Det skjedde i de dager at det gikk ut et påbud fra keiser Augustus om at hele verden skulle innskrives.

Now it came about in those days that an order went out from Caesar Augustus that there was to be a numbering of all the world.

Dette var den første innskrivingen, mens Quirinius var landshøvding i Syria.

This was the first numbering, which was made when Quirinius was ruler of Syria.

Og alle dro for å bli innskrevet, hver til sin egen by.

And all men went to be numbered, everyone to his town.

Josef dro da fra Galilea, fra byen Nasaret, opp til Judea, til Davids by Betlehem, fordi han var av Davids hus og slekt,

And Joseph went up from Galilee, out of the town of Nazareth, into Judaea, to Beth-lehem, the town of David, because he was of the house and family of David,

for å la seg innskrive sammen med Maria, sin forlovede, som ventet barn.

To be put on the list with Mary, his future wife, who was about to become a mother.

Og mens de var der, kom tiden da hun skulle føde.

And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth.

Hun fødte sin førstefødte sønn, svøpte ham i lintøy og la ham i en krybbe, for det var ikke plass for dem i herberget.

And she had her first son; and folding him in linen, she put him to rest in the place where the cattle had their food, because there was no room for them in the house.

I samme land var det noen hyrder som var ute i markene og holdt nattevakt over flokken sin.

And in the same country there were keepers of sheep in the fields, watching over their flock by night.

En Herrens engel stod foran dem, og Herrens herlighet lyste rundt dem, og de ble slått med stor frykt.

And an angel of the Lord came to them, and the glory of the Lord was shining round about them: and fear came on them.

Men engelen sa til dem: Frykt ikke! For se, jeg forkynner dere en stor glede som skal bli for hele folket:

And the angel said, Have no fear; for truly, I give you good news of great joy which will be for all the people:

I dag er det født dere en frelser i Davids by; han er Kristus, Herren.

For on this day, in the town of David, a Saviour has come to birth, who is Christ the Lord.

Og dette skal dere ha som tegn: Dere skal finne et barn som er svøpt og ligger i en krybbe.

And this is the sign to you: you will see a young child folded in linen, in the place where the cattle have their food.

Og med engelen var en himmelsk hærskare som lovpriste Gud og sa,

And suddenly there was with the angel a great band of spirits from heaven, giving praise to God, and saying,

Ære være Gud i det høyeste, og fred på jorden blant mennesker som har hans velbehag.

Glory to God in the highest, and on the earth peace among men with whom he is well pleased.

Da englene hadde forlatt dem og vendt tilbake til himmelen, sa hyrdene til hverandre: La oss gå til Betlehem og se det som har hendt, som Herren har kunngjort oss.

And when the angels had gone away from them into heaven, the keepers of the sheep said to one another, Let us go now to Beth-lehem, and see this thing which has come about, which the Lord has made clear to us.

De skyndte seg av sted og fant Maria og Josef, og barnet som lå i krybben.

And they came quickly, and saw Mary and Joseph, and the child in the place where the cattle had their food.

Da de hadde sett det, fortalte de om det som var sagt dem om dette barn.

And when they saw it, they gave them an account of the things which had been said to them about the child.

Og alle som hørte det, undret seg over det hyrdene fortalte dem.

And all those to whose ears it came were full of wonder at the things said by the keepers of the sheep.

Men Maria tok vare på alle disse ordene og grundet på dem i sitt hjerte.

But Mary kept all these words in her heart, and gave much thought to them.

Hyrdene vendte tilbake og priste og lovet Gud for alt det de hadde hørt og sett, slik det var blitt sagt dem.

Then the keepers of the sheep went back, giving glory and praise to God for all the things which had come to their ears and which they had seen, as it had been said to them.

Da åtte dager var gått, og han skulle omskjæres, fikk han navnet Jesus, det som engelen hadde gitt ham før han ble unnfanget i mors liv.

And when, after eight days, the time came for his circumcision, he was named Jesus, the name which the angel had given to him before his birth.

Og da tiden var inne for deres renselse etter Moseloven, tok de ham opp til Jerusalem for å fremstille ham for Herren,

And when the necessary days for making them clean by the law of Moses had come to an end, they took him to Jerusalem to give him to the Lord

slik det står skrevet i Herrens lov: Hver guttebarn som åpner mors liv skal kalles hellig for Herren,

(As it says in the law of the Lord, Every mother's first male child is to be holy to the Lord),

og for å bære fram et offer, slik det er foreskrevet i Herrens lov, et par turtelduer eller to dueunger.

And to make an offering, as it is ordered in the law of the Lord, of two doves or other young birds.

Og i Jerusalem var det en mann som hette Simeon; han var rettferdig og gudfryktig og ventet på Israels trøst, og Den Hellige Ånd var over ham.

And there was then in Jerusalem a man whose name was Simeon; and he was an upright man, fearing God and waiting for the comfort of Israel: and the Holy Spirit was on him.

