Luke 2
2
Chapter 2
Jesus is born in Bethlehem
1At that time, Caesar Augustus made a law. #2:1 ‘Caesar’ was the most important Roman ruler. He lived in Rome, the capital city. It was an important city in the world at the time of Jesus. It was a powerful city and it had a strong army. The Romans ruled many other countries and they made the people obey the laws of Rome. They made them pay taxes to Rome. He told his men to count everyone who lived in the countries that he ruled. 2This was the first time that the Romans had made a list of everyone's names. Quirinius was the Roman ruler of Syria when it happened.
3Everyone went to his own home town for the Romans to count them. 4So Joseph went to his home town, Bethlehem. He was living in the town of Nazareth, in Galilee. Bethlehem was in Judea. King David had been born there, so Bethlehem was called the town of David. Joseph belonged to the family of David. That is why he went to Bethlehem.
5Joseph took Mary with him so that the Romans could count them. She went because she had promised to marry him. She was pregnant.
6While they were in Bethlehem, the time came for her baby to be born. 7This was her first baby, and it was a boy. She put cloths around him. Then she put him in an animal's food box. She did this because the rooms for visitors were full of people.
An angel sends some shepherds to see the baby Jesus
8That night some shepherds were living out in the fields near Bethlehem. They were keeping their sheep safe. 9Then an angel of the Lord appeared to them. A bright light from God shone all around them. That frightened them very much. 10The angel said to them, ‘Do not be afraid. Listen! I bring you good news. This news will make everyone very happy. 11Something happened today in the town of David. Someone special was born. He is the one who will save you. He is the Messiah. #2:11 Messiah is a Hebrew word for a king that God has chosen to rule his people. In the Greek language the word is ‘Christ.’ God promised his people that the Messiah would come to rescue them, and to be their king. He is the Lord. 12I will tell you how you will know this baby. You will find him with cloths around him. He is lying in an animal's food box.’
13At that moment, a great crowd of angels appeared. They were praising God. They said:
14‘God is great! He lives in the highest place above.
He will bless the people on earth who please him.
They will have peace in their minds.’
15After that, the angels went away and returned to heaven. Then the shepherds said to each other, ‘We should leave the sheep and go to Bethlehem immediately! The Lord God has sent his angels to tell us what has happened. We want to see this baby.’
16So the shepherds went quickly to Bethlehem. When they got there, they found Mary and Joseph with the baby. The baby really was lying in a food box. 17After they had seen the baby, they told everybody about him. They told them what the angel had said to them about him. 18Many people heard what the shepherds said. The people were very surprised. 19Mary remembered everything that the shepherds had said. She thought about it all for a long time. 20The shepherds then went back to their sheep. As they went they praised God. They said, ‘How great you are! How good you are! Everything that the angel told us was true! We have heard good news. We have seen very special things!’
Mary and Joseph take Jesus to the temple
21When the baby was eight days old, it was time for the priest to circumcise him. His parents gave him the name ‘Jesus’. The angel had told Mary that they must give him that name. He told her that before she had the baby inside her.
22Long ago, God gave Moses rules for his people to obey. #2:22 Moses was a great leader of the Israelites, who gave God's laws to the people. One rule told people how to become clean after a baby was born. The time came for Mary and Joseph to do this. So they took the baby Jesus to the temple in Jerusalem to show him to the Lord.
23This is the rule which the Lord God gave to his people: ‘The first male baby born to a woman belongs to me. So you must bring him to me. 24When you do this, also bring two doves or two young pigeons as a sacrifice.’ So that is what Mary and Joseph did. #2:24 The Jews had to obey this rule 40 days after a boy was born. See Leviticus 12:2-8.
Simeon speaks about Jesus
25At this time, a man called Simeon was living in Jerusalem. He was a good man and he obeyed God. He had waited a long time to see the special person who would save Israel's people. The Holy Spirit was with him. 26The Holy Spirit had told him, ‘You will not die yet. You know that the Lord God has promised to send his Messiah. You will see him before you die.’
27Now the day had come. The Holy Spirit told Simeon that he should go to the temple. Mary and Joseph were bringing the baby Jesus to the temple, as God's rule said. 28Simeon went to them. He took Jesus and he held him in his arms. Then he thanked God. He said:
29‘Master, I am your servant.
You have done what you promised to me.
Now I can die with peace in my mind.
30I have seen the person that you have sent to save your people.
31You have sent him to the world
and people everywhere will know about him.
32He will bring light to people so that they can know you.
He will show you to people of other nations.
He will bring honour to your own people, the Israelites.’
33That is what Simeon said about Jesus. His message surprised Mary and Joseph very much.
34Then Simeon asked God to be good and kind to Mary and to Joseph. After that, he spoke to Mary, the mother of Jesus. He said to her, ‘God has chosen this baby. He will cause many people in Israel to turn away from God. But many of them will turn to God because of him. He will be like a sign that points to God. But many people will speak against him. 35This will show their secret thoughts about God. It will make you very sad, too. It will seem as if a sharp knife is cutting into you.’
Anna thanks God for Jesus
36A very old woman called Anna was also there in the temple. She spoke messages that the Holy Spirit gave to her. Anna was the daughter of Phanuel, who belonged to the tribe of Asher. #2:36 Asher was one of the sons of Jacob. He was the ancestor of the Israelite tribe called Asher. See Genesis 35:23-26. She had lived with her husband for seven years and then he had died. 37After that, she had lived alone until she was 84 years old. Now she never left the temple. She stayed there day and night to worship God. She fasted and she prayed.
38At that moment, Anna came to where Mary and Joseph were standing in the temple. When she saw the baby, she thanked God for him. Then she began to speak about him to other people there. Many people were waiting for God to make Jerusalem free. These were the people that she spoke to about the child, Jesus.
39When Mary and Joseph had done everything that God's rules said, they returned home to the town of Nazareth in Galilee. 40There the child grew up. God was kind to him and he became strong. He learned many things and he could understand them well.
Jesus talks with teachers in the temple as a young boy
41Every year, Mary and Joseph went to Jerusalem for the Passover festival. #2:41 Passover is a time when the Israelites remembered that God had rescued them from Egypt. They had been slaves in Egypt. Every year, the Jews continued to remember this. We can read about the first Passover in Exodus 12.
42When Jesus was 12 years old, his parents took him with them to Jerusalem. They went as usual for the festival. 43When the week finished, Mary and Joseph left Jerusalem to return home. But Jesus stayed behind and his parents did not know this. 44They thought that he was with their group on the way home. They travelled for a whole day. Then they began to look for him among their family and friends.
45They could not find him, so they went back to Jerusalem. They looked for him there. 46After three days, they found him in the temple. He was sitting there among the teachers. He was listening to what they were saying. He was also asking them questions. 47Everyone who heard Jesus was very surprised. He understood so many things and he could answer difficult questions. 48When Jesus' parents saw him there, they were also very surprised. His mother said to him, ‘My son, why have you done this to us? Your father and I have looked everywhere for you. We have had a lot of trouble in our mind.’
49Jesus answered them, ‘You should not have needed to look for me. I must be in the place where my Father wants me to be. You should have known that.’ 50But his parents did not understand what he was saying to them.
51Then Jesus returned to Nazareth with them. He did what they wanted. His mother, Mary, was careful to remember all the special things that had happened. She thought about them a lot. 52Jesus grew up into a man. He became strong and he could understand more and more things. God was pleased with him, and people were pleased with him too.
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Luke 2: EASY
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