he rose and took the child and his mother and went to the land of Israel. 22 But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there, and being warned in a dream he withdrew to the district of Galilee. 23 And he went and lived in a city called Nazareth, so that what was spoken by the prophets might be fulfilled, that he would be called a ^zNazarene.