*One day an angel appeared to Mary.
"You are blessed among women," the angel said,
"for you shall have a son,
who you will name Jesus."
"He shall be called the Son of God,
and his kingdom shall never end."
"I am glad to serve the Lord," said Mary.
"May it be as you have said."
Then the angel left her.

*Mary married a good man from Nazareth.
His name was Joseph,
and he was a carpenter by trade.
When Joseph had to go from
Nazareth up to Bethlehem in Judea,
to pay taxes in his fathers town,
Mary went with him.
It was a long weary journey for her.

*When they reached Bethlehem at last,
they found many travelers there before them.
The streets were full of cheerful families of kinsmen.
The inns were completely crowded to their doors.
Joseph asked for shelter only for his wife,
but every innkeeper turned them away.

*At last one innkeeper,
seeing Mary's weariness and her need for rest,
showed them to a stable full of warm sweet hay.
There Mary gave birth to her baby son.
She wrapped him in swaddling clothes
and laid him in the manger,
since there was no room for them at the inn.

*In that same country,
there were shepherds in the field,
keeping watch over their flocks by night.
An angel of the Lord appeared
to them in shining glory,
and they were all very afraid.

*But the angel said to them:
"There is nothing to fear.
I come to bring you news of great joy
which shall come to all people."
"For a child is born this day in Bethlehem-
a Savior who is Christ the Lord.
"And this shall be a sign to you.
You shall find the baby wrapped in
swaddling clothes and lying in a manger."
Suddenly the sky was full of angels,
praising God and saying,
"Glory to God in the highest,
and on the earth peace and good will toward men."

*When the angels disappeared into heaven,
the shepherds said to one another,
"Let us go to Bethlehem and see this baby
which the lord has told us about."
They hurried to the town and found Mary and Joseph,
and the baby lying in the manger.
Afterwards, the shepherds told
everyone the met about the child.

*Now when Jesus was still a tiny baby,
three wise men from the East came to Jerusalem.
"Where is he that is born King of the Jews?" they asked.
"For we have all seen his star in the East,
and we've come here to worship him."
When Herod heard this,
he was troubled in his wicked heart.
He called the wisemen to him and
asked them just when the star had appeared.

*Herod then sent the wisemen off to Bethlehem.
He told them "Find the child and bring him back to me,
so that I can come and worship him also."
When they heard the king,
the wisemen departed.
The star that the had seen in
the East was before them,
and it guided their way to where the child lay.
When they saw the star,
the wise men rejoiced and were happy.

*When the wise men came to the house,
they saw the baby with Mary, his mother,
and they bowed down and worshipped him.
They opened their treasures and
laid before him gifts of
gold and frankincense and myrrh.
God had warned the wise men not to return to Herod.
They departed for their own country
to spread the word of the birth of the Saviour.