Quaker Universalist Voice

Luke 1–2: The Birth of John

and Jesus by Luke ~
A Christmas Gift of the
Gift of Christmas
Translated for Children
by J.M. Spears

Luke, Chapter 1:
Luke 1:1. Many people have tried to write about events which took place among us. 2.
They wrote what we in the Christian family were told by those who, from the beginning,
saw and helped God’s plan and purpose for people. 3. For a long time, I have followed
and checked out all things carefully. I have decided to write an orderly account for you,
honorable Theophilus. 4. I do this, so you can be sure about the things that you have
been taught.

5. When Herod was king of Judea, there was a priest, a person whose job was to
communicate with God for the people of Israel*. The priest’s name was Zechariah. He
was one of the Abijah group of priests. His wife, Elizabeth, was from the family of
Aaron. 6. They both lived their lives following God’s laws. They carefully kept all the
commands and rules of Yahweh, their God. 7. They did not have a child. Elizabeth was
not able to have children. They were both very old.

8. Zechariah was serving as a priest before God during the time that his group was on
duty in the Temple*. 9. It was the custom for priests to be chosen by chance to do
different jobs. It was by chance that Zechariah was given the honor of going into the
Temple* of Yahweh to burn incense*. 10. While Zechariah was inside the holy* place,
the crowd of people was praying outside, 11. and Zechariah became aware of a
messenger of Yahweh standing on the right side of the altar* of incense*. 12. Zechariah
was upset when he saw the messenger. 13. But, the messenger said to him, “Do not be
afraid, Zechariah, for your request was heard. Your wife, Elizabeth, will have a child.
You will name the child John, which means ‘Yahweh had shown approval and affection.’
14. And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at the birth. 15. He will be
a great person of Yahweh. He shall not drink wine nor beer. He will be filled with God’s
creative force even before he is born. 16. And he will turn many children of Israel* to
Yahweh their God. 17. He will lead forth for God with the spirit and power of Elijah.
His job will be to turn the hearts of parents to children. He will turn those who disobey
God to understanding like those who obey God’s laws. He will get people ready and fit
for Yahweh.”
18. But, Zechariah said to the messenger, “How can I know this? I am an old man, and
my wife is very old.”

19. The messenger answered him, “I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God. I have
been sent to speak to you and to tell you this good news. 20. Now listen! You will be
silent because you did not believe my words. They will happen at the right time anyway.
You will not be able to speak until the day these things happen.”

21. The people were still waiting for Zechariah. They wondered why he was taking so
long in the temple sanctuary*. When Zechariah did come out, he could not speak to
them. They realized that while he was in the Temple*, he had understood something
directly from God. 22. Zechariah made signs to them, but was not able to speak.

23. When his time of service was ended, he went back to his home town.

24. Later, Elizabeth, Zechariah’s wife, became pregnant. She kept it to herself for five
months. 25. “This is the way Yahweh acted for me. In time, God was concerned enough
to take away the disapproval of people which I have faced beause I had no children.”

26. Elizabeth had been pregnant for six months. Then, the messenger, Gabriel, was sent
from God to Nazareth, a town in Galilee. 27. The messenger was sent to a young woman
who was engaged to a man named Joseph David. The woman’s name was Mary.

28. The messenger came toward her and said, “Rejoice! You have received God’s
undeserved gift of approval and affection! Yahweh is with you.”

29. But, Mary was very confused and troubled by what was said. She tried to figure out
what kind of wonderful greeting this could be.

30. The messenger said to her, “Don’t be afraid, Mary, for you have discovered the
undeserved approval and affection of being near to God. 31. Now, listen! You will
become pregnant and give birth to a child. You shall name the child Jesus. Jesus is the
one who will be great and will be called the child of the Most High. 32. And to this
child, Yahweh God will give the throne of his ancestor, David. 33. And this child will
reign over the descendants of Jacob forever. That reign will never end.”

34. Mary said to the messenger, “How can this be, since I do not have sexual intercourse
with a man?” 35. The messenger answered her saying, “God’s creative force will come to
you and the power of the Most High will be present with you. Therefore, the child to be
born will be holy* and will be called Child of God. 36. Now listen! In her old age,
Elizabeth, who is related to you, has also become pregnant. This is her sixth month of
pregnancy. It was said she could not have children. 37. With God, all things will be
possible.”

