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Matthew 1:18-25
18 This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about: His mother Mary was engaged to be married to Joseph, but before they were married, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit.
19 Now Joseph her husband was a righteous man, so wanting to spare her any public shame, he decided to divorce her quietly. 20 However, after he had decided on this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said,
"Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to marry Mary, because she has conceived by the Holy Spirit. 21 She will give birth to a son, and you must name him Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins. 22 All this has happened to fulfil what the Lord had said through the prophet:
23 ‘The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel’ which means, ‘God with us.’”
24 When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. 25 But he did not have sex with her until her son was born; and he gave him the name Jesus.
Matthew 2:1-6
1 When Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the reign of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem 2 and asked, ‘Where is the newborn king of the Jews? We saw his star rise in the east and have come in honour of him.’ 3 When King Herod heard this he was perturbed, as were all in Jerusalem. 4 He called together all the people's chief priests and teachers of the law, and then asked them where the Messiah was to be born. 5 ‘In Bethlehem in Judea,’ they replied, ‘for this is what was written by the prophet:
6 ‘”But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are certainly not the least among the rulers of Judah; for from you will come a ruler who will be the shepherd of my people Israel.”’
Matthew 2:7-12
7 Then Herod called the Magi secretly, and found out from them exactly when the star appeared. 8 He sent them on to Bethlehem and said,
‘Go and search carefully for the child. As soon as you find him, let me know, so that I too may go and honour him.’
9 When they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they saw in the east went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was.
10 When they saw the star, they were filled with joy. 11 They came into the house and saw the child with his mother Mary, so they bowed down and worshipped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold and of incense and of myrrh.
12 But they were warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, and they returned to their country by another route.
Matthew 2:13-18
13 When they left, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said,
‘Get up, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you; for Herod will to seek to kill the child.’
14 Joseph then got up, took the child and his mother during the night, and left for Egypt, 15 remaining there until the death of Herod. This fulfilled what the Lord had spoken through the prophet,
‘I called my Son out of Egypt.’
16 When Herod realised that he had been tricked by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the children of two years old and under in the vicinity of Bethlehem, according to the time he had learned from the Magi. 17 The prophecy of Jeremiah was then fulfilled:
18 ‘A voice was heard in Ramah, of weeping and great grief; Rachel mourning for her children. She refused to be consoled, because they were dead.’
Mark 1:1-8
1 The beginning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. 2 As it is written by the prophet Isaiah: ‘Look, I am sending my messenger ahead of You, who will prepare Your way; 3 a voice of one crying out in the desert,
“Prepare the way of the Lord, make His paths straight,”
4 So it was that John the Baptist appeared in the desert, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. 5 People from all the Judean countryside and from all Jerusalem went out to him; they were baptised by him in the river Jordan when they confessed their sins. 6 John wore clothes of camel hair and a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. 7 This is what he preached:
‘One who is far more powerful than me is coming after me. I am not worthy to stoop and untie the straps of his sandals. 8 I have baptised you with water, but He will baptise you with the Holy Spirit.’
Luke 1:26-38
26 In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, 27 to a virgin pledged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin's name was Mary.
28 Gabriel came to her and said,
‘Greetings, highly favoured one! The Lord is with you.’
29 But she was deeply troubled by his words and questioned what sort of greeting this might be. 30 The angel said to her,
‘Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favour with God. 31 For you will conceive in your womb and give birth to a son, and you will name him Jesus. 32 He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give him the throne of his ancestor David. 33 He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.’
34 Mary said to the angel,
‘How can this be, since I have not had sex with a man?’
35 The angel said to her,
‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; for this reason the child to be born will be holy; he will be called Son of God. 36 Look now, your relative Elizabeth has also conceived a son in her old age; and this is the sixth month for her who was said to be barren. 37 For nothing will be impossible with God.’
38 Mary replied,
‘Here am I, the Lord’s servant, let it happen according to your word.’
Then the angel left her.
Luke 1:39-45
39 At this time, Mary set out and travelled with haste to a Judean town in the hill country, 40 and arrived at the house of Zachariah where she greeted Elizabeth. 41 When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the baby leaped within her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit 42 and cried out with a loud voice,
‘You are the most blessed of women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. 43 Why has this happened to me, that the mother of my Lord comes to me? 44 For as soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped with joy! 45 Blessed is she who believes that what has been told her by the Lord will come true!’
Luke 1:46-56
46 And Mary said,
‘My soul gives the Lord yet higher praise,
47 and my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour,
48 For He has respected the low standing
of His servant,
So from now on,
all generations will call me blessed!
49 The Mighty One has done great things for me,
and holy is His name;
50 His mercy is for those who fear Him
from generation to generation.
51 He has done great deeds by His might;
He has scattered the arrogant
in the thoughts of their hearts.
52 He has pulled the powerful down
from their thrones,
and lifted up the lowly;
53 He has filled the hungry with good things,
and sent the rich away empty.
54 He has given help to His servant Israel,
Having kept His mercy in mind:
55 As He promised to our forefathers,
to Abraham and to his descendants,
forever.’
56 Then Mary remained with Elizabeth for about three months, and returned to her home.
Luke 2:1-7
1 So it was that in those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the whole world. 2 This was the first census taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria, 3 and all went to their home towns for the census.
4 Joseph also went from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to the city of David called Bethlehem, because he belonged to the house and family line of David. 5 He went to be enrolled with Mary, to whom he was pledged in marriage and who was expecting a baby. 6 While they were there, the time came for her to have the child, 7 and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloth bands, and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.
Luke 2:8-14
8 There were shepherds out in the fields of that neighbourhood, keeping watch over their flock by night. 9 An angel of the Lord came and stood by them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with fear. 10 But the angel said to them,
‘Do not be afraid; look, I bring you good news of great joy for all the people: 11 for today in the city of David, a Saviour has been born for you, and He is the Messiah, the Lord. 12 This will be a sign for you: you will find a child wrapped in cloth bands and lying in a manger.’
13 Suddenly there was a great company of the heavenly host together with the angel, praising God and saying,
14 ‘Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth, peace amongst those He loves!’
Luke 2:15-20
15 When the angels left and went from there to heaven, the shepherds said to one another,
‘Let us go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.’
16 So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph with the baby who was lying in the manger. 17 When they saw this, they spread the word about what they had been told about this child; 18 and all who heard it were amazed at what was said to them by the shepherds. 19 But Mary treasured all these things and thought about them in her heart. 20 The shepherds returned, giving glory to God and praising Him for all they had heard and seen which was just as they had been told.
John 1:1-5
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through Him all things were made, and without Him nothing was made. What was made 4 in Him was life, and that life was the light of all people. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness cannot overcome it.
John 1:6-9
6 There was a man who was sent from God, and his name was John. 7 He came as a witness to testify about the light, so that through him, all people might believe. 8 He himself was not the light, but he came as a witness to the light. 9 The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world.
John 1:10-14
10 He was in the world, and through Him the world came into being; yet the world did not know Him. 11 He came to what was His own, and His own people did not accept Him. 12 However, to those who did receive Him and believed in His name, He gave power to become children of God, 13 which means those who were born not of natural descent or human will, but born of God. 14 And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen His glory, the glory which comes uniquely from the Father, full of grace and truth.
John 1:15-18
15 John testified about Him and preached;
‘This was He of whom I said,
“He who comes after me is more important than me because He was before me.”’
16 From His fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. 17 For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 18 No one has ever seen God. It is His only Son, who is close to the Father's heart, who has made him known.
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