Jesus Is Born
1In those days, Caesar Augustus made a law. It required that a list be made of everyone in the whole Roman world. 2It was the first time a list was made of the people while Quirinius was governor of Syria. 3Everyone went to their own town to be listed.
4So Joseph went also. He went from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea. That is where Bethlehem, the town of David, was. Joseph went there because he belonged to the family line of David. 5He went there with Mary to be listed. Mary was engaged to him. She was expecting a baby. 6While Joseph and Mary were there, the time came for the child to be born. 7She gave birth to her first baby. It was a boy. She wrapped him in large strips of cloth. Then she placed him in a manger. That’s because there was no guest room where they could stay.
8There were shepherds living out in the fields nearby. It was night, and they were taking care of their sheep. 9An angel of the Lord appeared to them. And the glory of the Lord shone around them. They were terrified. 10But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news. It will bring great joy for all the people. 11Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you. He is the Messiah, the Lord. 12Here is how you will know I am telling you the truth. You will find a baby wrapped in strips of cloth and lying in a manger.”
13Suddenly a large group of angels from heaven also appeared. They were praising God. They said,
14“May glory be given to God in the highest heaven!
And may peace be given to those he is pleased with on earth!”
15The angels left and went into heaven. Then the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem. Let’s see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”
16So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph and the baby. The baby was lying in the manger. 17After the shepherds had seen him, they told everyone. They reported what the angel had said about this child. 18All who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. 19But Mary kept all these things like a secret treasure in her heart. She thought about them over and over. 20The shepherds returned. They gave glory and praise to God. Everything they had seen and heard was just as they had been told.
21When the child was eight days old, he was circumcised. At the same time he was named Jesus. This was the name the angel had given him before his mother became pregnant.
Joseph and Mary Take Jesus to the Temple
22The time came for making Mary “clean” as required by the Law of Moses. So Joseph and Mary took Jesus to Jerusalem. There they presented him to the Lord. 23In the Law of the Lord it says, “The first boy born in every family must be set apart for the Lord.” (Exodus 13:2,12) 24They also offered a sacrifice. They did it in keeping with the Law, which says, “a pair of doves or two young pigeons.” (Leviticus 12:8)
25In Jerusalem there was a man named Simeon. He was a good and godly man. He was waiting for God’s promise to Israel to come true. The Holy Spirit was with him. 26The Spirit had told Simeon that he would not die before he had seen the Lord’s Messiah. 27The Spirit led him into the temple courtyard. Then Jesus’ parents brought the child in. They came to do for him what the Law required. 28Simeon took Jesus in his arms and praised God. He said,
29“Lord, you are the King over all.
Now let me, your servant, go in peace.
That is what you promised.
30My eyes have seen your salvation.
31You have prepared it in the sight of all nations.
32It is a light to be given to the Gentiles.
It will be the glory of your people Israel.”
33The child’s father and mother were amazed at what was said about him. 34Then Simeon blessed them. He said to Mary, Jesus’ mother, “This child is going to cause many people in Israel to fall and to rise. God has sent him. But many will speak against him. 35The thoughts of many hearts will be known. A sword will wound your own soul too.”
36There was also a prophet named Anna. She was the daughter of Penuel from the tribe of Asher. Anna was very old. After getting married, she lived with her husband seven years. 37Then she was a widow until she was 84. She never left the temple. She worshiped night and day, praying and going without food. 38Anna came up to Jesus’ family at that moment. She gave thanks to God. And she spoke about the child to all who were looking forward to the time when Jerusalem would be set free.
39Joseph and Mary did everything the Law of the Lord required. Then they returned to Galilee. They went to their own town of Nazareth. 40And the child grew and became strong. He was very wise. He was blessed by God’s grace.
