23 Christmas Bible verses about the birth of Jesus
From the prophets who saw it coming, to the night in Bethlehem, to what it all means: a few honest lines on each, to read slowly this Advent.
The MySavior teamUpdated · 11 min read
“Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom His favor rests!”
Luke 2:14 · BSB
For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given
From Isaiah 9:6 · BSB
The birth of Jesus is told in Matthew 1–2 and Luke 1–2, and the verses Christians read most at Christmas come from those chapters and from the prophets who saw it coming: Isaiah 9:6, Micah 5:2, Luke 2:11 and John 1:14 among them. Here are 23 of them, quoted from the Berean Standard Bible, each with a few lines on what it meant then and what it asks of us now.
Most of us knew these words before we knew where they came from. We heard them at a church pageant in a bathrobe and a dish-towel headdress, in a carol sung half asleep at midnight, in the reading before anyone was allowed near the presents. They are worth meeting again, slowly and in order.
So they come in three parts. Numbers 1 to 8 are the promise, spoken by prophets and angels before anyone had seen a manger. Numbers 9 to 16 are the birth, from the manger in Bethlehem to the Magi at the door. Numbers 17 to 23 are what it means, in the words of John and Paul, who spent their lives thinking about it.
The promise · Light for a dark land
Isaiah 9:2
The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death, a light has dawned.
Isaiah 9:2 · BSB
Isaiah speaks this over Galilee, the northern land the Assyrians had overrun, carrying its people off to Assyria (2 Kings 15:29). Centuries later Matthew quotes it when Jesus begins to preach there (Matthew 4:16). Notice the tense: the prophet talks as if the dawn has already come. That is how God’s promises sound.
The promise · A sign nobody asked for
Isaiah 7:14
Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin will be with child and give birth to a son, and will call Him Immanuel.
Isaiah 7:14 · BSB
King Ahaz was frightened of the armies at his border and refused to ask God for anything (Isaiah 7:12). God gave him a sign anyway. Matthew hears its fullest meaning in Bethlehem and translates the name for us: Immanuel, “God with us” (Matthew 1:23).
The promise · Four names for one child
Isaiah 9:6
For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given, and the government will be upon His shoulders. And He will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Isaiah 9:6 · BSB
Handel set the opening words as a chorus in Messiah, first performed in Dublin in 1742. Read the four names slowly. Each one would be too much for any king, and the verse lays them all on the shoulders of a newborn.
The promise · The smallest town
Micah 5:2
But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come forth for Me One to be ruler over Israel—One whose origins are of old, from the days of eternity.
Micah 5:2 · BSB
Micah names the town and admits it is small; its name means “house of bread.” Some seven centuries later, when Herod asks where the Messiah will be born, the scholars quote this verse back to him (Matthew 2:4–6). God keeps starting with places nobody would choose.
The promise · Life from a stump
Isaiah 11:1
Then a shoot will spring up from the stump of Jesse, and a Branch from his roots will bear fruit.
Isaiah 11:1 · BSB
Jesse was King David’s father. Isaiah pictures David’s royal line cut down like a tree, nothing left but a stump, and then something green. Families who keep a Jesse tree through Advent are hanging their ornaments on this verse.
The promise · Gabriel’s visit
Luke 1:30–31
So the angel told her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. Behold, you will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to give Him the name Jesus.
Luke 1:30–31 · BSB
Heaven’s first words to Mary are the same ones the shepherds will hear: “Do not be afraid.” Then the angel gives the name before there is a child to carry it, to a young woman in a village the Old Testament never mentions.
The promise · Mary’s yes
Luke 1:38
“I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May it happen to me according to your word.” Then the angel left her.
Luke 1:38 · BSB
Mary asks one honest question first (Luke 1:34), then says yes without knowing how any of it will go. Her answer is short enough to pray in the car, at the kitchen sink, or before a conversation you dread.
The promise · A name with a mission
Matthew 1:21
She will give birth to a Son, and you are to give Him the name Jesus, because He will save His people from their sins.”
Matthew 1:21 · BSB
Joseph hears this in a dream, just when he has decided to end the engagement quietly (Matthew 1:19–20). Jesus is the Greek form of Joshua, a name that means “the LORD saves,” and the angel tells him exactly what kind of saving it will be. When he wakes, he does exactly what he was told (Matthew 1:24).
The birth · No room
Luke 2:7
And she gave birth to her firstborn, a Son. She wrapped Him in swaddling cloths and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.
Luke 2:7 · BSB
Luke tells the birth itself in a single sentence. A manger is a feeding trough for animals. The Son of God begins his life where the animals eat, wrapped in the same plain cloths as any other baby.
The birth · The night shift
Luke 2:8
And there were shepherds residing in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks by night.
Luke 2:8 · BSB
The first people to hear were not priests or kings but working men awake at the worst hour, doing a dull and necessary job. If you are working nights this December, in a hospital, a warehouse or beside a sick child, you are in good company.
The birth · Good news
Luke 2:10
But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid! For behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people:
Luke 2:10 · BSB
“For all the people” is the part to hold on to. This joy is not reserved for the devout or the deserving. It was told first to a handful of shepherds and meant, from the start, for everyone.
The birth · Today
Luke 2:11
Today in the city of David a Savior has been born to you. He is Christ the Lord!
Luke 2:11 (BSB)
Three titles in one breath: Savior, Christ, Lord. And one word that turns them from doctrine into news: today. It is short enough to sit under the clock on your Lock Screen and to greet you every time you pick up your phone this Advent.
Sunday, November 8
9:41
Today in the city of David a Savior has been born to you. He is Christ the Lord!
Luke 2:11 · BSBTurn this verse into your Lock Screen wallpaperWrite it over a photograph in MySavior’s wallpaper maker and save it to Photos at the size of your iPhone’s screen.
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The birth · The sign
Luke 2:12
And this will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.”
Luke 2:12 · BSB
The sign is not a light in the sky. It is a baby lying in a feeding box, the last place anyone would look for a king. The shepherds were told exactly what to look for, and it was humble enough to miss.
The birth · The angels’ song
Luke 2:13–14
And suddenly there appeared with the angel a great multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying: “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom His favor rests!”
Luke 2:13–14 · BSB
These words became the Gloria, the old hymn that opens “Glory to God in the highest,” and the refrain of “Angels We Have Heard on High.” The peace here is not a vague wish for a quiet holiday. It is God’s favor, given.
The birth · Keeping it
Luke 2:19
But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart.
Luke 2:19 · BSB
Everyone else in the story is moving: angels leaving, shepherds hurrying in and then out to tell everyone. Mary stays still and keeps it. Christmas is loud; this verse is permission to be quiet inside it.
The birth · The Magi
Matthew 2:10–11
When they saw the star, they rejoiced with great delight. On coming to the house, they saw the Child with His mother Mary, and they fell down and worshiped Him. Then they opened their treasures and presented Him with gifts of gold and frankincense and myrrh.
Matthew 2:10–11 · BSB
Matthew never says there were three of them, or that they were kings; the number probably comes from the three gifts. By now the family is in a house. Gold for a king, frankincense for worship, and myrrh, which Nicodemus would one day bring to his burial (John 19:39): the gifts tell the whole story before it happens.
What it means · The light holds
John 1:5
The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
John 1:5 · BSB
Not “the darkness has gone,” but “has not overcome it.” The light of Christmas is a small one, more lantern than floodlight, and it holds. Keep this one for the hard evenings of December. There are always a few.
What it means · God moves in
John 1:14
The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us. We have seen His glory, the glory of the one and only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.
John 1:14 · BSB
John tells no story of a manger; he goes straight to what it means. The Greek verb behind “made His dwelling” comes from the word for a tent: God pitched His tent among us. John 1:1–14 is the ninth and last lesson of the Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols, first held at King’s College, Cambridge, on Christmas Eve 1918.
What it means · Right on time
Galatians 4:4–5
But when the time had fully come, God sent His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law, that we might receive our adoption as sons.
Galatians 4:4–5 · BSB
Paul wrote this before any of the Gospels was set down, which makes “born of a woman” one of the earliest written mentions of the birth we have. God chose the moment, and the reason is family: not hired hands, but children brought home.
What it means · Why He came
John 3:16
For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that everyone who believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.
John 3:16 · BSB
Probably the best-known verse in the Bible, and it is a Christmas verse at heart: God “gave.” Every present under a tree is a small echo of this one. Read it as if you had never heard it before.
What it means · Rich made poor
2 Corinthians 8:9
For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sake He became poor, so that you through His poverty might become rich.
2 Corinthians 8:9 · BSB
Paul is raising money for the poor in Jerusalem, and his argument is the manger. It is still the best reason there is to give away something this Christmas that you will actually miss.
What it means · Grace appeared
Titus 2:11
For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to everyone.
Titus 2:11 · BSB
This is the second reading at Catholic Midnight Mass. The verb Paul uses for “appeared” literally means to shine upon, and it gives us the word Epiphany. Grace stops being an idea here; it has a face and a birthday.
What it means · The gift
2 Corinthians 9:15
Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!
2 Corinthians 9:15 · BSB
Paul spends two chapters on generosity and then simply runs out of words. When the wrapping paper is in the recycling and the guests have gone home, this is the gift that is still there.
A small practice for Advent
Twenty-three verses, twenty-three evenings. Start on December 2, read one a night in order, and the last one, “Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!”, falls on Christmas Eve. Read it aloud, even if only to yourself, and light a candle if you have one. Let the promises come first, the way they did, so that by the time you reach the shepherds you have done a little of the waiting too. (Wondering when Advent itself begins? Here are the dates.)
Keep Christmas in view all through Advent
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Questions
Where is the Christmas story in the Bible?
In two Gospels. Matthew 1–2 tells it from Joseph’s side: the angel in a dream, the birth in Bethlehem and the visit of the Magi. Luke 1–2 tells it from Mary’s side: the angel Gabriel, the manger and the shepherds. Mark begins with Jesus as a grown man, and John opens with a poem about the Word becoming flesh (John 1:1–14) instead of a story.
Which Old Testament verses foretell the birth of Jesus?
The ones quoted most at Christmas are Isaiah 7:14 (the virgin and Immanuel), Isaiah 9:6 (“For unto us a child is born”), Isaiah 11:1 (the shoot from the stump of Jesse) and Micah 5:2 (Bethlehem). Matthew quotes Isaiah 7:14 in Matthew 1:23 and Micah 5:2 in Matthew 2:6.
Does the Bible say Jesus was born on December 25?
No. Neither Matthew nor Luke gives a date. The oldest surviving record of Christians keeping December 25 as the feast of Christ’s birth is a Roman calendar known as the Chronograph of 354, which marks that day as the birth of Christ in Bethlehem of Judea.
How can I count down to Christmas on my iPhone?
With the Christian Countdown widget in MySavior. Add it to your Lock Screen or Home Screen and set its Event to Christmas; the number goes down by one every night at midnight. See how many days are left until Christmas.
Which Bible translation is quoted here?
Every verse in this article is quoted from the Berean Standard Bible (BSB).
