Luke 2–3

The Birth of Jesus Christ

2In those days ^la decree went out from ^mCaesar Augustus that all the world should be ⁿregistered. ²This was the first ⁿregistration when¹ Quirinius ^owas governor of Syria. ³And all went to be registered, each to his own town. ⁴And Joseph also went up ^pfrom Galilee, from the town of ^qNazareth, to Judea, to ^rthe city of David, which is called ^sBethlehem, ^tbecause he was of the house and lineage of David, ⁵to be registered with Mary, his betrothed,² who was with child. ⁶And ^twhile they were there, the time came for her to give birth. ⁷And she gave birth to her firstborn son and ^uwrapped him in swaddling cloths and ^vlaid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in ^wthe inn.³

The Shepherds and the Angels

⁸And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. ⁹And an angel of the Lord ^xappeared to them, and ^ythe glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear. ¹⁰And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all ^zthe people. ¹¹For ^aunto you is born this day in ^bthe city of David ^ca Savior, who is ^dChrist ^ethe Lord. ¹²And ^fthis will be a sign for you: you will find a baby ^gwrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.” ¹³And suddenly there was with the angel ^ha multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying,

¹⁴ⁱ“Glory to God ^jin the highest,

^jand on earth ^kpeace ^lamong those with whom he is pleased!”⁴

¹⁵When 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.” ¹⁶And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby ^mlying in a manger. ¹⁷And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child. ¹⁸And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them. ¹⁹But ⁿMary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart. ²⁰And the shepherds returned, ^oglorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.

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

Jesus Presented at the Temple

²²And ^rwhen the time came for their purification according to the Law of Moses, they brought him up to Jerusalem ^sto present him to the Lord ²³(as it is written in ^tthe Law of the Lord, ^u“Every male who first opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord”) ²⁴and to offer a sacrifice according to what is said in ^tthe Law of the Lord, ^v“a pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons.” ²⁵Now there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon, and this man was ^wrighteous and ^xdevout, ^ywaiting for ^zthe consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. ²⁶And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not ^asee death before he had seen ^bthe Lord’s Christ. ²⁷And he came in the Spirit into the temple, and when ^cthe parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him according to the custom of the Law, ²⁸he took him up in his arms and ^dblessed God and said,

²⁹“Lord, now you are letting your servant⁵ depart ^ein peace,

^faccording to your word;

³⁰for ^gmy eyes have seen your ^hsalvation

³¹ⁱthat you have prepared in the presence of all peoples,

^32ja light for revelation to the Gentiles,

and ^kfor glory to ^lyour people Israel.”

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

³⁶And there was ^pa 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, ³⁷and then as a widow until she was eighty-four.⁶ She did not depart from the temple, ^qworshiping with ^rfasting and prayer night and day. ³⁸And coming up at that very hour she began to give thanks to God and to speak of him to all who were ^swaiting for the redemption of Jerusalem.

The Return to Nazareth

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

The Boy Jesus in the Temple

⁴¹Now ^whis parents went ^xto Jerusalem every year at ^ythe Feast of the Passover. ⁴²And when he was twelve years old, ^zthey went up according to custom. ⁴³And when the feast ^awas ended, as they were returning, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem. ^wHis parents did not know it, ⁴⁴but 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, ⁴⁵and when they did not find him, they returned to Jerusalem, searching for him. ⁴⁶After three days they found him in the temple, ^bsitting among ^cthe teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. ⁴⁷And all who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers. ⁴⁸And when his parents⁷ saw him, they were astonished. And his mother said to him, “Son, why have you treated us so? Behold, ^dyour father and I have been searching for you in great distress.” ⁴⁹And he said to them, “Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that ^eI must be in ^fmy Father’s house?”^{8 50}And ^gthey did not understand the saying that he spoke to them. ⁵¹And he went down with them and came to Nazareth and was submissive to them. And ^hhis mother treasured up all these things in her heart.

⁵²And Jesus ⁱincreased in wisdom and in stature⁹ and in ⁱfavor with God and man.