The Boy Jesus at the Temple
41Every year Jesus’ parents went to Jerusalem for the Passover Feast. 42When Jesus was 12 years old, they went up to the feast as usual. 43After the feast was over, his parents left to go back home. The boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem. But they were not aware of it. 44They thought he was somewhere in their group. So they traveled on for a day. Then they began to look for him among their relatives and friends. 45They did not find him. So they went back to Jerusalem to look for him. 46After three days they found him in the temple courtyard. He was sitting with the teachers. He was listening to them and asking them questions. 47Everyone who heard him was amazed at how much he understood. They also were amazed at his answers. 48When his parents saw him, they were amazed. His mother said to him, “Son, why have you treated us like this? Your father and I have been worried about you. We have been looking for you everywhere.”
49“Why were you looking for me?” he asked. “Didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s house?” 50But they did not understand what he meant by that.
51Then he went back to Nazareth with them, and he obeyed them. But his mother kept all these things like a secret treasure in her heart. 52Jesus became wiser and stronger. He also became more and more pleasing to God and to people.
የኢየሱስ መወለድ
1በዚያን ዘመን፣ የዓለሙ ሁሉ ሕዝብ እንዲቈጠርና እንዲመዘገብ ከአውግስጦስ ቄሳር ትእዛዝ ወጣ። 2ይህም ቄሬኔዎስ የሶርያ ገዥ በነበረበት ጊዜ የተደረገ የመጀመሪያው የሕዝብ ቈጠራ ነበር። 3ስለዚህ እያንዳንዱ ሰው ለመመዝገብ ወደየራሱ ከተማ ሄደ።
4ዮሴፍም ከዳዊት ቤትና ወገን ስለ ነበረ፣ በገሊላ አውራጃ ከምትገኘው ከናዝሬት ከተማ ተነሥቶ የዳዊት ከተማ ወደ ሆነችው፣ ቤተ ልሔም ወደምትባል ከተማ ወደ ይሁዳ ወጣ። 5ወደዚያም ለመመዝገብ የተጓዘው፣ የመውለጃ ጊዜዋ ከተቃረበው ከዕጮኛው ከማርያም ጋር ነበር። 6በዚያም እንዳሉ የምትወልድበት ጊዜ ደረሰ፤ 7የበኵር ልጇ የሆነውን ወንድ ልጅ ወለደች፤ በጨርቅም ጠቀለለችው፤ በእንግዶችም ማረፊያ ቦታ ስላላገኙ በግርግም አስተኛችው።
እረኞችና መላእክት
8በዚያው አገር በሌሊት መንጋቸውን ሲጠብቁ በሜዳ የሚያድሩ እረኞች ነበሩ። 9የጌታም መልአክ ድንገት መጥቶ በአጠገባቸው ቆመ፤ የጌታም ክብር በዙሪያቸው አበራ፤ ታላቅም ፍርሀት ያዛቸው። 10መልአኩ ግን እንዲህ አላቸው፤ “አትፍሩ፤ ለሕዝቡ ሁሉ የሚሆን ታላቅ ደስታ የምሥራች አምጥቼላችኋለሁና። 11ዛሬ በዳዊት ከተማ መድኅን ተወልዶላችኋልና፤ እርሱም ጌታ ክርስቶስ2፥11 ወይም መሲሕ፤ ክርስቶስ በግሪክ፣ መሲሕ በዕብራይስጥ፤ የሁለቱም ቃላት ትርጕም የተቀባው ማለት ነው፤ እንዲሁም 26 ይመ ነው። 12ይህ ምልክት ይሁናችሁ፤ ሕፃን ልጅ በጨርቅ ተጠቅልሎ በግርግም ተኝቶ ታገኛላችሁ።”
13ድንገትም ብዙ የሰማይ ሰራዊት ከመልአኩ ጋር ታዩ፤ እግዚአብሔርንም እያመሰገኑ፣ እንዲህ አሉ፤
14“ክብር ለእግዚአብሔር በአርያም፣ ሰላምም እርሱ
ለሚወድዳቸው ሰዎች በምድር ይሁን!”
