And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High. For you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways,

When they saw him, they related what they had been told about this child,

And the child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom, and the favor of God was upon him.

But when Jesus discerned their innermost thoughts, he took a child, had him stand by his side,

On the eighth day they came to circumcise the child, and they wanted to name him Zechariah after his father.

And the child kept growing and becoming strong in spirit, and he was in the wilderness until the day he was revealed to Israel.

I tell you the truth, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child will never enter it.”

All who heard these things kept them in their hearts, saying, “What then will this child be?” For the Lord’s hand was indeed with him.

So Simeon, directed by the Spirit, came into the temple courts, and when the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him what was customary according to the law,

They are like children sitting in the marketplace and calling out to one another, ‘We played the flute for you, yet you did not dance; we wailed in mourning, yet you did not weep.’

Then he will reply from inside, ‘Do not bother me. The door is already shut, and my children and I are in bed. I cannot get up and give you anything.’

But Jesus called for the children, saying, “Let the little children come to me and do not try to stop them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.

and said to them, “Whoever welcomes this child in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me, for the one who is least among you all is the one who is great.”