READ THE COMPLETE STORY OF JESUS OF NAZARETH'S BIRTH AND HIS ANOINTING BY JOHN THE BAPTISTTHIS NEW ENGLISH VERSE TRANSLATION BY CONTEMPORARY POET EDOUARD d'ARAILLE ('Adapa's Ascent', 'The Fallen', 'Words Can't Hold...') IS BASED ENTIRELY UPON THE NEW TESTAMENT GOSPELS OF MATTHEW, MARK, LUKE AND JOHNThe 28 poetic chapters of BIRTH OF JESUS are extracted from 'BOOK OF JESUS: A Unified Gospel in English Verse' (2024) composed by Edouard d'Araille.

BOOK OF JESUS is what is conventionally referred to as a 'Gospel Harmony', for it aims to harmonize all the elements of the four gospels in a single poetized version of the original Greek New Testament texts.

Based on fresh research and analysis of the source texts, this new verse translation of the gospels takes into account every single sentence of the four canonical gospels, channeling all their incidents and language into a unified poetic work.

In BOOK OF JESUS, from which the current work is taken, all the episodes and events of the gospels are presented in a series of 285 distinct chapters, of which Edouard d'Araille writes: "The objective has been to take into account all the words of all the four gospels - not to ignore any lexical elements in the sources whatsoever".

BIRTH OF JESUS is a select collation of texts from Vol.1 of BOOK OF JESUS, relating to the birth sequence (Nativity) and passages about John the Baptist and Jesus's anointing. The 'Opening Words' and Prologue of BOOK OF JESUS are also included as they introduce the gospels' narrative most appropriately.

The main 22 chapters of BIRTH OF JESUS form a chronological sequence, commencing with priest Zechariah learning that his wife Elizabeth (who has been barren) will give birth to a boy to be called 'John'. We learn of the betrothal between Joseph of Nazareth and Mary, then how she witnesses the visitation of an angel telling her how special her baby, Jesus, shall be. We learn of Joseph having dreams of what he and his wife are to do, and how the events taking place are the fulfilment of Old Testament prophecy.

The continuous sequence then presents us with the meeting between Mary and her cousin Elizabeth (now also expecting) who realizes that Mary's baby will be important to the whole world. We read how Zechariah is affected by the birth of his own son, John - naming him thus in spite of no ancestors bearing that name.

In what is perhaps the most familiar sequence of events in the 'Nativity', we read how Joseph and Mary attend a Roman census in Bethlehem, resulting in Mary's son Jesus being born there, how shepherds pay homage to the infant Jesus and how three Magi from the Orient seek to meet him and pay tribute. We read of King Herod, who seeks only to destroy Jesus, and massacres all newborn boys in Bethlehem to try and do that.

Finally, we read of how baby Jesus is cleansed and blessed in Jerusalem, along with his parents. We meet Simeon, an ageing priest, who was told he would see the future salvation of his nation before he died, and a prophetess, named Anna, who meets Jesus and predicts great things of him. The manner in which Joseph and Mary flee with Jesus to Egypt is then related, plus their return to Nazareth as a family.

After the 22 Chapters on the Birth of Jesus, a sequence of 4 chapters under the heading 'The Anointed One' is presented. We learn of John the Baptist, his anointing of Jesus and how John's disciples start to follow Jesus.

BIRTH OF JESUS concludes with a bonus extract from Vol.1 of BOOK OF JESUS: "You Are the Light of the World", a key example of how inspiring Jesus of Nazareth's words can be: "Whoever hath ears to hear me - let them hear and understand!"

The poetic text is accompanied by the exceptional B&W engravings of renowned French artist Gustave Dor