15መላእክቱ ከእነርሱ ተለይተው ወደ ሰማይ ከወጡ በኋላ እረኞቹ፣ “ጌታ የገለጠልንን ይህን የሆነውን ነገር እንድናይ ወደ ቤተ ልሔም እንሂድ” ተባባሉ።
16እነርሱም ፈጥነው ሄዱ፤ ማርያምንና ዮሴፍን፣ ሕፃኑንም በግርግም ተኝቶ አገኙ። 17ካዩም በኋላ፣ ስለ ሕፃኑ የተነገራቸውን ገልጠው አወሩ። 18ይህንም የሰሙ ሁሉ እረኞቹ በነገሯቸው ነገር ተደነቁ፤ 19ማርያም ግን ይህን ሁሉ በልቧ ይዛ ታሰላስል ነበር። 20እረኞቹም ሁሉም ነገር እንደ ተነገራቸው ሆኖ በማግኘታቸው፣ ስለ ሰሙትና ስላዩት ሁሉ እግዚአብሔርን እያከበሩና እያመሰገኑ ተመለሱ።
ሕፃኑን ኢየሱስ ወደ ቤተ መቅደስ ወሰዱት
21ስምንት ቀን ሆኖት የመገረዣ ጊዜው ሲደርስ፣ ከመፀነሱ በፊት መልአኩ ባወጣለት ስም ኢየሱስ ተባለ።
22በሙሴ ሕግ መሠረት የመንጻታቸው ወቅት በተፈጸመ ጊዜ፣ ዮሴፍና ማርያም ሕፃኑን ለጌታ ለማቅረብ ወደ ኢየሩሳሌም ይዘውት ወጡ፤ 23ይኸውም በጌታ ሕግ፣ “ተባዕት የሆነ በኵር ሁሉ ለጌታ የተቀደሰ ይሆናል” ተብሎ እንደ ተጻፈ ለመፈጸምና 24ደግሞም በጌታ ሕግ፣ “ሁለት ዋኖሶች ወይም ሁለት የርግብ ጫጩቶች እንደ ተባለ፣” መሥዋዕት ለማቅረብ ነበር።
25በዚያን ጊዜ ጻድቅና ትጉህ የሆነ ስምዖን የሚባል አንድ ሰው በኢየሩሳሌም ይኖር ነበር፤ እርሱም የእስራኤልን መጽናናት የሚጠባበቅና መንፈስ ቅዱስ በላዩ ያደረ ሰው ነበር። 26ደግሞም የጌታን መሲሕ ሳያይ እንደማይሞት በመንፈስ ቅዱስ ተገልጦለት ነበር፤ 27እርሱም በዚህ ጊዜ በመንፈስ ተመርቶ ወደ ቤተ መቅደስ ገባ፤ የልጁም ወላጆች በሕጉ ልማድ መሠረት ተገቢውን ሊፈጽሙለት ሕፃኑን ኢየሱስን ይዘው በገቡ ጊዜ፣ 28ስምዖን ተቀብሎ ዐቀፈው፤ እግዚአብሔርን እያመሰገነ እንዲህ አለ፤
29“ጌታ ሆይ፤ ቃል በገባኸው መሠረት፣
አሁን ባሪያህን በሰላም አሰናብተው፤
30ዐይኖቼ በሰዎች ሁሉ ፊት ያዘጋጀኸውን፣
31ማዳንህን አይተዋልና።
32ይህም ለአሕዛብ መገለጥን የሚሰጥ ብርሃን፣
ለሕዝብህ ለእስራኤልም ክብር ነው።”
33አባቱና እናቱም ስለ እርሱ በተነገረው ነገር ተገረሙ። 34ስምዖንም ባረካቸው፤ እናቱን ማርያምንም እንዲህ አላት፤ “ይህ ሕፃን በእስራኤል ለብዙዎች መነሣትና መውደቅ ምክንያት እንዲሆን፣ ደግሞም ክፉ ለሚያስወሩበት ምልክት እንዲሆን ተወስኗል፤ 35የብዙዎችም የልብ ሐሳብ የተገለጠ እንዲሆን፣ የአንቺም ነፍስ ደግሞ በሰይፍ ይወጋል።”
