Christmas Bible Verses: 15 Verses for Cards, Church and Christmas Eve

Christmas Bible verses about the promised child

Every verse in this guide is quoted from the World English Bible, with a line about where it comes from. These five were written centuries before Jesus was born, and Christians have read them at Christmas ever since.

• Isaiah 9:6. “For a child is born to us. A son is given to us; and the government will be on his shoulders. His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” Isaiah spoke it while Assyria threatened the land. Handel set it to music in Messiah.
• Isaiah 9:2. “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light. The light has shined on those who lived in the land of the shadow of death.” The same prophecy is addressed to Galilee, where Jesus would grow up.
• Micah 5:2. “But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, being small among the clans of Judah, out of you one will come out to me who is to be ruler in Israel”. The prophet picks a small town, King David’s hometown, for the ruler to come from.
• Isaiah 7:14. “Behold, the virgin will conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.” Immanuel means God with us, and Matthew quotes this verse in his account of the birth (Matthew 1:22–23).
• Numbers 24:17. “A star will come out of Jacob. A scepter will rise out of Israel”. Words from Balaam, a prophet from another nation. Many readers see them behind the star the wise men followed.

Christmas verses about why Jesus came

The letters of the New Testament hardly mention Bethlehem. They talk instead about what it meant that God’s Son became a human being.

• Galatians 4:4–5. “But when the fullness of the time came, God sent out his Son, born to a woman, born under the law, that he might redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as children.” Paul’s shortest Christmas story: the right time, a real birth and a family to belong to.
• Philippians 2:6–7. “who, existing in the form of God, didn’t consider equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in the likeness of men.” Probably an early Christian hymn, which Paul quotes to a church that needed humility.
• 1 Timothy 1:15. “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief.” Paul calls himself the worst of them, and he means it.
• 2 Corinthians 8:9. “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that you through his poverty might become rich.” Paul uses it to ask a church to give to Christians in need.
• 1 John 4:9. “By this God’s love was revealed in us, that God has sent his only born Son into the world that we might live through him.” A letter about love that starts its answer at Christmas.
• Titus 2:11. “For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men”. Part of a passage many churches read on Christmas Eve (Titus 2:11–14).

Christmas verses about joy

• Psalm 98:4. “Make a joyful noise to the LORD, all the earth! Burst out and sing for joy, yes, sing praises!” Isaac Watts based the carol Joy to the World on this psalm in 1719.
• Isaiah 52:7. “How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who publishes peace”. A picture of a runner carrying good news to Jerusalem.
• Zephaniah 3:17. “The LORD, your God, is among you, a mighty one who will save. He will rejoice over you with joy.” God among his people, and glad to be there.
• 2 Corinthians 9:15. “Now thanks be to God for his unspeakable gift!” Paul’s one-line thank-you at the end of a chapter about giving.

Short Christmas Bible verses for cards

Short verses fit best in a card. Write the reference under the verse, then add a line of your own.

• For family: 2 Corinthians 9:15 or Psalm 98:4.
• For a friend who has had a hard year: Isaiah 9:2.
• For a baby’s first Christmas: Isaiah 9:6, which begins “For a child is born to us.”
• For a pastor or friends from church: Isaiah 52:7 or 1 Timothy 1:15.
• For coworkers or neighbors: Titus 2:11.

Where is the Christmas story in the Bible?

Two Gospels tell it, and they tell different parts. Matthew follows Joseph and the wise men. Luke follows Mary, the shepherds and the angels. Mark begins with Jesus as an adult, and John opens with a poem about the Word of God coming into the world (John 1:1–14).

The lines most people know, the angel’s news to the shepherds and the choir that follows, are in Luke 2:10–14.

A Christmas Eve reading for the family

This takes about ten minutes and works for any age.

1. Turn the lights down and read Isaiah 9:2 and 9:6: the light, then the child.
2. Read Luke 2:1–20 aloud. Pass the Bible around so a different person reads each part: the journey, the birth, the shepherds and the angels.
3. Light a candle and let everyone name one thing from this year they want to thank God for.
4. Sing one carol together, such as Silent Night or Joy to the World.
5. Close with 2 Corinthians 9:15, said together.

If you kept Advent this year, this is the reading the season was waiting for. Our guide to Advent has a plan for the weeks before.

What does the Bible say about Christmas?

The Bible tells the story of Jesus’ birth, but it never mentions a holiday to mark it or gives a date. Christians were celebrating the birth on December 25 by the 300s.

What the Bible does say is why the birth matters. God didn’t send a message from far away. He came close: “God was revealed in the flesh” (1 Timothy 3:16), and he was made “like his brothers” in every way (Hebrews 2:17). That is the meaning of Immanuel, God with us, and the reason Christmas is worth keeping.

Common questions