2Now it happened that in those days a decree went out from Caesar^a Augustus to register all the empire. ²(This first registration took place when^* Quirinius was governor of Syria.) ³And everyone went to be registered, each one to his own town. ⁴So 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 family line of David, ⁵to be registered together with Mary, who was legally promised in marriage to him and^* was pregnant. ⁶And it happened that while they were there, the time came^b for her to give birth. ⁷And she gave birth to her firstborn son, and wrapped him in strips of cloth and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.

The Shepherds and the Angels

⁸And there were shepherds in the same region, living out of doors and keeping watch, guarding over their flock by night. ⁹And an angel of the Lord stood near them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terribly frightened.^c ¹⁰And the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring good news to you of great joy which will be for all the people: ¹¹that today a Savior, who is Christ the Lord, was born for you in the city of David. ¹²And this will be the sign for you: you will find the baby wrapped in strips of cloth and lying in a manger.” ¹³And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly army, praising God and saying,

¹⁴“Glory to God in the highest,

and on earth peace

among people with whom he is pleased!”^d

¹⁵And it happened that when the angels had departed from them into heaven, the shepherds began to say^* to one another, “Let us go now to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has revealed to us!” ¹⁶And they went hurrying and found both Mary and Joseph, and the baby who was lying in the manger. ¹⁷And when they^* saw it,^* they made known the statement that had been told to them about this child. ¹⁸And all who heard it^* were astonished concerning what had been said to them by the shepherds. ¹⁹But Mary treasured up all these words, pondering them^* in her heart. ²⁰And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all that they had heard and seen, just as it had been told to them.

Read in Logos

Luke 2:11: For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.

Footnotes

aOr “the emperor”
*Or perhaps “before”; here “when” is supplied as a component of the temporal genitive absolute participle (“was governor”)
*Here “and” is supplied in keeping with English style
bLiterally “the days were completed”
cLiterally “they were afraid with great fear”
dLiterally “of good pleasure”
*The imperfect tense has been translated as ingressive here (“began to say”)
*Here “when” is supplied as a component of the participle (“saw”) which is understood as temporal
*Here the direct object is supplied from context in the English translation
*Here the direct object is supplied from context in the English translation
*Here the direct object is supplied from context in the English translation