36ደግሞም ከአሴር ወገን የሆነች የፋኑኤል ልጅ፣ ሐና የምትባል ነቢይት በዚያ ነበረች፤ እርሷም በጣም አርጅታ ነበር፤ በድንግልናዋ ካገባችው ባሏም ጋር ሰባት ዓመት የኖረች ነበረች፤ 37ዕድሜዋም ሰማንያ አራት ዓመት2፥37 ወይም ለሰማንያ አራት ዓመት መበለት የነበረች እስኪሆናት ድረስ ቀንና ሌሊት ከቤተ መቅደስ ሳትለይ፣ በጾምና በጸሎት የምታገለግል መበለት ሆና ቈየች። 38በዚያኑም ጊዜ ቀርባ እግዚአብሔርን አመሰገነች፤ የኢየሩሳሌምንም መቤዠት ለሚጠባበቁ ሁሉ ስለ ሕፃኑ ተናገረች።
39ዮሴፍና ማርያም በጌታ ሕግ የታዘዘውን ሁሉ ከፈጸሙ በኋላ፣ በገሊላ አውራጃ ወዳለችው ከተማቸው ወደ ናዝሬት ተመለሱ። 40ሕፃኑም እያደገና እየጠነከረ ሄደ፤ በጥበብ ተሞላ፤ የእግዚአብሔርም ጸጋ በእርሱ ላይ ነበረ።
ኢየሱስ በዐሥራ ሁለት ዓመቱ ወደ ቤተ መቅደስ ሄደ
41ወላጆቹም በየዓመቱ ለፋሲካ በዓል ወደ ኢየሩሳሌም ይሄዱ ነበር። 42ልጁም ዐሥራ ሁለት ዓመት በሆነው ጊዜ፣ እንደተለመደው ወደ በዓሉ ወጡ። 43በዓሉን ከፈጸሙ በኋላ፣ ወደ ቤታቸው ሲመለሱ ብላቴናው ኢየሱስ በኢየሩሳሌም ቀረ፤ ወላጆቹ ግን መቅረቱን አላወቁም ነበር። 44አብሯቸው ያለ መስሏቸው የአንድ ቀን መንገድ ተጓዙ፤ በኋላ ግን ከዘመዶቻቸውና ከወዳጆቻቸው ዘንድ ይፈልጉት ጀመር፤ 45ባጡትም ጊዜ እየፈለጉት ወደ ኢየሩሳሌም ተመለሱ።
46ከሦስት ቀንም በኋላ፣ በመምህራን መካከል ተቀምጦ ሲያዳምጣቸውና ጥያቄ ሲያቀርብላቸው በቤተ መቅደስ ውስጥ አገኙት፤ 47የሰሙትም ሁሉ በማስተዋሉና በመልሱ ይደነቁ ነበር። 48ወላጆቹም ባዩት ጊዜ ተገረሙ፤ እናቱም፣ “ልጄ ሆይ፤ ለምን እንዲህ አደረግኸን? አባትህና እኔ እኮ ተጨንቀን ስንፈልግህ ነበር” አለችው።
49እርሱም፣ “ለምን ፈለጋችሁኝ? በአባቴ ቤት መገኘት እንደሚገባኝ አላወቃችሁምን?” አላቸው። 50እነርሱ ግን የተናገራቸው ነገር አልገባቸውም።
51ከዚያም አብሯቸው ወደ ናዝሬት ወረደ፤ ይታዘዝላቸውም ነበር። እናቱም ይህን ሁሉ ነገር በልቧ ትጠብቀው ነበር። 52ኢየሱስም በጥበብና በቁመት በሞገስም በእግዚአብሔርና በሰው ፊት አደገ።
