Luke 2:1-16

The Birth of Jesus Christ

1 In those days ¹a decree went out from ²Caesar Augustus that all the world should be ³registered.

2 This was the first ⁴registration when^[a] Quirinius ⁵was governor of Syria.

3 And all went to be registered, each to his own town.

4 And Joseph also went up ⁶from Galilee, from the town of ⁷Nazareth, to Judea, to ⁸the city of David, which is called ⁹Bethlehem, ¹⁰because he was of the house and lineage of David,

5 to be registered with Mary, his betrothed,^[b] who was with child.

6 And ¹¹while they were there, the time came for her to give birth.

7 And she gave birth to her firstborn son and ¹²wrapped him in swaddling cloths and ¹³laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in ¹⁴the inn.

The Shepherds and the Angels

8 And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.

9 And an angel of the Lord ¹⁵appeared to them, and ¹⁶the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with fear.

10 And the angel said to them, "Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all ¹⁷the people.

11 For ¹⁸unto you is born this day in ¹⁹the city of David ²⁰a Savior, who is ²¹Christ ²²the Lord.

12 And ²³this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby ²⁴wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger."

13 And suddenly there was with the angel ²⁵a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying,

14 ²⁶"Glory to God ²⁷in the highest, ²⁸and on earth ²⁹peace ³⁰among those with whom he is pleased!"^[c]

15 When 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."

16 And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby ³¹lying in a manger.