Jesus’ Birth in Bethlehem

2 Now in those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus, that a census be taken of all ^[a]the inhabited earth. ^2 [b]This was the first census taken while ^[c]Quirinius was governor of Syria. ³ And everyone was on his way to register for the census, each to his own city. ⁴ Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the city of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family of David, ⁵ in order to register along with Mary, who was engaged to him, and was with child. ⁶ While they were there, the days were completed for her to give birth. ⁷ And she gave birth to her firstborn son; and she wrapped Him in cloths, and laid Him in a ^[d]manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.

⁸ In the same region there were some shepherds staying out in the fields and keeping watch over their flock by night. ⁹ And an angel of the Lord suddenly stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them; and they were terribly frightened. ¹⁰ But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the people; ¹¹ for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is ^[e]Christ the Lord. ¹² This will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a ^[f]manger.” ¹³ And suddenly there appeared with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying,

¹⁵ When the angels had gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds began saying to one another, “Let us go straight to Bethlehem then, and see this thing that has happened which the Lord has made known to us.” ¹⁶ So they came in a hurry and found their way to Mary and Joseph, and the baby as He lay in the ^[h]manger. ¹⁷ When they had seen this, they made known the statement which had been told them about this Child. ¹⁸ And all who heard it wondered at the things which were told them by the shepherds. ¹⁹ But Mary treasured all these things, pondering them in her heart. ²⁰ The shepherds went back, glorifying and praising God for all that they had heard and seen, just as had been told them.

Jesus Presented at the Temple

²¹ And when eight days had passed, ^[i]before His circumcision, His name was then called Jesus, the name given by the angel before He was conceived in the womb.

Vision of God’s Glory Departing from the Temple

10 Then I looked, and behold, in the ^[a]expanse that was over the heads of the cherubim something like a sapphire stone, in appearance resembling a throne, appeared above them. ² And He spoke to the man clothed in linen and said, “Enter between the whirling wheels under the ^[b]cherubim and fill your hands with coals of fire from between the cherubim and scatter them over the city.” And he entered in my sight.

³ Now the cherubim were standing on the right side of the ^[c]temple when the man entered, and the cloud filled the inner court. ⁴ Then the glory of the Lord went up from the cherub to the threshold of the temple, and the temple was filled with the cloud and the court was filled with the brightness of the glory of the Lord. ⁵ Moreover, the sound of the wings of the cherubim was heard as far as the outer court, like the voice of ^[d]God Almighty when He speaks.

⁶ It came about when He commanded the man clothed in linen, saying, “Take fire from between the whirling wheels, from between the cherubim,” he entered and stood beside a wheel. ⁷ Then the cherub stretched out his hand from between the cherubim to the fire which was between the cherubim, took some and put it into the hands of the one clothed in linen, who took it and went out. ⁸ The cherubim appeared to have the form of a man’s hand under their wings.

⁹ Then I looked, and behold, four wheels beside the cherubim, one wheel beside each cherub; and the appearance of the wheels was like the gleam of a ^[e]Tarshish stone. ¹⁰ As for their appearance, all four of them had the same likeness, as if one wheel were within another wheel. ¹¹ When they moved, they went in any of their four ^[f]directions without turning as they went; but they followed in the direction which ^[g]they faced, without turning as they went. ¹² Their whole body, their backs, their hands, their wings and the wheels were full of eyes all around, the wheels belonging to all four of them. ¹³ The wheels were called in my hearing, the whirling wheels. ¹⁴ And each one had four faces. The first face was the face of a cherub, the second face was the face of a man, the third the face of a lion, and the fourth the face of an eagle.

¹⁵ Then the cherubim rose up. They are the living beings that I saw by the river Chebar. ¹⁶ Now when the cherubim moved, the wheels would go beside them; also when the cherubim lifted up their wings to rise from the ground, the wheels would not turn from beside them. ¹⁷ When ^[h]the cherubim stood still, ^[i]the wheels would stand still; and when they rose up, ^[j]the wheels would rise with them, for the spirit of the living beings was in them.

¹⁸ Then the glory of the Lord departed from the threshold of the temple and stood over the cherubim. ¹⁹ When the cherubim departed, they lifted their wings and rose up from the earth in my sight with the wheels beside them; and they stood still at the entrance of the east gate of the Lord’s house, and the glory of the God of Israel ^[k]hovered over them.

²⁰ These are the living beings that I saw beneath the God of Israel by the river Chebar; so I knew that they were cherubim. ²¹ Each one had four faces and each one four wings, and beneath their wings was the form of human hands. ²² As for the likeness of their faces, they were the same faces whose appearance I had seen by the river Chebar. Each one went straight ahead.