38. Then, Mary said “Now listen! I am the servant of Yahweh. May it happen to me just
as you say.” Then the messenger left her.
39. Soon after that, Mary got ready and hurried to a town in the hill country of Judah.
40. She went into the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. 41. When Elizabeth
heard of Mary’s greeting, the baby jumped with joy inside her. And Elizabeth was filled
with a holy spirit*, God’s creative force. 42. In a loud voice, Elizabeth cried out, “You
among women are gifted of God and gifted of God is your child that is to be born. 43.
Who am I that the mother of my divine* ruler should come to me? 44. Now listen!
When I heard the sound of your greeting, the baby in my uterus jumped with joy-filled
delight. 45. Good for the one who believes that the words of Yahweh, spoken to her, will
really happen.”

46. And Mary said, “With my life itself, I declare the greatness of Yahweh. 47. And I am
delighted in God my Savior* because God has remembered me, God’s poor servant. 48.
And, listen! From now on, all people will say ‘Good for her’, 49. because of the great
things the Mighty One has done for me, the One whose name is holy*. 50. God’s
motherly love and help is for grandparents and parents, for children and grandchildren,
and their grandchildren. This help is given to all those who trust God. 51. God’s arm
has shown strength. God has scattered the haughty in their own conceit. 52. God has
put down the powerful rulers from their thrones and has lifted up the lowly. 53. God has
filled the hungry with good things and has sent the rich away empty. 54. Remembering
motherly love, God has helped Israel*, God’s servant. 55. This is just as God told our
ancestors, Abraham and Sarah and their children and the children’s children forever.”

56. Mary stayed with Elizabeth about three months. Then, Mary went back home.

57. The time came for Elizabeth to have her baby. The baby was a boy. 58. Her
neighbors and relatives heard that Yahweh had shown great motherly love to Elizabeth.
They all rejoiced together. 59. On the eight day, they came to mark the child with the
sign of the covenant* by circumcision*. They were going to name the child Zechariah.
60. But, the child’s mother spoke up saying, “No! he is to be called John.” 61. They said,
“But, no one in your family has that name!” 62. Then, they nodded to the father as if to
say, “What do you want the child to be called?” 63. He asked for a writing pad and, to
the surprise of everyone, he wrote, “His name is to be John.” 64. And, instantly, he
opened his mouth and moved his tongue. He spoke, thanking God.

65 An awe-filled respect came over all their neighbors. All these things became the talk
of the entire hill country of Judea. 66. Everyone who heard about it thought about it
and wondered, “Now, what is to become of this child?”, for the power of Yahweh was
indeed with him.

67. But, his father, Zechariah, was filled with God’s creative force and spoke for God as
a prophet*, 68. “Thanks and praise to Yahweh, the God of Israel who stayed with God’s
people and has set them free, 69. and has built strength in David’s family, which served
God in order to save us, 70. just as God spoke through the holy prophets* a long time
ago, 71. so that we should be saved from our enemies and from all who hate us. 72. God
gave motherly love and help to our ancestors, remembering the promises that God had
made. 73. That was the vow that God made to Abraham, our father. God was to give us a
gift 74. so that we could be safe from our enemies. 75. Without being afraid, we can live
all of our life with God. 76. And you, child, will be called the prophet* of the Most
High*, for you will go for Yahweh to get ready for God’s way of life. 77. You will let
God’s people know about being saved by being forgiven for living without God. 78.
Because God is full of motherly love and concern for us, the rising light from God will
come. 79. It will shine on those who are in deep darkness and gloom to guide our feet
into the way of peace.”

80. And the child grew up. With God’s creative force, he became strong. He was in the
desert until the day he was called to Israel.

Chapter 2:
1. In those days, a law was made and sent out by a Roman ruler, Caesar Augustus. It
ordered everyone, everywhere, to register and be counted. 2. This was the first census to
be taken while Quirenius was ruling over Syria. 3. And all the people had to go to their
own home city to be registered.

4.Joseph and Mary also went together from the city of Nazareth in Galilee. They went to
David’s city in Judea, which is called Bethlehem. They went there because Joseph was a
member of the David family.

5. Mary, who had made the first promises of marriage to Joseph, was pregnant when
they went to be registered. 6. While they were there, the time came for the baby to be
born. 7. Mary gave birth to their first child. She wrapped the baby up. Then, she placed
the baby in the animals’ feeding place, because there was no room for them in the guest
house.

8. There were shepherds living out in the fields near Bethlehem. They took turns
guarding their sheep at night. 9. A special messenger came to them. The light of God
shown around them. They were afraid. They were even terrified.

