Sometime during the Christmas season, if you haven't already done so, it is good to read to your family, or yourself if you are not with family this year, the scriptures regarding the incarnation of our blessed Lord among men. I have put this together in one place, using the Knox English translation of bible, with some minor editing of thees and thous.
May God bless each and everyone during this Christmas Season, and bring you a blessed, and joyful New Year...
Steve
The
First Christmas -
In
the days when Herod was king of Judea, there was a priest called
Zachary, of Abia’s turn of office, who had married a wife of
Aaron’s family, by the name of Elizabeth, they were
both well approved in God’s sight, following all the commandments
and observances of the Lord without reproach. They had no child;
Elizabeth was barren, and both were now well advanced in years. He,
then, as it happened, was doing a priest’s duty before God in the
order of his turn of office; and had been chosen by lot, as was the
custom among the priests, to go into the sanctuary of the Lord and
burn incense there, while the whole multitude of the people stood
praying outside, at the hour of sacrifice. Suddenly he saw an angel
of the Lord, standing at the right of the altar where incense was
burnt. Zachary was bewildered at the sight, and overcome with fear;
but the angel said,
“Zachary,
do not be afraid; your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth
is to bear you a son, to whom you shall give the name of John. Joy
and gladness shall be yours, and many hearts shall rejoice over his
birth, for he is to be high in the Lord’s favor; he is to drink
neither wine nor strong drink; and from the time when he is yet a
child in his mother’s womb he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost.
He shall bring back many of the sons of Israel to the Lord their God,
ushering in his advent in the spirit and power of an Elias. He shall
unite the hearts of all, the fathers with the children, and teach the
disobedient the wisdom that makes men just, preparing for the Lord a
people fit to receive him.”
And
Zachary said to the angel,
“By
what sign am I to be assured of this? I am an old man now, and my
wife is far advanced in age.”
The angel answered,
“My
name is Gabriel, and my place is in God’s presence; I have been
sent to speak with you, and to bring you this good news. Behold, you
shall be dumb, and have no power of speech, until the day when this
is accomplished; and that, because you have not believed my promise,
which shall in due time be fulfilled.”
And
now all the people were waiting for Zachary, and wondering that he
delayed in the temple so long; but he, when he came out, could speak
no word to them; whereupon they made sure that he had seen some
vision in the sanctuary. He could but stand there making signs to
them, for he remained dumb.
And so, when the days of his ministry were at an end, he went back
to his house. It was after those days that his wife Elizabeth
conceived, and for five months she lived hidden; she said,
“It
is the Lord who has done this for me, visiting me at his own time, to
take away my reproach among men.”
When
the sixth month came, God sent the angel Gabriel to a city of Galilee
called Nazareth, where a virgin lived, betrothed to a man of David’s
lineage; his name was Joseph, and the virgin’s name was Mary. Into
her presence the angel ca me, and said,
“Hail,
you who are full of grace; the Lord is with you; blessed are you
among women.”
She
was much perplexed at hearing him speak so, and cast about in her
mind, what she was to make of such a greeting. Then the angel said
to her,
“Mary,
do not be afraid; you have found favor in the sight of God. And
behold, you shall conceive in your womb, and shall bear a son, and
shall call him Jesus He shall be great, and men will know him for the
Son of the most High; the Lord God will give him the throne of his
father David, and he shall reign over the house of Jacob eternally;
his kingdom shall never have an end.”
But
Mary said to the angel,
“How
can that be, since I have no knowledge of man?”
And
the angel answered her,
“The
Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the most High will
overshadow you. Thus this holy offspring of your shall be known for
the Son of God. See, moreover, how it fares with your cousin
Elizabeth; she is old, yet she too has conceived a son; she who was
reproached with barrenness is now in her sixth month, to prove that
nothing can be impossible with God.”
And
Mary said,
“Behold
the handmaid of the Lord; let it be done to me according to your
word.”
And
with that the angel left her.
In
the days that followed, Mary rose up and went with all haste to a
town of Judea, in the hill country where Zachary lived; and there
entering in she gave Elizabeth greeting. No sooner had Elizabeth
heard Mary’s greeting, than the child leaped in her womb; and
Elizabeth herself was filled with the Holy Ghost; so that she cried
out with a loud voice,
“Blessed
are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. How have
I deserved to be thus visited by the mother of my Lord? Why, as
soon as ever the voice of your greeting sounded in my ears, the child
in my womb leaped for joy. Blessed are you for your believing; the
message that was brought to you from the Lord shall have
fulfillment.”
