15. The angels left and went into heaven. Then the shepherds said to one another, "Let's go to Bethlehem. Let's see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about."
16. So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph and the baby. The baby was lying in the manger.
17. After the shepherds had seen him, they told everyone. They reported what the angel had said about this child.
18. All who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them.
19. But Mary kept all these things like a secret treasure in her heart. She thought about them over and over.
20. The shepherds returned. They gave glory and praise to God. Everything they had seen and heard was just as they had been told.
21. When the child was eight days old, he was circumcised. At the same time he was named Jesus. This was the name the angel had given him before his mother became pregnant.
22. The time for making them pure came as it is written in the Law of Moses. So Joseph and Mary took Jesus to Jerusalem. There they presented him to the Lord.
23. In the Law of the Lord it says, "The first boy born in every family must be set apart for the Lord." (Exodus 13:2,12)
24. They also offered a sacrifice. They did it in keeping with the Law, which says, "a pair of doves or two young pigeons." (Leviticus 12:8)
25. In Jerusalem there was a man named Simeon. He was a good and godly man. He was waiting for God's promise to Israel to happen. The Holy Spirit was with him.
26. The Spirit had told Simeon that he would not die before he had seen the Lord's Christ.
27. The Spirit led him into the temple courtyard. Then Jesus' parents brought the child in. They came to do for him what the Law required.