Luke 2:8-14

Angels and shepherds

8 Now there were shepherds in that same area, staying out in the field and keeping the nightly watches*They would take turns standing watch. over their flock. 9 When wow, an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 10 The angel said to them: "Do not be afraid because listen, I am announcing the most joyful news to you, which will be to all the people! 11 You see, today,*The shepherds were Jews, and their ‘day’ began at 6 p.m. The angel’s use of ‘today’ indicates that Jesus was born at night, since the angel delivered his message at night. in David’s city, a Savior was born to you, who is Lord Christ! 12 And this is the sign to you: you will find a Baby wrapped in pieces of cloth, lying in a manger."*This may not seem like much of a ‘sign’ to us, but doubtless there was only one newborn baby in the whole area who met those conditions. 13 Suddenly a multitude of the heavenly army was with the angel praising God and saying,

14 "Glory to God in the highest

and on earth peace, good will toward mankind!"*"Good will toward mankind"—what greater proof of God’s good will could there be than the whole plan of salvation, the center piece of which was the incarnation! "Good will toward mankind" reflects some 1700 Greek manuscripts; only six known Greek manuscripts, of objectively inferior quality, read "among those with whom He is pleased" (as in NIV, NASB, LB, TEV, etc.); the New Living Translation favors us with a footnote: "Some manuscripts read… goodwill among people"—by ‘some’ they mean (1,700 against six! [how could the editors be so perverse?]).