The Nativity

¹⁴Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin will conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.

Isaiah 7:14

²The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light. The light has shined on those who lived in the land of the shadow of death.

³You have multiplied the nation. You have increased their joy. They rejoice before you according to the joy in harvest, as men rejoice when they divide the plunder.

⁴For the yoke of his burden, and the staff of his shoulder, the rod of his oppressor, you have broken as in the day of Midian.

⁵For all the armor of the armed man in the noisy battle, and the garments rolled in blood, will be for burning, fuel for the fire.

⁶For a child is born to us. A son is given to us; and the government will be on his shoulders. His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

⁷Of the increase of his government and of peace there shall be no end, on David’s throne, and on his kingdom, to establish it, and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from that time on, even forever. The zeal of the LORD of Armies will perform this.

Isaiah 9:2-7

²But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, being small among the clans of Judah, out of you one will come out to me who is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings out are from of old, from ancient times.

Micah 5:2

²⁶Now in the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth,

²⁷to a virgin pledged to be married to a man whose name was Joseph, of David’s house. The virgin’s name was Mary.

²⁸Having come in, the angel said to her, “Rejoice, you highly favored one! The Lord is with you. Blessed are you among women!”

²⁹But when she saw him, she was greatly troubled at the saying, and considered what kind of salutation this might be.

³⁰The angel said to her, “Don’t be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.

³¹Behold, you will conceive in your womb and give birth to a son, and shall name him ‘Jesus.’

³²He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David,

³³and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever. There will be no end to his Kingdom.”

³⁴Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, seeing I am a virgin?”

³⁵The angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore also the holy one who is born from you will be called the Son of God.

³⁶Behold, Elizabeth your relative also has conceived a son in her old age; and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren.

³⁷For nothing spoken by God is impossible.”

³⁸Mary said, “Behold, the servant of the Lord; let it be done to me according to your word.” Then the angel departed from her.

Luke 1:26-38

¹⁸Now the birth of Jesus Christ was like this: After his mother, Mary, was engaged to Joseph, before they came together, she was found pregnant by the Holy Spirit.

¹⁹Joseph, her husband, being a righteous man, and not willing to make her a public example, intended to put her away secretly.

²⁰But when he thought about these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, don’t be afraid to take to yourself Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit.

²¹She shall give birth to a son. You shall name him Jesus, for it is he who shall save his people from their sins.”

²²Now all this has happened that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying,

²³“Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and shall give birth to a son. They shall call his name Immanuel,” which is, being interpreted, “God with us.”

²⁴Joseph arose from his sleep, and did as the angel of the Lord commanded him, and took his wife to himself;

²⁵and didn’t know her sexually until she had given birth to her firstborn son. He named him Jesus.

Matthew 1:18-25

¹Now in those days, a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be enrolled.

²This was the first enrollment made when Quirinius was governor of Syria.

³All went to enroll themselves, everyone to his own city.

⁴Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judea, to David’s city, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family of David,

⁵to enroll himself with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him as wife, being pregnant.

Luke 2:1-5

⁶While they were there, the day had come for her to give birth.

⁷She gave birth to her firstborn son. She wrapped him in bands of cloth and laid him in a feeding trough, because there was no room for them in the inn.

Luke 2:6-7

⁸There were shepherds in the same country staying in the field, and keeping watch by night over their flock.

⁹Behold, an angel of the Lord stood by them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified.

¹⁰The angel said to them, “Don’t be afraid, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be to all the people.

¹¹For there is born to you today, in David’s city, a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.

¹²This is the sign to you: you will find a baby wrapped in strips of cloth, lying in a feeding trough.”

¹³Suddenly, there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly army praising God and saying,

¹⁴“Glory to God in the highest, on earth peace, good will toward men.”

¹⁵When the angels went away from them into the sky, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem, now, and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.”

¹⁶They came with haste and found both Mary and Joseph, and the baby was lying in the feeding trough.

¹⁷When they saw it, they publicized widely the saying which was spoken to them about this child.

¹⁸All who heard it wondered at the things which were spoken to them by the shepherds.

¹⁹But Mary kept all these sayings, pondering them in her heart.

²⁰The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, just as it was told them.

Luke 2:8-20

²¹When eight days were fulfilled for the circumcision of the child, his name was called Jesus, which was given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb.

²²When the days of their purification according to the law of Moses were fulfilled, they brought him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord

²³(as it is written in the law of the Lord, “Every male who opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord”),

²⁴and to offer a sacrifice according to that which is said in the law of the Lord, “A pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons.”

