2At that time, Augustus Caesar sent an order that all people in the countries under Roman rule must list their names in a register. ²This was the first registration; ⁿ it was taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria. ³And all went to their own towns to be registered.

⁴So Joseph left Nazareth, a town in Galilee, and went to the town of Bethlehem in Judea, known as the town of David. Joseph went there because he was from the family of David. ⁵Joseph registered with Mary, to whom he was engaged ⁿ and who was now pregnant. ⁶While they were in Bethlehem, the time came for Mary to have the baby, ⁷and she gave birth to her first son. Because there were no rooms left in the inn, she wrapped the baby with pieces of cloth and laid him in a feeding trough.

Shepherds Hear About Jesus

⁸That night, some shepherds were in the fields nearby watching their sheep. ⁹Then an angel of the Lord stood before them. The glory of the Lord was shining around them, and they became very frightened. ¹⁰The angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I am bringing you good news that will be a great joy to all the people. ¹¹Today your Savior was born in the town of David. He is Christ, the Lord. ¹²This is how you will know him: You will find a baby wrapped in pieces of cloth and lying in a feeding box.”

¹³Then a very large group of angels from heaven joined the first angel, praising God and saying:

¹⁴“Give glory to God in heaven,

and on earth let there be peace among the people who please God.” ⁿ

¹⁵When the angels left them and went back to heaven, the shepherds said to each other, “Let’s go to Bethlehem. Let’s see this thing that has happened which the Lord has told us about.”

¹⁶So the shepherds went quickly and found Mary and Joseph and the baby, who was lying in a feeding trough. ¹⁷When they had seen him, they told what the angels had said about this child. ¹⁸Everyone was amazed at what the shepherds said to them. ¹⁹But Mary treasured these things and continued to think about them. ²⁰Then the shepherds went back to their sheep, praising God and thanking him for everything they had seen and heard. It had been just as the angel had told 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

nregistration Census. A counting of all the people and the things they own.
nengaged For the Jewish people, an engagement was a lasting agreement. It could only be broken by divorce.
nand … God.” Some Greek copies read “and on earth let there be peace and goodwill among people.”