s!"

When they were once more outside on the road, one of them spoke:

"I think," he said, "that it would be well for us not to see anything
of Herod again. I had a dream...."

The others agreed with him quickly. They had had a dream too.

"God sent that dream to warn us that Herod is dangerous," they said.
"Herod means to harm the child. Let us find some other road back
home."

[Illustration]

[Illustration]

[Illustration]

The days went by, and soon the baby was given his name. He was to be
called Jesus.

One day, when Jesus was about six weeks old, Joseph said to Mary:

"Now that we have a child, we must go up to the Temple in Jerusalem
and give an offering to the Lord. We cannot afford a lamb. But we can
at least take pigeons or a pair of turtledoves."

So Joseph and Mary left Bethlehem, and carried Jesus with them to
Jerusalem, five miles away.

An old man came up to them in the Temple.

"My name is Simeon," he said. "I have been waiting for you a long
time. All my life I have been waiting to see the Messiah. And now the
day has come."

He took Jesus from his mother's arms, and as he held the baby he began
to pray.

"Lord, let me now die in peace," he prayed. "For I have seen the
Messiah, the Saviour of all nations and the glory of the Jewish
people."

Simeon turned back to Joseph and Mary, who were looking at him in
wonder.

"Mary," he said, "this child of yours is going to break your heart. He
will make enemies, and cause great trouble in this country. He will
suffer, and others will suffer too, because of him. But also he will
give joy, and bring many people to God. God bless you now."

With these words the old man handed the baby back to Mary, and turned
away. Joseph and Mary never saw him again, but they remembered his
words forever after.

They took Jesus, and started on their walk back to Bethlehem. There
was so much for them to think about.

First there was the story of the shepherds. Then the Wise Men had come
with their wonderful gifts. And now there was this old man with his
strange words of blessing and warning.

Everything seemed to tell them that Jesus was the Messiah. They
should be happier than anyone in the world. And yet they were not
happy. There was trouble in the air. Their baby was going to be King
of the Jews. Why should there be any trouble about it? They could not
understand.

Trouble was not long in coming. One night Joseph had a dream. When he
awoke he ca