¹ And Isaac called Jacob, and blessed him, and charged him, and said unto him, Thou shalt not take a wife of the daughters of Canaan.

² Arise, go to Padan-aram, to the house of Bethuel thy mother's father; and take thee a wife from thence of the daughters of Laban thy mother's brother.

³ And God Almighty bless thee, and make thee fruitful, and multiply thee, that thou mayest be a multitude of people;

⁴ And give thee the blessing of Abraham, to thee, and to thy seed with thee; that thou mayest inherit the land wherein thou art a stranger, which God gave unto Abraham.

⁵ And Isaac sent away Jacob: and he went to Padan-aram unto Laban, son of Bethuel the Syrian, the brother of Rebekah, Jacob's and Esau's mother.

⁶ When Esau saw that Isaac had blessed Jacob, and sent him away to Padan-aram, to take him a wife from thence; and that as he blessed him he gave him a charge, saying, Thou shalt not take a wife of the daughters of Canaan;

⁷ And that Jacob obeyed his father and his mother, and was gone to Padan-aram;

⁸ And Esau seeing that the daughters of Canaan pleased not Isaac his father;

⁹ Then went Esau unto Ishmael, and took unto the wives which he had Mahalath the daughter of Ishmael Abraham's son, the sister of Nebajoth, to be his wife.

¹⁰ And Jacob went out from Beer-sheba, and went toward Haran.

¹¹ And he lighted upon a certain place, and tarried there all night, because the sun was set; and he took of the stones of that place, and put them for his pillows, and lay down in that place to sleep.

¹² And he dreamed, and behold a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven: and behold the angels of God ascending and descending on it.

¹³ And, behold, the LORD stood above it, and said, I am the LORD God of Abraham thy father, and the God of Isaac: the land whereon thou liest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed;

¹⁴ And thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth, and thou shalt spread abroad to the west, and to the east, and to the north, and to the south: and in thee and in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed.

¹⁵ And, behold, I am with thee, and will keep thee in all places whither thou goest, and will bring thee again into this land; for I will not leave thee, until I have done that which I have spoken to thee of.

¹⁶ And Jacob awaked out of his sleep, and he said, Surely the LORD is in this place; and I knew it not.

¹⁷ And he was afraid, and said, How dreadful is this place! this is none other but the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.

¹⁸ And Jacob rose up early in the morning, and took the stone that he had put for his pillows, and set it up for a pillar, and poured oil upon the top of it.

¹⁹ And he called the name of that place Bethel: but the name of that city was called Luz at the first.

²⁰ And Jacob vowed a vow, saying, If God will be with me, and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat, and raiment to put on,

²¹ So that I come again to my father's house in peace; then shall the LORD be my God:

²² And this stone, which I have set for a pillar, shall be God's house: and of all that thou shalt give me I will surely give the tenth unto thee.

¹ Now it happened in those days, that a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be enrolled.

² This was the first enrollment made when Quirinius was governor of Syria.

³ All went to enroll themselves, everyone to his own city.

⁴ Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family of David;

⁵ to enroll himself with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him as wife, being pregnant.

⁶ It happened, while they were there, that the day had come that she should give birth.

⁷ She brought forth her firstborn son, and she wrapped him in bands of cloth, and laid him in a feeding trough, because there was no room for them in the inn.

⁸ There were shepherds in the same country staying in the field, and keeping watch by night over their flock.

⁹ Behold, an angel of the Lord stood by them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified.

¹⁰ The angel said to them, "Don't be afraid, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be to all the people.

¹¹ For there is born to you, this day, in the city of David, a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.

¹² This is the sign to you: you will find a baby wrapped in strips of cloth, lying in a feeding trough."

¹³ Suddenly, there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly army praising God, and saying,

¹⁴ "Glory to God in the highest, on earth peace, good will toward men."

¹⁵ It happened, when the angels went away from them into the sky, that the shepherds said one to another, "Let's go to Bethlehem, now, and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us."

¹⁶ They came with haste, and found both Mary and Joseph, and the baby was lying in the feeding trough.

¹⁷ When they saw it, they publicized widely the saying which was spoken to them about this child.

¹⁸ All who heard it wondered at the things which were spoken to them by the shepherds.

¹⁹ But Mary kept all these sayings, pondering them in her heart.

²⁰ The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, just as it was told them.

²¹ When eight days were fulfilled for the circumcision of the child, his name was called Jesus, which was given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb.

²² When the days of their purification according to the law of Moses were fulfilled, they brought him up to Jerusalem, to present him to the Lord

²³ (as it is written in the law of the Lord, "Every male who opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord"),

²⁴ and to offer a sacrifice according to that which is said in the law of the Lord, "A pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons."

²⁵ Behold, there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon. This man was righteous and devout, looking for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was on him.

²⁶ It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he should not see death before he had seen the Lord's Christ.

²⁷ He came in the Spirit into the temple. When the parents brought in the child, Jesus, that they might do concerning him according to the custom of the law,

²⁸ then he received him into his arms, and blessed God, and said,

²⁹ "Now you are releasing your servant, Master, according to your word, in peace;

³⁰ for my eyes have seen your salvation,

³¹ which you have prepared before the face of all peoples;

³² a light for revelation to the nations, and the glory of your people Israel."

³³ Joseph and his mother were marveling at the things which were spoken concerning him,

³⁴ and Simeon blessed them, and said to Mary, his mother, "Behold, this child is set for the falling and the rising of many in Israel, and for a sign which is spoken against.

³⁵ Yes, a sword will pierce through your own soul, that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed."

³⁶ There was one Anna, a prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher (she was of a great age, having lived with a husband seven years from her virginity,

³⁷ and she had been a widow for about eighty-four years), who didn't depart from the temple, worshipping with fastings and petitions night and day.

³⁸ Coming up at that very hour, she gave thanks to the Lord, and spoke of him to all those who were looking for redemption in Jerusalem.

³⁹ When they had accomplished all things that were according to the law of the Lord, they returned into Galilee, to their own city, Nazareth.

⁴⁰ The child was growing, and was becoming strong in spirit, being filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was upon him.

⁴¹ His parents went every year to Jerusalem at the feast of the Passover.

⁴² When he was twelve years old, they went up to Jerusalem according to the custom of the feast,

⁴³ and when they had fulfilled the days, as they were returning, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem. Joseph and his mother didn't know it,

⁴⁴ but supposing him to be in the company, they went a day's journey, and they looked for him among their relatives and acquaintances.

⁴⁵ When they didn't find him, they returned to Jerusalem, looking for him.

⁴⁶ It happened after three days they found him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the teachers, both listening to them, and asking them questions.

⁴⁷ All who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers.

⁴⁸ When they saw him, they were astonished, and his mother said to him, "Son, why have you treated us this way? Behold, your father and I were anxiously looking for you."

⁴⁹ He said to them, "Why were you looking for me? Didn't you know that I must be in my Father's house?"

⁵⁰ They didn't understand the saying which he spoke to them.

⁵¹ And he went down with them, and came to Nazareth. He was subject to them, and his mother kept all these sayings in her heart.

⁵² And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men.