“For mine eyes have seen thy salvation, which thou hast prepared before the face of all people.” Luke 2:30–31
A poor family’s offering, a man led by the Spirit, a prophetess who never left the temple, and a promise kept. Walk the map, look closer, and hold the promise.
A few weeks after Jesus was born, Mary and Joseph brought Him to the temple in Jerusalem “to present him to the Lord,” as the law of Moses taught for a firstborn son. They brought the offering of two small birds.
An old, faithful man named Simeon was there. The Holy Ghost had promised him that he would not die until he had seen the Messiah. Led by the Spirit, he took the baby in his arms and praised God. Then Anna, an elderly prophetess who worshipped in the temple night and day, came in, gave thanks and told others who were waiting for the Redeemer about Him.
Who’s who
Mary and Joseph: bringing the baby Jesus to the temple
Simeon: a just and devout man waiting for the promised Messiah
Anna: a widowed prophetess about eighty-four years old
Where and when
The temple in Jerusalem, a few miles from Bethlehem, soon after Jesus’s birth.
Watch for the Savior
Simeon and Anna had both waited a lifetime, and both knew the baby was the Savior. Listen to what Simeon calls Him: “a light to lighten the Gentiles.”
Nine stops, from Bethlehem to the temple and home to Nazareth. Scroll, or tap a number on the map.
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The story, plainly
Four scenes in the temple courts. Look for the Savior in each one.
Read it plainly
The words that trip people up
Tap any dotted word for its meaning. The scripture stays exactly as written.1
Luke 2:22 “when the days of her Meaning: a time set by the law of Moses after a birth, ending with an offering. … were accomplished”
Luke 2:24 “a pair of Meaning: small wild doves., or two young pigeons”
Luke 2:25 “Meaning: righteous. and Meaning: reverent, careful with holy things. (See Part 3.), waiting for the Meaning: comfort. (See Part 5.) of Israel”
Luke 2:29 “now Meaning: you are letting. thou thy servant Meaning: be released, set free. (See Part 5.) in peace”
Luke 2:32 “A light to Meaning: give light to. the Meaning: the nations beyond Israel.”
Luke 2:34 “set for the fall and rising again of many in Israel; and for a sign which shall be Meaning: opposed, rejected by some.”
Luke 2:36 “of the tribe of Meaning: Asher, one of the twelve tribes of Israel.”
Luke 2:37 “a widow of about Meaning: eighty (a score is twenty). and four years”
Luke 2:38 “Meaning: arriving at that very moment.”
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Look closer
This is a true account, not a parable. Some cards are details in the text; others share insights from prophets and scholars, and each card says which.
0 of 9 turned
All nine. Two small birds, a holy firstborn, a careful man, a light for everyone, and a widow who couldn’t keep quiet, all gathered around one child. Luke 2:22–38
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Where are you in the waiting?
Simeon and Anna show four ways to be ready for Him. Which feels most like you right now?
A next step for you
Your choice is saved only on this device.
Try it
Hold the promise
Simeon waited for years. Press and hold the button, and keep holding. As you wait, the light grows and his words to God appear, line by line. Let go and it waits for you.
“And he came by the Spirit into the temple.” Luke 2:27
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Their world, their words
A little background helps us see the scene. Outside sources are labeled.
Outside · BYU NT Commentary
Forty days, two birds
After a son’s birth, the law set a forty-day purification ending with an offering of “a lamb and either a young pigeon or a turtledove. For the poor, the sacrifice is to be either two pigeons or two turtledoves.” Luke’s detail tells us “Mary offers a gift of the poor.”12,2
The Savior came into a poor family from the start.
Scripture
Holy to the Lord
Since the Exodus, every firstborn son belonged to the Lord: “Sanctify unto me all the firstborn … it is mine.” Luke quotes it: “Every male that openeth the womb shall be called holy to the Lord.”3,1
Every firstborn was holy to the Lord. This one was the Holy One.
Apostle · Talmage
Faith in a hard season
Elder Talmage: “Among the righteous and devout Israelites were some who, in spite of traditionalism, rabbinism, and priestly corruption, still lived in righteous expectation.” Simeon was one.10
Faith can stay alive when the times around it are hard.
Outside · BYU NT Commentary
Anna and Hannah
Anna is “a variant form of Hannah, the name is one more piece that ties back to the earlier Old Testament account of Hannah and her son Samuel.” Hannah once brought her son to the Lord’s house.12
Long ago a Hannah brought her son to the Lord. Now an Anna welcomes the Son of God.
