One night certain shepherds were out in the fields taking care of their
sheep. Suddenly they saw a light brighter than the sun, and in the glory
of the light, an angel. They felt afraid.
But the angel spoke to them; he said: “Fear not. I have good news for
you, and for all the people in the world. There was born to-day, in
the city of Bethlehem, a little child who is to be a Saviour; his name
is Christ the Lord. You will find him lying in a manger.” As he spoke,
suddenly there appeared a great company of angels, and they sang: “Glory
to God in the highest, and on earth, _peace_, good-will toward men.”
When the angels were gone back to Heaven, the shepherds said to one
another: “Let us go right away to Bethlehem, and find this wonderful baby
that the Lord has sent us word about.”
So they started in haste. When they reached Bethlehem, they found the
stable, and the manger, and there was the baby with his mother. Then the
shepherds told what the angels had said and sung. The people wondered
at it; the mother remembered every word, and thought about what it all
meant. Then the shepherds went back to their work praising God as they
went, for all that he had told them, and for all that they had seen.
[Illustration: THE BIRTH OF CHRIST.—Matt. ii. 1.]