Below, the Christmas story paragraphs
are in the wrong order. Click on the first paragrah of
the Christmas Story.
The Journey
Joseph left the journey as long as he
could, hoping that Mary would have had
the baby before they started, but eventually,
he realised that they had to go. Mary
was so heavy now that she couldn't walk
very far, certainly not 80 miles, and
had to ride on a donkey.
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The Shepherds
On the hillside that night, some shepherds
were watching their sheep. It was a very
quiet night, when suddenly there was a
blaze of light, so bright that they had
to shield their eyes. It was an angel
come to tell them about God's promised
King. He had been born that night and
was lying in a manger. The shepherds decided
to go and see him. They found the baby
in the manger and knew that what the angels
said were true.
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The Angel Gabriel
In the town of Nazareth, in the north of
Israel, (in a district called Galilee) there
lived a girl called Mary who was going to
be married soon to a carpenter called Joseph.
One day, while she was going about her normal
jobs, she noticed a stranger standing in
front of her. He told her that his name
was Gabriel and he was a messenger from
God. He also said that she was going to
have a very special baby who was God's own
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The Gifts
So the wise men continued on to Bethlehem
and found the baby with his mother Mary.
They had brought some wonderful and strange
gifts for him. The first present was gold,
because he was a King. The second was
frankincense, a sweet smelling substance
burned in temples, because he was going
to be a priest, and the final present
was a spicy ointment called Myrrh, used
for embalming, because they also could
foretell his death.
They avoided going back by way of Jerusalem
and didn't tell Herod what they had found.
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The Census
Not long after Mary fell pregnant, the
Roman Emperor, Augustus, issued an order.
Everyone in the whole of the Roman Empire
was to go to his or her hometown and be
registered. Augustus wanted to know just
how many people lived within his empire,
because he wanted them to pay their taxes.
This meant that that for Mary and Joseph,
they had to travel all the way to Bethlehem,
a long distance of about 80 miles.
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The Wise Men
Far away to the East, 3 wise men had been
following a bright new star, which they
knew would lead them to a new King. As
they arrived in Jerusalem, they asked
where they could find the new King. The
Romans had appointed a man called Herod
to be King of the Jews, and he was very
alarmed when he heard there was a new
King. He told the wise men to find the
King and come back and tell him all about
it.
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Arriving in Bethlehem
By the time they arrived in Bethlehem,
all the inns were full as many people
had returned to the town to register.
One innkeeper felt so sorry for Mary,
that he suggested a stable at the back
of his inn. As it was winter, all the
animals were in the stable, but at least
Mary would not have to sleep outside.
That night Mary had her baby.
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The Flight
When Herod realised that he had been tricked,
he was furious and ordered every boy baby
under 2 years old to be killed. Joseph
and Mary decided that they couldn't go
back to Nazareth safely and instead fled
south across the desert into Egypt, where
they stayed until Herod died. Only then
did they return home.
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