Word study · Greek
paraklēsis παράκλησις · “consolation” (Luke 2:25)
“A calling to one’s aid, i.e. encouragement, comfort.”13Outside · lexicon
The BYU commentary notes the noun is related to the word translated “comforter” in John 14:16 and 26.12 Simeon was waiting for comfort, and the Comfort came in a child.
Customarily it means “to send [someone] away,” or “to release [a prisoner].” Paired with “servant” and “Lord,” the words “point to the act of manumission, freeing a slave.”12 Simeon speaks like a faithful servant released with honor after his work is done.
What the text does not say
Luke never gives Simeon’s age. He only says Simeon would not die before he saw the Lord’s Christ, so he is usually pictured as old, as ours is. “About fourscore and four years” could be Anna’s age or how long she had been a widow; translators read it both ways.12 Luke goes from the temple straight home to Nazareth; Matthew tells of the wise men and Egypt. Neither says exactly how the two accounts fit together.1
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Look to Him
Simeon and Anna knew Him by the Spirit. Prophets teach that we can know Him the same way.
Simeon had a promise from the Holy Ghost that he would see “the Lord’s Christ.” When he held Him, he said what he needed to say in one line: “mine eyes have seen thy salvation.”
“I know, just as well as Simeon knew, that that baby was the Son of God, my Savior and your Savior, my Redeemer and your Redeemer. He is real, and He lives. And you can know it too.”
Elder Dale G. Renlund, “And You Can Know It Too,” December 20218
“Because Simeon had cultivated his ability to hear and respond to the Spirit, he was in the right place at the right time, and the Lord’s promises to him were fulfilled in the most glorious way.”
Elder Patrick Kearon, “Come, Let Us Adore Him,” December 20117
“We learn from Anna’s experience that we can live faithfully through all weathers if we are consistent in our fasting and prayer and if we do not depart from the temple in our hearts.”
“Remembering Simeon and Anna can inspire us to be like them and add our witness of the sacred birth and its purpose.”
President Dallin H. Oaks, “Good Tidings of Great Joy,” December 20229
Another Testament
Like Anna: talk of Christ
“And we talk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we preach of Christ, we prophesy of Christ, … that our children may know to what source they may look for a remission of their sins.” 2 Nephi 25:26
Old Testament
A light for every nation
“I will also give thee for a light to the Gentiles, that thou mayest be my salvation unto the end of the earth.” Isaiah 49:6 Simeon’s words echo this promise.
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Seek Him today
Simeon’s promise
“He should not see death, before he had seen the Lord’s Christ.” Luke 2:26
The Holy Ghost made Simeon a personal promise, and it came true. Elder Renlund’s father ended his testimony each Christmas Eve with, “And you can know it too.”8 Ask the Spirit this week to help you know Him as Simeon did.
Try it today
Each thing you do adds a little more light. It saves on this device, one day at a time.
0 of 6 today
This week:0 of 7 days
Six days of watching and telling. Come again tomorrow.
A quiet moment
“For mine eyes have seen thy salvation.”
Picture the temple court as Simeon holds the child. Read Luke 2:29–32 slowly. Where have your eyes seen His salvation: a forgiven mistake, a comfort, an answer? Tell Heavenly Father. Luke 2:29–32
A verse to hold
Talk about it
Simeon and Anna both waited a long time. What helps us keep going while we wait?
How did the Holy Ghost help Simeon be in the right place at the right time?
Mary and Joseph brought the offering of the poor. What does that teach us about the Savior?
Who could you tell about Jesus this week, the way Anna did?
Open
For adults and deeper study
Go deeper
Longer readings, harder questions, and where to study next. Each one says what it is before you click.
Apostle
Elder Dale G. Renlund, “And You Can Know It Too” (2021)
Elder Renlund remembers his father reading Luke 2 each Christmas Eve and testifying “just as well as Simeon knew,” then inviting his family to know it too.8
President Oaks calls Simeon and Anna “two holy workers whose godly lives qualified them to receive the witness of the Holy Ghost.” The Ensign article “Anna” reflects on her faith through hardship.9,11
Verse-by-verse notes on the purification offering, Simeon’s hymn, the Greek words, and the echoes of Hannah and Samuel. It also notes that Luke frames Jesus’s life between poor women in the same temple court.12
Everything on this page as a 11-page letter-size PDF: the map, scenes, cards, activity, word studies, tracker, Go deeper and sources. For home, class or a quiet Sunday.
Simeon and Anna is part of the Scripture Story Sketch Notes for the New Testament, set alongside Come, Follow Me for January 4–10, 2027 (Matthew 2; Luke 2).
Independent study notes from Weak Things, not an official publication of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Scripture quotations are from the King James Version. This is a true account, not a parable; the insights in “Look closer” are labeled by source.