And Mary said,
“My
soul magnifies the Lord;
my
spirit has found joy in God, who is my Savior,
because
he has looked graciously upon the lowliness of his handmaid.
Behold,
from this day forward all generations will count me blessed;
because
he who is mighty, he whose name is holy, has wrought for me his
wonders.
He
has mercy upon those who fear him, from generation to generation,
he
has done valiantly with the strength of his arm,
driving
the proud astray in the conceit of their hearts;
he
has put down the mighty from their seat, and exalted the lowly;
he
has filled the hungry with good things, and sent the rich away
empty-handed.
He
has protected his servant Israel,
keeping
his merciful design in remembrance,
according
to the promise which he made to our forefathers,
Abraham
and his posterity for evermore.”
Mary
returned home when she had been with her about three months;
meanwhile, Elizabeth’s time had come for her child-bearing, and she
bore a son. Her neighbors and her kinsfolk, hearing how wonderfully
God had shown his mercy to her, came to rejoice with her; and now,
when they assembled on the eighth day for the circumcision of the
child, they were for calling him Zachary, because it was his father’s
name; but his mother answered,
“No,
he is to be called John.”
And
they said,
“There
is none of your kindred that is called by this name,”
and
began asking his father by signs, what name he would have him called
by. So he asked for a tablet, and wrote on it the words, His name is
John; and they were all astonished. Then, of a sudden, his lips and
his tongue were unloosed, and he broke into speech, giving praise to
God; so that fear came upon all their neighborhood, and there was
none of these happenings but was noised abroad throughout all the
hill country of Judea. All those who heard it laid it to heart; Why
then, they asked, what will this boy grow to be? And indeed the hand
of the Lord was with him.
Then
his father Zachary was filled with the Holy Ghost, and spoke in
prophecy:
“Blessed
be the Lord, the God of Israel; he has visited his people, and
wrought their redemption. He has raised up a scepter of salvation
for us among the posterity of his servant David, according to the
promise which he made by the lips of holy men that have been his
prophets from the beginning; salvation from our enemies, and from the
hand of all those who hate us. So he would carry out his merciful
design towards our fathers, by remembering his holy covenant. He had
sworn an oath to our father Abraham, that he would enable us to live
without fear in his service, delivered from the hand of our enemies,
passing all our days in holiness, and approved in his sight. And
thou, my child, will be known for a prophet of the most High, going
before the Lord, to clear his way for him; you will make known to
his people the salvation that is to release them from their sins.
Such is the merciful kindness of our God, which has bidden him come
to us, like a dawning from on high, to give light to those who live
in darkness, in the shadow of death, and to guide our feet into the
way of peace.”
And
as the child grew, his spirit achieved strength, and he lived in the
wilderness until the day when he was made manifest to Israel.
And
this was the manner of Christ’s birth. His mother Mary was espoused
to Joseph, but they had not yet come together, when she was found to
be with child, by the power of the Holy Ghost. Whereupon her husband
Joseph (for he was a right-minded man, and would not have her put to
open shame) was for sending her away in secret. But hardly had this
thought come to his mind, when an angel of the Lord appeared to him
in a dream, and said,
“Joseph,
son of David, do not be afraid to take your wife Mary to yourself,
for it is by the power of the Holy Ghost that she has conceived this
child; and she will bear a son, whom you shall call Jesus, for he is
to save his people from their sins.”
All
this was so ordained to fulfill the word which the Lord spoke by his
prophet:
“Behold,
the virgin shall be with child, and shall bear a son, and they shall
call him Emmanuel” (which means, God with us). And Joseph awoke
from sleep, and did as the angel of the Lord had bidden him, taking
his wife to himself;
It
happened that a decree went out at this time from the emperor
Augustus, enjoining that the whole world should be registered; this
register was the first one made during the time when Cyrinus was
governor of Syria. All must go and give in their names, each in his
own city; and Joseph, being of David’s clan and family, came up
from the town of Nazareth, in Galilee, to David’s city in Judea,
the city called Bethlehem, to give in his name there. With him was
his espoused wife Mary, who was then in her pregnancy; and it was
while they were still there that the time came for her delivery. She
brought forth a son,whom she wrapped in his swaddling-clothes, and
laid in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.
and
he had not known her when she bore him a son, her first-born, to whom
he gave the name Jesus.
