Luke 2:9-29

⁹An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear.

¹⁰Then the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid, because I bring you the good news that will bring great joy to all the people.

¹¹Today a savior was born for you in the city of David! He is Christ the Lord!

¹²This is the sign that will be given to you: You will find a baby wrapped in strips of cloth and lying in a manger.”

¹³Suddenly there was together with the angel a great, heavenly army praising God and saying,

¹⁴“Glory to God in the highest, and may there be peace on earth among people with whom he is pleased.”

¹⁵It came about that when the angels had gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to each other, “Let us now go to Bethlehem, and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.”

¹⁶They hurried there and found Mary and Joseph, and saw the baby lying in the manger.

¹⁷After they had seen him, they made known what had been said to them about this child.

¹⁸All who heard it were amazed at what was spoken to them by the shepherds.

¹⁹But Mary kept thinking about all the things she had heard, treasuring them in her heart.

²⁰The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for everything that they had heard and seen, just as it had been spoken to them.

²¹When it was the end of the eighth day, when he was circumcised, he was named Jesus, the name he had been given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb.

²²When the required number of days for their purification had passed, according to the law of Moses, Joseph and Mary brought him up to the temple in Jerusalem to present him to the Lord.

²³As it is written in the law of the Lord, “Every male who opens the womb will be set apart to the Lord.”

²⁴So they offered a sacrifice according to what was said in the law of the Lord, “a pair of doves or two young pigeons.”

²⁵Behold, there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon, and this man was righteous and devout. He was looking for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him.

²⁶It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord's Christ.

²⁷Led by the Spirit, Simeon came into the temple. When the parents brought in the infant Jesus, to do for him according to the custom of the law,

²⁸he took him into his arms and praised God and he said,

²⁹“Now let your servant depart in peace, Lord, according to your word.