3 Mary, I am Jesus the Son of
God, that word, which thou didst
bring forth according to the
declaration of the angel Gabriel to
thee, and my father hath sent me
for the salvation of the world.
4 In the three hundred and
ninth year of the era of Alexander,
Augustus published a decree that
all persons should go to be taxed
in their own country.
5 Joseph therefore arose, and
with Mary his spouse he went to
Jerusalem, and then came to Bethlehem,
that he and his family might be taxed
in the city of his fathers.
6 And when they came by the cave,
Mary confessed to Joseph that her
time of bringing forth was come,
and she could not go on to the city,
and said, Let us go into this cave.
7 At that time the sun was very
near going down.
8 But Joseph hastened away,
that he might fetch her a midwife;
and when he saw an old Hebrew
woman who was of Jerusalem, he
said to her, Pray come hither,
good woman, and go into that cave,
and you will there see a woman
just ready to bring forth.
9 It was after sunset, when the
old woman and Joseph with her
reached the cave, and they both
went into it.
10 And behold, it was all filled
with lights, greater than the light
of lamps and candles, and greater
than the light of the sun itself.
11 The infant was then wrapped
up in swaddling clothes, and sucking
the breasts of his mother St.
Mary.
12 When they both saw this
light, they were surprised; the
old woman asked St. Mary, Art
thou the mother of this child?