And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”
Parallel translations
- WEB This is the sign to you: you will find a baby wrapped in strips of cloth, lying in a feeding trough.”
- KJV And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.
- BSB And this will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.”
- ESV And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.”
- NKJV And this will be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger.”
- NLT And you will recognize him by this sign: You will find a baby wrapped snugly in strips of cloth, lying in a manger.”
Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
The sign is a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger. It matters because God authenticates His Savior through humble, verifiable signs.
Overview
The angel gives the shepherds a sign to confirm the message: they will find the child in surprisingly humble surroundings. The manger itself becomes the mark of the Messiah, underscoring His lowliness. God meets faith with concrete confirmation, inviting the shepherds to go and see.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 9
- Isa 7:14Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin will conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.
- Isa 53:1–2Who has believed our message? To whom has the arm of Yahweh been revealed?
- Isa 7:11“Ask a sign of Yahweh your God; ask it either in the depth, or in the height above.”
- Ps 22:6But I am a worm, and no man; a reproach of men, and despised by the people.
- 1 Sam 10:2–7When you have departed from me today, then you will find two men by Rachel’s tomb, on the border of Benjamin at Zelzah. They will tell you, ‘The donkeys which you went to look for have been found; and behold, your father has stopped caring about the donkeys, and is anxious for you, saying, “What shall I do for my son?”’
- 2 Kgs 20:8Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “What will be the sign that Yahweh will heal me, and that I will go up to Yahweh’s house the third day?”
- 2 Kgs 19:29“This will be the sign to you: This year, you will eat that which grows of itself, and in the second year that which springs of the same; and in the third year sow, and reap, and plant vineyards, and eat its fruit.
- 1 Sam 2:34“‘This will be the sign to you, that will come on your two sons, on Hophni and Phinehas: in one day they will both die.
- Exod 3:12He said, “Certainly I will be with you. This will be the token to you, that I have sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall serve God on this mountain.”
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
Luke shows Jesus the Savior for all — outsiders, the poor, the nations — the one who, on the Emmaus road, opened all the Scriptures to show they were about himself.
How Luke 2:12 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.