Det var blitt åpenbart for ham av Den Hellige Ånd at han ikke skulle se døden før han hadde sett Herrens Messias.

And he had knowledge, through the Holy Spirit, that he would not see death till he had seen the Lord's Christ.

Han kom, drevet av Ånden, til templet; og da foreldrene kom inn med barnet Jesus for å gjøre med ham som loven krevde,

And full of the Spirit he came into the Temple; and when the father and mother came in with the child Jesus, to do with him what was ordered by the law,

tok han ham i sine armer og lovpriste Gud og sa,

Then he took him in his arms and gave praise to God and said,

Herre, nå lar du din tjener fare herfra i fred, etter ditt ord,

Now you are letting your servant go in peace, O Lord, as you have said;

for mine øyne har sett din frelse,

For my eyes have seen your salvation,

som du har beredt for alle folks åsyn,

Which you have made ready before the face of all nations;

et lys til åpenbaring for hedningene, og en herlighet for ditt folk Israel.

A light of revelation to the Gentiles, and the glory of your people Israel.

Hans far og mor undret seg over det som ble sagt om ham.

And his father and mother were full of wonder at the things which were said about him.

Simeon velsignet dem og sa til Maria, hans mor: Se, han er satt til fall og oppreisning for mange i Israel og til et tegn som blir motsagt.

And Simeon gave them his blessing and said to Mary, his mother, See, this child will be the cause of the downfall and the lifting up of great numbers of people in Israel, and he will be a sign against which hard words will be said;

Ja, også din egen sjel skal et sverd gjennombore, for at mange hjerters tanker skal bli åpenbart.

(And a sword will go through your heart;) so that the secret thoughts of men may come to light.

Det var også en kvinne ved navn Anna, en profetinne, datter av Fanuel, av Asers stamme. Hun var meget gammel; hun hadde levd syv år med sin mann etter sitt jomfrustand,

And there was one, Anna, a woman prophet, the daughter of Phanuel, of the family of Asher (she was very old, and after seven years of married life

og var deretter enke til sitt åttifjerde år. Hun forlot ikke templet, men tjente Gud med faste og bønn natt og dag.

She had been a widow for eighty-four years); she was in the Temple at all times, worshipping with prayers and going without food, night and day.

I samme stund kom hun fram, lovpriste Gud og talte om ham til alle som ventet på Jerusalems befrielse.

And coming up at that time, she gave praise to God, talking of him to all those who were waiting for the freeing of Jerusalem.

Da de hadde fullført alt som var foreskrevet i Herrens lov, vendte de tilbake til Galilea, til sin by Nasaret.

And when they had done all the things which were ordered by the law of the Lord, they went back to Galilee, to Nazareth, the town where they were living.

Barnet vokste opp og ble sterkt, fylt med visdom, og Guds nåde var over ham.

And the child became tall and strong and full of wisdom, and the grace of God was on him.

Hans foreldre dro hvert år til Jerusalem til påskefesten.

And every year his father and mother went to Jerusalem at the feast of the Passover.

Da han var tolv år gammel, dro de som vanlig opp til festen.

And when he was twelve years old, they went up, as their way was, to the feast;

Da festdagene var over, og de vendte hjemover, ble gutten Jesus igjen i Jerusalem uten at foreldrene visste det.

And when the days of the feast came to an end and they were going back, the boy Jesus was still in Jerusalem, but they had no knowledge of it:

De antok at han var blant reisefølget og gikk en dagsreise, men lette så etter ham blant slektninger og venner.

And in the belief that he was with some of their number, they went a day's journey; and after looking for him among their relations and friends,

Da de ikke fant ham, vendte de tilbake til Jerusalem for å lete etter ham.

And seeing that he was not there, they went back to Jerusalem, to make search for him.

Etter tre dager fant de ham i templet, der han satt blant lærerne og lyttet til dem og stilte spørsmål.

And after three days they came across him in the Temple, seated among the wise men, giving ear to their words and putting questions to them.

Alle som hørte ham, undret seg over hans forstand og svar.

And all to whose ears it came were full of wonder at his knowledge and the answers which he gave.

Da foreldrene så ham, ble de slått av undring, og hans mor sa til ham: Barn, hvorfor har du gjort dette mot oss? Se, din far og jeg har lett etter deg med stor bekymring.

And when they saw him they were surprised, and his mother said to him, Son, why have you done this to us? see, your father and I have been looking for you with sorrow.

Han svarte: Hvorfor lette dere etter meg? Visste dere ikke at jeg må være i min Fars hus?

And he said to them, Why were you looking for me? was it not clear to you that my right place was in my Father's house?

Men de forstod ikke det ordet han talte til dem.

And his words seemed strange to them.

Så dro han med dem ned til Nasaret og var dem lydig. Hans mor gjemte alt dette i sitt hjerte.

And he went down with them and came to Nazareth; and did as he was ordered: and his mother kept all these words in her heart.

Jesus vokste i visdom og alder, og i velvilje hos Gud og mennesker.

And Jesus was increasing in wisdom and in years, and in grace before God and men.