into the hill country of Judaea to see Elizabeth.

And God had also promised to send Elizabeth a son. And soon after
Mary's visit the baby was born, and all Elizabeth's friends were glad,
and came to see her, and to thank God with her for His great kindness.

The little Jew babies have a name given to them when they are eight
days old. And Elizabeth's son was named John.

One night, soon after Mary got back from her cousin Elizabeth's house,
the angel of the Lord spoke to Joseph in a dream. The angel told
Joseph to marry Mary, and he told him Mary's secret about the Son of
God coming to earth as her little child, and he said to Joseph, 'THOU
SHALT CALL HIS NAME JESUS, FOB HE SHALL SAVE HIS PEOPLE FROM THEIR
SINS.' When Joseph woke up, his first thought was to do what the angel
had told him, and he at once took Mary to his own home as his wife.

About this time Caesar Augustus, the great Emperor at Rome, sent word
to Herod that he was to take a census of the Jews. Everybody's name
had to be written down and his age, and many other things about him.
Every twenty years Augustus had a census taken, so that he might know
how much money the Jews ought to pay him, and how many Jew soldiers he
ought to have.

In Palestine, at census time, people had to go to the towns where their
fathers' fathers lived a long time ago, and had to have their names put
down there instead of having them put down in their own homes. Now,
both Joseph and Mary belonged to the family of the great king David,
who was born in Bethlehem. So Mary had to prepare for a long journey,
and go with her husband to Bethlehem. Bethlehem is six miles from