Passage

Luke 2.8-14

Book: Luke · NASB95

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV (ASV)

"6. And it came to pass, while they were there, the days were fulfilled that she should be delivered. 7. And she brought forth her firstborn son; and she wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn."

"8. And there were shepherds in the same country abiding in the field, and keeping watch by night over their flock. 9. And an angel of the Lord stood by them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. 10. And the angel said unto them, Be not afraid; for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which shall be to all the people: 11. for there is born to you this day in the city of David a Saviour, who is Christ the Lord. 12. And this is the sign unto you: Ye shall find a babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, and lying in a manger. 13. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, 14. Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace among men in whom he is well pleased."

"15. And it came to pass, when the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing that is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us. 16. And they came with haste, and found both Mary and Joseph, and the babe lying in the manger." (Luke 2:6-16, ASV)

WEB (WEB)

"6. While they were there, the day had come for her to give birth. 7. She gave birth to her firstborn son. She wrapped him in bands of cloth, and laid him in a feeding trough, because there was no room for them in the inn."

"8. There were shepherds in the same country staying in the field, and keeping watch by night over their flock. 9. Behold, an angel of the Lord stood by them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 10. The angel said to them, “Don’t be afraid, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be to all the people. 11. For there is born to you today, in David’s city, a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. 12. This is the sign to you: you will find a baby wrapped in strips of cloth, lying in a feeding trough.” 13. Suddenly, there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly army praising God, and saying, 14. “Glory to God in the highest, on earth peace, good will toward men.”"

"15. When the angels went away from them into the sky, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem, now, and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.” 16. They came with haste, and found both Mary and Joseph, and the baby was lying in the feeding trough." (Luke 2:6-16, WEB)

KJV (KJV)

"6. And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered. 7. And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn."

"8. And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. ^{watch: or, the night watches} 9. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. 10. And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. 11. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. 12. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. 13. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, 14. Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men."

"15. And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us. ^{the shepherds: Gr. the men the shepherds} 16. And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger." (Luke 2:6-16, KJV)

YLT (YLT)

"6. And it came to pass, in their being there, the days were fulfilled for her bringing forth, 7. and she brought forth her son, the first-born, and wrapped him up, and laid him down in the manger, because there was not for them a place in the guest-chamber."

"8. And there were shepherds in the same region, lodging in the field, and keeping the night-watches over their flock, 9. and lo, a messenger of the Lord stood over them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they feared a great fear. 10. And the messenger said to them, 'Fear not, for lo, I bring you good news of great joy, that shall be to all the people, 11. because there was born to you to-day a Saviour, who is Christ the Lord, in the city of David, 12. and this [is] to you the sign: Ye shall find a babe wrapped up, lying in the manger.' 13. And suddenly there came with the messenger a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God, and saying, 14. 'Glory in the highest to God, and upon earth peace, among men, good will.'"

"15. And it came to pass, when the messengers were gone away from them to the heavens, that the men, the shepherds, said unto one another, 'We may go over indeed unto Bethlehem, and see this thing that hath come to pass, that the Lord did make known to us.' 16. And they came, having hasted, and found both Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in the manger," (Luke 2:6-16, YLT)

Setting

Speaker: TBD
Audience: TBD
Location: TBD
Time period: TBD

Theological reading

Patristic / early-church-father exegesis, to be added.

Key words

Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word; see Lexicon Roadmap.

TBD
TBD
TBD
TBD

Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.