In
the same country there were shepherds awake in the fields, keeping
night-watches over their flocks. And all at once an angel of the
Lord came and stood by them, and the glory of the Lord shone about
them, so that they were overcome with fear. But the angel said to
them,
“Do
not be afraid; behold, I bring you good news of a great rejoicing for
the whole people. This day, in the city of David, a Savior has been
born for you, the Lord Christ himself. This is the sign by which you
are to know him; you will find a child still in swaddling-clothes,
lying in a manger.”
Then,
on a sudden, a multitude of the heavenly army appeared to them at the
angel’s side, giving praise to God, and saying,
“Glory
to God in high heaven, and peace on earth to men that are God’s
friends.”
When
the angels had left them, and gone back into heaven, the shepherds
said to one another,
“Come,
let us make our way to Bethlehem, and see for ourselves this
happening which God has made known to us.”
And
so they went with all haste, and found Mary and Joseph there, with
the child lying in the manger. On seeing him, they discovered the
truth of what had been told them about this child. All those who
heard it were full of amazement at the story which the shepherds told
them; but Mary treasured up all these sayings, and reflected on them
in her heart. And the shepherds went home giving praise and glory to
God, at seeing and hearing that all was as it had been told them.
When
eight days had passed, and the boy must be circumcised, he was called
Jesus, the name which the angel had given him before ever he was
conceived in the womb. And when the time had come for purification
according to the law of Moses, they brought him up to Jerusalem, to
present him before the Lord there. It is written in God’s law,
that whatever male offspring opens the womb is to be reckoned sacred
to the Lord;and so they must offer in sacrifice for him, as God’s
law commanded, a pair of turtle-doves, or two young pigeons. At this
time there was a man named Simeon living in Jerusalem, an upright man
of careful observance, who waited patiently for comfort to be brought
to Israel. The Holy Spirit was upon him; and by the Holy Spirit it
had been revealed to him that he was not to meet death, until he had
seen that Christ whom the Lord had anointed. He now came, led by the
Spirit, into the temple; and when the child Jesus was brought in by
his parents, to perform the custom which the law enjoined concerning
him, Simeon too was able to take him in his arms. And he said,
blessing God:
“Ruler
of all, now you let your servant go in peace, according to your word;
for my own eyes have seen that saving power of your which you hast
prepared in the sight of all nations. This is the light which shall
give revelation to the Gentiles, this is the glory of your people
Israel.'”
The
father and mother of the child were still wondering over all that was
said of him, when Simeon blessed them, and said to his mother Mary,
“Behold,
this child is destined to bring about the fall of many and the rise
of many in Israel; to be a sign which men will refuse to acknowledge;
and so the thoughts of many hearts shall be made manifest; as for
your own soul, it shall have a sword to pierce it.”
There
was besides a prophetess named Anna, daughter to one Phanuel, of the
tribe of Aser (a woman greatly advanced in age, since she had lived
with a husband for seven years after her maidenhood, and had now been
eighty-four years a widow) who abode continually in the temple night
and day, serving God with fasting and prayer. She too, at that very
hour, came near to give God thanks, and spoke of the child to all
that patiently waited for the deliverance of Israel.
Jesus
was born at Bethlehem, in Judea, in the days of king Herod. And
thereupon certain wise men came out of the east to Jerusalem, who
asked,
“Where
is he that has been born, the king of the Jews? We have seen his star
out in the east, and we have come to worship him.”
King
Herod was troubled when he heard it, and all Jerusalem with him; so
that he assembled all the chief priests and learned men among the
people, and inquired of them where it was that Christ would be born.
And they told him, At Bethlehem in Judea; so it has been written by
the prophet:
“And
thou, Bethlehem, of the land of Judea, art far from the least among
the princes of Judea, for out of you will arise a leader who is to be
the shepherd of my people Israel.”
Then,
summoning the wise men in secret, Herod questioned them closely upon
the time of the star’s appearing. And he sent them on their way to
Bethlehem, saying to them,
“Go
and inquire carefully for the child, and when you have found him,
bring me back word, so that I too may come and worship him.”
They
obeyed the king, and went on their journey; and all at once the star
which they had seen in the east was there going before them, till at
last it stood still over the place where the child was. They, when
they saw the star, were glad beyond measure; and so, going into the
dwelling, they found the child there, with his mother Mary, and fell
down to worship him; and, opening their store of treasures, they
offered him gifts, of gold and frankincense and myrrh. Afterwards,
because they had received a warning in a dream forbidding them to go
back to Herod, they returned to their own country by a different way.
