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Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night.
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And behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid.
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Then the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people.
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For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.
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And this will be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger."
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And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying:
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"Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace, goodwill toward men!"
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So it was, when the angels had gone away from them into heaven, that the shepherds said to one another, "Let us now go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has come to pass, which the Lord has made known to us."
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And they came with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the Babe lying in a manger.
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Now when they had seen Him, they made widely known the saying which was told them concerning this Child.
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And all those who heard it marveled at those things which were told them by the shepherds.
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But Mary kept all these things and pondered them in her heart.
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Then the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told them.
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And when eight days were completed for the circumcision of the Child, His name was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before He was conceived in the womb.
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Now when the days of her purification according to the law of Moses were completed, they brought Him to Jerusalem to present Him to the Lord
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(as it is written in the law of the Lord, "Every male who opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord"),
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and to offer a sacrifice according to what is said in the law of the Lord, "A pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons."
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And behold, there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon, and this man was just and devout, waiting for the Consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him.
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And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord's Christ.
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So he came by the Spirit into the temple. And when the parents brought in the Child Jesus, to do for Him according to the custom of the law,
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he took Him up in his arms and blessed God and said: