Continuation of the chapter 1 ; The birth of Lord Jesus.

Note : you can listen “Joy to the world” as you read the part of Lord Jesus’s birth.

And Mary stayed with her cousin Elisabeth for about three months and returned to her home.

When it was time for Elisabeth to have her baby, she gave birth to a cute son. Her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown her great mercy, and they shared her joy.

On the eighth day they came to circumsice the child, and they were going to name him after his father’s name, but then Elisabeth took the floor and said ; “No ! He is to be called John.”

“But,” they said to her, “there is no one among your relatives who has that name.” And they looked upon the father and made signs with their hands to find out what he would like to name the little child. Zechariah then asked for a writing tablet, and to everyone’s astonishment he wrote,

“His name is John.” and miraculously his mouth opened as he began to speak, praising the Living God. All the neighbors looked at each other as they were filled with awe, and throughtout the hill country of Judea people were talking about all these things. Everyone who heard this, wondered about it, asking “What then is this cute child going to be ?”

For the Hand of the Lord was with him.

And Zechariah, filled with Holy Spirit, prophesied :

Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel,

because He has come to His people and redeemed them.

He has raised up a horn of salvation for us

in the house of his servant David,

(as He said said through His holy prophets of long ago)

salvation from our enemies

and from the hand of all who hate us-

to show mercy to our ancestors

and to remember His holy convenant,

the oath he swore to our father Abraham :

to rescue us from the hand of our enemies,

and to enable us to serve Him without fear

in holiness and righteousness before Him all our days.

He looked at his baby, tenderly and said.

And you, my child, will be called a prophet of the Most High,

for you will go on before the Lord to prepare the way for Him,

to give His people the knowledge of salvation

through the forgiveness of their sins,

because of the tender mercy of our God,

by which the rising sun will come to us from heaven

to shine on those who living in the darkness

and in the shadow of death,

to guide our feet into the path of peace.”

And the little child grew and became strong in spirit and he lived in the wilderness until he appeared publicly to Israel.

...….....

When Joseph learned about Mary being pregnant, he was heartbroken and first thought before deciding, in his mind, to secretly divorce with her.

And that night, in his dream, Joseph saw an angel of the Lord appearing to him. The angel said to him, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her, is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are going to give Him the name of Jesus, because He will save His people from their sins.”

...All this took place to fulfill what the Lord has said through the prophet. The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call Him Immanuel” (which meant God is with us). ...

And the next day, Joseph woke up and did as the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife but they did not consummate their marriage because of the Child she carried.

...… ...

...In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census* should be taken of the entire Roman world and everyone went to their own town to register....

So Joseph and Mary also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because Joseph belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with his wife Mary who was expecting a child.

And while they were there, the time came for the baby to be born. So Joseph looked and searched everywhere in Bethlehem for a guest room for them but since none was available for them, Mary finally gave birth to her child in a cave. She wrapped Him in cloths and placed Him in a manger. And Joseph gave to the baby the name of Jesus as the angel of the Lord has commanded him to.

And in the fields nearby, were living some shepherds. They were watching over their flock at night until an angel of the Lord appeared to them as the glory of God shone around them, the shepherds were terrified. But the angel said to them,

...“Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you ; He is the Messiah, the Lord.” He kept speaking “This will be a sign to you: you will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”...

Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising the Living and Loving God, saying :

“Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those in whom His favor rests.”

And after the angels had left and gone into heaven, the shepherds glanced at each other surprised by what happened until one of them exclaimed joyously “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”

So they hurried off and found in no time the couple and the Baby, who was lying in the manger. When they had seen Him, the shepherds spread the word happily concerning what had been told them about this Child and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them.

And the shepherds returned home, after they’ve finished announcing, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told. And on the eighth day, the sweet Baby was circumcised.

Census : a count for official purposes, especially one to count the number of people living in a country and to collect information about them.

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