10. God’s messenger said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring good news to you. It is
news of great joy. It is joy-filled news that is for all people. It is for everyone. 11. For
you, a savior* Christ*, the divine ruler*, was born today in David’s city. 12. And there
will be a sign for you. You will find a baby all wrapped up. The baby will be laying in a
manger*.”

13. And, suddenly, there was with the messenger a larger group of God’s messengers.
They were thanking God. They were saying, 14. “Great honor to God among the highest
and for everyone, peace among people with whom God is pleased.”

15. Then, the messengers left and returned to their home with God.

The shepherds said to one another, “Quick! Let’s go to Bethlehem. Let us see this
happening that God has made known to us.”
16. They went very quickly and found Mary and Joseph. And there was the baby laying
in the manger*. 17. And when they saw, they made known what was told to them about
the child. 18. And all who heard them were amazed by the things the shepherds told
them.

19. Mary remembered everything and thought about it a lot.

20. The shepherds returned, honoring and thanking God because they had seen and
heard everything just as it had been told to them.

21. And eight days later, the time came to mark the child with the sign of the covenant*
by circumcision*. Then, the child was named Jesus. That was the name the messenger
used before the child was conceived and started to grow in the uterus.

22. And then it was time according to the rule Moses had given, for the Washing
Ceremony. The parents took Jesus up to Jerusalem, to bring Jesus before Yahweh. 23.
This was just as it is written in the law of Yahweh: “Every boy who is born first will be
specially called to serve Yahweh.”

24. They also brought a sacrifice* offering of a pair of doves or two young pigeons, just
as it is said in the law of Yahweh.

25. Listen, now. A person named Simeon was in Jerusalem. Simeon lived his life
following God’s laws and doing what was right. Simeon watched and waited for the
salvation* of Israel*. Simeon was led by God’s creative force. 26. He knew from this
holy spirit* that he would not die before seeing Yahweh’s Messiah. 27. And so, led by
the Spirit*, Simeon came into the Temple* area.

The parents brought their child in, to do for Jesus what was usually done, just as the
Law said was to be done.

28. And Simeon received the child into his arms and gave thanks to God and said, 29.
“Now is the time, Owner of all Creation. Now, you may let your servant die in peace,
since you have kept your promise. 30. I have seen with my own eyes your salvation*,
31. which you have made ready in full view of all people. 32. Your salvation* is a light to
show your way to other nations and honor for your people Israel*.”

33. Jesus’ father and mother were really surprised by what was being said about their
child.

34. Simeon asked for God’s power to be with them and said to Mary, the mother of
Jesus, “Listen! This child is put here for the falling down and the rising up of many in
Israel*, and as a sign that will be opposed. 35. And even you will feel like a double-
edged sword has gone through you. All of this will happen so that the attitudes and
decisions of many will show their real selves.”
36. And a prophet, Anna, was there. Anna was the daughter of Phaneul Asher. She was
very old. She had lived with her husband several years after marriage. 37. She was an
84-year-old widow who did not leave the Temple. She worshipped God day and night
with fasting and prayer. 38. At that very moment, she also came up to them and gave
thanks to God. And she spoke about the child to all those waiting for the price to be paid
for freedom* in Jerusalem.

39. They finished all their duties, just as the Law of Yahweh said. Then, they went back
to Galilee and to their own city of Nazareth. 40. And the child grew up and became
strong in spirit and filled with wisdom. God’s freely given approval and affection was
upon him.

41. Now every year, Jesus’ parents used to go to Jerusalem for the Passover* to celebrate
God’s freeing Israel from slavery. 42. And when Jesus was twelve years old, they went
up to the celebration a usual. 43. And when the days of celebration were over, they
started to go back home. But, Jesus stayed in Jerusalem. His parents did not know this.
44. They thought he was with the group that was traveling together. They had travelled
a whole day before they began to look for Jesus. They started to look for him with their
relatives and friends. 45. When they did not find him, they went back to Jerusalem to
look for him.

46. Finally, after three days, they found him in the Temple* area sitting in the middle of
the teachers. He was listening to them and asking them questions. 47. Everyone who
heard Jesus was amazed at how much he understood and the answers he gave.

48. When Jesus’ parents saw him, they were astonished. “Child,” his mother said, “why
have you done this to us? Listen, now! Your father and I have been terribly worried and
looking for you.”

49. “Why were you two looking for me?” Jesus asked them. “Didn’t you know that I had
to be within the house of my God?” 50. But, they did not understand what Jesus said to
them.

51. Then, Jesus went back down with them to Nazareth and with love obeyed them.
Jesus’ mother remembered everything. And Jesus made progress in wisdom, maturity,
and acceptance and approval of God and people.