²⁵Behold, there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon. This man was righteous and devout, looking for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was on him.

²⁶It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he should not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ.

²⁷He came in the Spirit into the temple. When the parents brought in the child, Jesus, that they might do concerning him according to the custom of the law,

²⁸then he received him into his arms and blessed God, and said,

²⁹“Now you are releasing your servant, Master, according to your word, in peace;

³⁰for my eyes have seen your salvation,

³¹which you have prepared before the face of all peoples;

³²a light for revelation to the nations, and the glory of your people Israel.”

³³Joseph and his mother were marveling at the things which were spoken concerning him.

³⁴Simeon blessed them, and said to Mary, his mother, “Behold, this child is appointed for the falling and the rising of many in Israel, and for a sign which is spoken against.

³⁵Yes, a sword will pierce through your own soul, that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.”

³⁶There was one Anna, a prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher (she was of a great age, having lived with a husband seven years from her virginity,

³⁷and she had been a widow for about eighty-four years), who didn’t depart from the temple, worshiping with fastings and petitions night and day.

³⁸Coming up at that very hour, she gave thanks to the Lord, and spoke of him to all those who were looking for redemption in Jerusalem.

³⁹When they had accomplished all things that were according to the law of the Lord, they returned into Galilee, to their own city, Nazareth.

⁴⁰The child was growing, and was becoming strong in spirit, being filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was upon him.

Luke 2:21-40

¹Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of King Herod, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem, saying,

²“Where is he who is born King of the Jews? For we saw his star in the east, and have come to worship him.”

³When King Herod heard it, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him.

⁴Gathering together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he asked them where the Christ would be born.

⁵They said to him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for this is written through the prophet,

⁶‘You Bethlehem, land of Judah, are in no way least among the princes of Judah; for out of you shall come a governor who shall shepherd my people, Israel.’”

⁷Then Herod secretly called the wise men, and learned from them exactly what time the star appeared.

⁸He sent them to Bethlehem, and said, “Go and search diligently for the young child. When you have found him, bring me word, so that I also may come and worship him.”

⁹They, having heard the king, went their way; and behold, the star, which they saw in the east, went before them until it came and stood over where the young child was.

¹⁰When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceedingly great joy.

¹¹They came into the house and saw the young child with Mary, his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him. Opening their treasures, they offered to him gifts: gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

¹²Being warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they went back to their own country another way.

Matthew 2:1-12

¹³Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, saying, “Arise and take the young child and his mother, and flee into Egypt, and stay there until I tell you, for Herod will seek the young child to destroy him.”

¹⁴He arose and took the young child and his mother by night and departed into Egypt,

¹⁵and was there until the death of Herod, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying, “Out of Egypt I called my son.”

¹⁶Then Herod, when he saw that he was mocked by the wise men, was exceedingly angry, and sent out and killed all the male children who were in Bethlehem and in all the surrounding countryside, from two years old and under, according to the exact time which he had learned from the wise men.

¹⁷Then that which was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet was fulfilled, saying,

¹⁸“A voice was heard in Ramah, lamentation, weeping and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children; she wouldn’t be comforted, because they are no more.”

¹⁹But when Herod was dead, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, saying,

²⁰“Arise and take the young child and his mother, and go into the land of Israel, for those who sought the young child’s life are dead.”

²¹He arose and took the young child and his mother, and came into the land of Israel.

²²But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning over Judea in the place of his father, Herod, he was afraid to go there. Being warned in a dream, he withdrew into the region of Galilee,

²³and came and lived in a city called Nazareth; that it might be fulfilled which was spoken through the prophets that he will be called a Nazarene.

Matthew 2:13-23

¹In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

²The same was in the beginning with God.

³All things were made through him. Without him, nothing was made that has been made.

⁴In him was life, and the life was the light of men.

⁵The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness hasn’t overcome it.

⁶There came a man sent from God, whose name was John.

⁷The same came as a witness, that he might testify about the light, that all might believe through him.

⁸He was not the light, but was sent that he might testify about the light.

⁹The true light that enlightens everyone was coming into the world.

¹⁰He was in the world, and the world was made through him, and the world didn’t recognize him.

¹¹He came to his own, and those who were his own didn’t receive him.

¹²But as many as received him, to them he gave the right to become God’s children, to those who believe in his name:

¹³who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

¹⁴The Word became flesh and lived among us. We saw his glory, such glory as of the only born Son of the Father, full of grace and truth.

John 1:1-14