Luke 2:41–50

The Boy Jesus in the Temple

⁴¹Now every year his parents went to Jerusalem for the festival of the Passover.^{* 42}And when he was twelve years old, they went up as usual for the festival. ⁴³When the festival was ended and they started to return, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem, but his parents were unaware of this. ⁴⁴Assuming that he was in the group of travelers, they went a day’s journey. Then they started to look for him among their relatives and friends. ⁴⁵When they did not find him, they returned to Jerusalem to search for him. ⁴⁶After three days they found him in the temple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. ⁴⁷And all who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers.^{* 48}When his parents^t saw him they were astonished, and his mother said to him, “Child, why have you treated us like this? Your father and I have been anxiously looking for you.”^{* 49}He said to them, “Why were you searching for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?”^{u* 50}But they did not understand what he said to them.^*