Luke 2:9-29

⁹An angel from God appeared to them. A great light ◄from the Lord/from God► shone on them and around them. So they became very afraid.

¹⁰But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid! I have come to tell you good news, which will make you very happy! This message is for everyone to hear.

¹¹The message is that today a baby has been born in Bethlehem, the town where King David grew up. That baby will eventually save you from the guilt of your sins! He is the Messiah, your Lord!

¹²I will tell you how you will recognize him (OR, how you will know that what I say is true): In Bethlehem you will find a baby who has been wrapped { whose mother has wrapped him} in strips of cloth and placed in a trough where people put food for the animals.”

¹³Suddenly a large group of angels from heaven appeared and joined the other angel. They all praised God, singing/saying,

¹⁴“May all the angels in the highest heaven praise God! And on the earth may the people to whom God has shown his favor have peace with him!”

¹⁵After the angels left them and returned to heaven, the shepherds said to each other, “Let's go to Bethlehem to see this wonderful thing that has happened, which ◄the Lord/God► has told us about!”

¹⁶So they went quickly. They found the place where Mary and Joseph were staying, and they saw the baby lying in the trough where people put food for the animals.

¹⁷Then they told Mary and Joseph and others what had been told them {what the angel had told them} about this child.

¹⁸Everyone who heard what was said by the shepherds {what the shepherds said} to them was amazed.

¹⁹But Mary did not talk to others about what the angels said; she just kept thinking very much about it.

²⁰The shepherds returned to their sheep. They kept praising God very much for all the things that they had heard and seen, because everything happened exactly like the angels told them.

²¹Seven days later, when the priests circumcised the baby, his parents named him Jesus. That was the name that they were told by the angel {the angel told them} to give him before Mary became pregnant.

²²It had been written by Moses {Moses had written} long ago in a law that God gave him, that when a woman gave birth to her first son, the parents had to take him to the Temple in Jerusalem in order that they might dedicate him ◄to the Lord/to God►. So when the time came for them to do those rituals so that God would consider them pure again, Mary and Joseph took Jesus there.

²⁴God had commanded in his laws that if the first child of a couple was a boy, his parents should offer as a sacrifice to God two turtledoves or two young pigeons. So Joseph and Mary gave the priest two birds so he could offer them.

²⁵At that time there was an old man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon. He habitually did what was pleasing to God and he obeyed God's laws. The Holy Spirit was directing him as he was waiting for God MTY to encourage the Israeli people by sending the Messiah.

²⁶It was previously revealed by the Holy Spirit {The Holy Spirit previously revealed} to him that he would see God's promised Messiah before he died.

²⁷When Joseph and Mary brought their baby Jesus to the Temple in order to perform the rituals that God had commanded in his laws, the Spirit led Simeon to enter the Temple courtyard, and revealed to him that Jesus was the Messiah.

²⁸So he took Jesus up in his arms and praised God, saying,

²⁹Lord, you promised me that I would see the one MTY who would enable you to save people of all people-groups from the guilt of their sins. He will be MET like a light that will reveal your truth to non-Jews, and he will cause people to think highly of your people, the Israeli people. Since I SYN have now seen this one that you promised to send, now let me die peacefully.