John the Baptist Prepares the Way

3In the fifteenth year of the reign of ^jTiberius Caesar, ^kPontius Pilate ^lbeing governor of Judea, and ^mHerod being tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip tetrarch of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene, ²during ⁿthe high priesthood of Annas and ^oCaiaphas, ^pthe word of God came to ^qJohn the son of Zechariah in ^rthe wilderness. ³And he went into all the region around the Jordan, proclaiming ^sa baptism of repentance ^tfor the forgiveness of sins. ⁴As it is written in ^uthe book of the words of Isaiah the prophet,

^v“The voice of one crying in the wilderness:

^w‘Prepare the way of the Lord,¹

make his paths straight.

^5xEvery valley shall be filled,

^yand every mountain and hill shall be made low,

^zand the crooked shall become straight,

and the rough places shall become level ways,

^6aand all flesh shall see ^bthe salvation of God.’ ”

⁷He said therefore to the crowds that came out to be baptized by him, ^c“You brood of ^dvipers! Who warned you to flee from ^ethe wrath to come? ⁸Bear fruits ^fin keeping with repentance. And do not begin to say to yourselves, ^g‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you, God is able from ^hthese stones to raise up children for Abraham. ⁹Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. ⁱEvery tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.”

¹⁰And the crowds asked him, ^j“What then shall we do?” ¹¹And he answered them, ^k“Whoever has two tunics² is to share with him who has none, and whoever has food is to do likewise.” ^12lTax collectors also came to be baptized and said to him, “Teacher, ^jwhat shall we do?” ¹³And he said to them, ^m“Collect no more than you are authorized to do.” ¹⁴Soldiers also asked him, “And we, ^jwhat shall we do?” And he said to them, ^m“Do not extort money from anyone by threats or by false accusation, and be content with your ⁿwages.”

¹⁵As the people were in expectation, and all were questioning in their hearts concerning John, ^owhether he might be ^pthe Christ, ^16qJohn answered them all, saying, “I baptize you with water, but ^rhe who is mightier than I is coming, ^sthe strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you ^twith the Holy Spirit and ^ufire. ¹⁷His ^vwinnowing fork is in his hand, to clear his threshing floor and to ^wgather the wheat into his barn, ^xbut the chaff he will burn with ^yunquenchable fire.”

¹⁸So ^zwith many other exhortations he preached good news to the people. ¹⁹But ^aHerod the tetrarch, who had been reproved by him for Herodias, his brother’s wife, and for all the evil things that Herod had done, ²⁰added this to them all, that ^bhe locked up John in prison.

²¹Now when all the people were baptized, and when ^cJesus also had been baptized and was praying, ^dthe heavens were opened, ²²and ^ethe Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form, like a dove; and ^fa voice came from heaven, ^g“You are my beloved Son;³ with you I am well pleased.”⁴

The Genealogy of Jesus Christ

²³Jesus, ^hwhen he began his ministry, was about ⁱthirty years of age, being ^jthe son (as was supposed) of Joseph, the son of Heli, ²⁴the son of Matthat, the son of Levi, the son of Melchi, the son of Jannai, the son of Joseph, ²⁵the son of Mattathias, the son of Amos, the son of Nahum, the son of Esli, the son of Naggai, ²⁶the son of Maath, the son of Mattathias, the son of Semein, the son of Josech, the son of Joda, ²⁷the son of Joanan, the son of Rhesa, ^kthe son of Zerubbabel, the son ^lof Shealtiel,⁵ the son of Neri, ²⁸the son of Melchi, the son of Addi, the son of Cosam, the son of Elmadam, the son of Er, ²⁹the son of Joshua, the son of Eliezer, the son of Jorim, the son of Matthat, the son of Levi, ³⁰the son of Simeon, the son of Judah, the son of Joseph, the son of Jonam, the son of Eliakim, ³¹the son of Melea, the son of Menna, the son of Mattatha, the son of ^mNathan, the son of David, ³²ⁿthe son of Jesse, the son of Obed, the son of Boaz, the son of Sala, the son of Nahshon, ³³the son of Amminadab, the son of Admin, the son of Arni, the son of Hezron, the son of…