Chronological Plan

¹The record of the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah, the son of David, the son of Abraham:

²Abraham fathered Isaac, Isaac fathered Jacob, and Jacob fathered Judah and his brothers.

³Judah fathered Perez and Zerah by Tamar, Perez fathered Hezron, and Hezron fathered Ram.

⁴Ram fathered Amminadab, Amminadab fathered Nahshon, and Nahshon fathered Salmon.

⁵Salmon fathered Boaz by Rahab, Boaz fathered Obed by Ruth, and Obed fathered Jesse.

⁶Jesse fathered David the king. David fathered Solomon by her who had been the wife of Uriah.

⁷Solomon fathered Rehoboam, Rehoboam fathered Abijah, and Abijah fathered Asa.

⁸Asa fathered Jehoshaphat, Jehoshaphat fathered Joram, and Joram fathered Uzziah.

⁹Uzziah fathered Jotham, Jotham fathered Ahaz, and Ahaz fathered Hezekiah.

¹⁰Hezekiah fathered Manasseh, Manasseh fathered Amon, and Amon fathered Josiah.

¹¹Josiah fathered Jeconiah and his brothers, at the time of the deportation to Babylon.

¹²After the deportation to Babylon: Jeconiah fathered Shealtiel, and Shealtiel fathered Zerubbabel.

¹³Zerubbabel fathered Abihud, Abihud fathered Eliakim, and Eliakim fathered Azor.

¹⁴Azor fathered Zadok, Zadok fathered Achim, and Achim fathered Eliud.

¹⁵Eliud fathered Eleazar, Eleazar fathered Matthan, and Matthan fathered Jacob.

¹⁶Jacob fathered Joseph the husband of Mary, by whom Jesus was born, who is called the Messiah.

¹⁷So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations; from David to the deportation to Babylon, fourteen generations; and from the deportation to Babylon to the Messiah, fourteen generations.

¹⁸Now the birth of Jesus the Messiah was as follows: when His mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be pregnant by the Holy Spirit.

¹⁹And her husband Joseph, since he was a righteous man and did not want to disgrace her, planned to send her away secretly.

²⁰But when he had thought this over, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife; for the Child who has been conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit.

²¹She will give birth to a Son; and you shall name Him Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.”

²²Now all this took place so that what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet would be fulfilled:

²³“BEHOLD, THE VIRGIN WILL CONCEIVE AND GIVE BIRTH TO A SON, AND THEY SHALL NAME HIM IMMANUEL,” which translated means, “GOD WITH US.”

²⁴And Joseph awoke from his sleep and did as the angel of the Lord commanded him, and took Mary as his wife,

²⁵but kept her a virgin until she gave birth to a Son; and he named Him Jesus.

¹Now in those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus, that a census be taken of all the inhabited earth.

²This was the first census taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria.

³And all the people were on their way to register for the census, each to his own city.

⁴Now 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,

⁵in order to register along with Mary, who was betrothed to him, and was pregnant.

⁶While they were there, the time came for her to give birth.

⁷And she gave birth to her firstborn son; and she wrapped Him in cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.

⁸In the same region there were some shepherds staying out in the fields and keeping watch over their flock at night.

⁹And an angel of the Lord suddenly stood near them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them; and they were terribly frightened.

¹⁰And so 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;

¹¹for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.

¹²And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”

¹³And suddenly there appeared with the angel a multitude of the heavenly army of angels praising God and saying,

¹⁴“Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace among people with whom He is pleased.”

¹⁵When the angels had departed from them into heaven, the shepherds began saying to one another, “Let’s go straight to Bethlehem, then, and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.”

¹⁶And they came in a hurry and found their way to Mary and Joseph, and the baby as He lay in the manger.

¹⁷When they had seen Him, they made known the statement which had been told them about this Child.

¹⁸And all who heard it were amazed about the things which were told them by the shepherds.

¹⁹But Mary treasured all these things, pondering them in her heart.

²⁰And the shepherds went back, glorifying and praising God for all that they had heard and seen, just as had been told them.

²¹And when eight days were completed so that it was time for His circumcision, He was also named Jesus, the name given by the angel before He was conceived in the womb.

²²And when the days for their purification according to the Law of Moses were completed, they brought Him up to Jerusalem to present Him to the Lord

²³(as it is written in the Law of the Lord: “EVERY firstborn male that opens the womb shall be called holy to the LORD”),

²⁴and to offer a sacrifice according to what has been stated in the Law of the Lord: “A PAIR OF TURTLEDOVES OR TWO YOUNG DOVES.”

²⁵And there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon; and this man was righteous and devout, looking forward to the consolation of Israel; and the Holy Spirit was upon him.

²⁶And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ.

²⁷And he came by the Spirit into the temple; and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to carry out for Him the custom of the Law,

²⁸then he took Him in his arms, and blessed God, and said,

²⁹“Now, Lord, You are letting Your bond-servant depart in peace, According to Your word;

³⁰For my eyes have seen Your salvation,

³¹Which You have prepared in the presence of all the peoples:

³²A light for revelation for the Gentiles, And the glory of Your people Israel.”

³³And His father and mother were amazed at the things which were being said about Him.

³⁴And Simeon blessed them and said to His mother Mary, “Behold, this Child is appointed for the fall and rise of many in Israel, and as a sign to be opposed—

³⁵and a sword will pierce your own soul—to the end that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed.”

³⁶And there was a prophetess, Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was advanced in years and had lived with her husband for seven years after her marriage,

³⁷and then as a widow to the age of eighty-four. She did not leave the temple grounds, serving night and day with fasts and prayers.

³⁸And at that very moment she came up and began giving thanks to God, and continued to speak about Him to all those who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem.