5 and think the same way that Christ Jesus thought:*

6 Christ was truly God.

But he did not try to remain*

equal with God.

7 Instead he gave up everything*

and became a slave,

when he became

like one of us.

8 Christ was humble.

He obeyed God and even died

on a cross.

4 But when the time was right, God sent his Son, and a woman gave birth to him. His Son obeyed the Law, 5 *so he could set us free from the Law, and we could become God’s children.

14 We are people of flesh and blood. This is why Jesus became one of us. He died to destroy the devil, who had power over death. 15 But he also died to rescue all of us who live each day in fear of dying.

17 He had to be one of us, so he could serve God as our merciful and faithful high priest and sacrifice himself for the forgiveness of our sins.

16 God loved the people of this world so much that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who has faith in him will have eternal life and never really die.

18 *This is how Jesus Christ was born. A young woman named Mary was engaged to Joseph from King David’s family. But before they were married, she learned that she was going to have a baby by God’s Holy Spirit.

20 While Joseph was thinking about this, an angel from the Lord appeared to him in a dream. The angel said, "Joseph, the baby that Mary will have is from the Holy Spirit. Go ahead and marry her. 21 *Then after her baby is born, name him Jesus,* because he will save his people from their sins."

22 So the Lord’s promise came true, just as the prophet had said, 23 *"A virgin will have a baby boy, and he will be called Immanuel," which means "God is with us."

24 After Joseph woke up, he and Mary were soon married, just as the Lord’s angel had told him to do. 25 *But they did not sleep together before her baby was born. Then Joseph named him Jesus.

30 Then the angel told Mary, "Don’t be afraid! God is pleased with you, 31 *and you will have a son. His name will be Jesus. 32 *He will be great and will be called the Son of God Most High. The Lord God will make him king, as his ancestor David was. 33 He will rule the people of Israel forever, and his kingdom will never end."

4 So Joseph had to leave Nazareth in Galilee and go to Bethlehem in Judea. Long ago Bethlehem had been King David’s hometown, and Joseph went there because he was from David’s family.

5 Mary was engaged to Joseph and traveled with him to Bethlehem. She was soon going to have a baby, 6 and while they were there, 7 she gave birth to her first-born* son. She dressed him in baby clothes* and laid him on a bed of hay, because there was no room for them in the inn.

10 But the angel said, "Don’t be afraid! I have good news for you, which will make everyone happy. 11 This very day in King David’s hometown a Savior was born for you. He is Christ the Lord. 12 You will know who he is, because you will find him dressed in baby clothes and lying on a bed of hay."

15 After the angels had left and gone back to heaven, the shepherds said to each other, "Let’s go to Bethlehem and see what the Lord has told us about." 16 They hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and they saw the baby lying on a bed of hay.

17 When the shepherds saw Jesus, they told his parents what the angel had said about him. 18 Everyone listened and was surprised.

37 "So you are a king," Pilate replied.

"You are saying that I am a king," Jesus told him. "I was born into this world to tell about the truth. And everyone who belongs to the truth knows my voice."

9 The wise men listened to what the king said and then left. And the star they had seen in the east went on ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. 10 They were thrilled and excited to see the star.

11 When the men went into the house and saw the child with Mary, his mother, they knelt down and worshiped him. They took out their gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh* and gave them to him. 12 Later they were warned in a dream not to return to Herod, and they went back home by another road.