“Sovereign Lord, now let your servant die in peace,
as you have promised.
I have seen your salvation,
which you have prepared for all people.
He is a light to reveal God to the nations,
and he is the glory of your people Israel!”
When the angels had returned to heaven,
the shepherds said to each other,
“Let’s go to Bethlehem!
Let’s see this thing that has happened,
which the Lord has told us about.”
They hurried to the village and found Mary and Joseph.
And there was the baby,
lying in the manger.
…It was just as the angel had told them.
The Savior—yes, the Messiah, the Lord—
has been born today in Bethlehem,
the city of David!
That night there were shepherds staying in the fields nearby,
guarding their flocks of sheep.
Suddenly, an angel of the LORD appeared among them,
and the radiance of the LORD’s glory surrounded them.
They were terrified, but the angel reassured them.
“Don’t be afraid!” he said.
“I bring you good news that will bring great joy to all people…”
And because Joseph was a descendant of King David,
he had to go to Bethlehem in Judea,
David’s ancient home.
He traveled there from the village of Nazareth in Galilee.
He took with him Mary, his fiancee,
who was now obviously pregnant.
Because of God’s tender mercy,
the morning light from heaven is about to break upon us,
to give light to those who sit in darkness
and in the shadow of death,
and to guide us to the path of peace.
He will protect his faithful ones,
but the wicked will disappear in darkness.
No one will succeed by strength alone.
Those who fight against the LORD will be shattered…
At the sound of Mary’s greeting,
Elizabeth’s child leaped within her,
and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit.
…all the earth is the LORD’s,
and he has set the world in order.
