Bethlehem is located about 5 miles / 8 kilometers southwest of Jerusalem in the hill country of Judea on the way to Hebron. It is believed to have existed at least 1,000 years before Christ was born.

Bethlehem figures in Bible History both before the Israelites entered Egypt and slavery, and after the Exodus and their return. Rachel, the favorite wife (he also had married her sister Leah) of Jacob/Israel is buried near Bethlehem.

The events of the Book Of Ruth take place in the region of Bethlehem. Ruth and Boaz were the great-grandparents of King David, who himself was born in Bethlehem. Bethlehem in effect became the official home-town of the line of David.

When the Roman emperor issued an order that a census be taken of the Roman Empire (see Ancient Empires - Rome), which then included the Roman-occupied land of Israel, each Israelite was required to go and register in his home town. Joseph, although then living in Nazareth up in Galilee, traveled down to Bethlehem to register because he was of the line of David. With him was his wife Mary, also of the house of David. It was of course shortly after their arrival in Bethlehem that Jesus was born.

"In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be enrolled. This was the first enrollment, when Quirinius was governor of Syria. And all went to be enrolled, each to his own city."

"And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the city of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be enrolled with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child. And while they were there, the time came for her to be delivered. And she gave birth to her first-born son and wrapped Him in swaddling cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn."

"And in that region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of The Lord appeared to them, and the glory of The Lord shone around them, and they were filled with fear. And the angel said to them, "Be not afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of a great joy which will come to all the people; for to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, Who is Christ the Lord." (Luke 2:1-11 RSV)

Fact Finder: What was King David's father's name?
(a) Jesse (b) Samuel (c) John (d) Gideon
Ruth 4:22

Plus much, much more on the same CD! Bible Maps Over 70 detailed full-color Bible study maps. Christian Music Enjoy the magnificent sound of over 1,900 hymns (midi computer format) Biblical Clipart Over 200 beautiful Biblical graphics (.jpg and .gif) Classic Works of Biblical History The Works of Philo, Complete and Unabridged (.txt format) The Works of Josephus, Complete and Unabridged (.txt format) Edward Gibbon's The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (.txt format) Hebrew and Greek Alphabets The Hebrew alphabet of the Old Testament, and the Greek alphabet of the New Testament, with equivalent sounds in English.

How To Receive Your Daily Bible Study CD
(Please read carefully to understand how and why the CDs are available)

This ministry web site, with thousands of Bible studies (including a new study added every day, 365 days a year) is always freely available for everyone. As such, this Daily Bible Study has become a very expensive time and financial commitment for the author and the publisher. Every study, that takes you only minutes to read, takes many hours of work to write, format and technically make available and maintain on the web server. Without help, it would be impossible for this Daily Bible Study web site to continue. That is the simple reality of the situation.

We are not "selling" CDs. The CD is our humble thank you gift to the faithful who realize the importance of making Bible-based Christian teaching available to "all the world" as Christ commanded His servants to do. The map is an actual Daily Bible Study server statistics "snap shot" of visitors to Daily Bible Study at 7 am local time recently. The green bars represent the percentage of visitors to the web site (where on the planet requested pages were being sent to) at that moment in the entire time zone directly above the green bar. The graphic constantly changes through the day like a rolling wave across the world's time zones.

The Daily Bible Study Library CD is not for sale. The Daily Bible Study Library CD is produced as our thank-you gift to each person who actually makes a minimum $10 donation (in US, Canadian, Australian or New Zealand dollars, or 5 UK Pounds, or 5 Euros) to help this ministry to survive. The $10 / 5 Pound / 5 Euro minimum is required because it is the "break-even" cost of producing, handling and mailing the CD - amounts less than $10 / 5 Pounds / 5 Euros are therefore not a donation to this ministry but actually cause an unaffordable financial loss to the author.

The Daily Bible Study CD functions with Windows 98, ME, 2000 and XP. The directly-readable CD is designed to be easily and instantly portable from computer to computer. The contents are formatted to appear the same as the online Daily Bible Study web site and will automatically open by means of your computer's standard browser. Complete instructions are included with the CD.

Making a donation to Daily Bible Study is simple and easy
Donations are accepted in US, Canadian, Australian or New Zealand dollars, or British Pounds, or Euros, payable by personal check from your local bank - the easiest and preferred method of most people. We are able to accept regular personal checks payable from any bank in the US (in US dollars), Canada (in Canadian dollars), the United Kingdom (in Pounds or Euros), Australia (in Australian dollars), New Zealand (in New Zealand dollars) or Europe (in Euros) - write the check exactly same as if it were to someone local.
Donations may also be made by means of an International postal money order (e.g. US domestic postal money orders marked "Negotiable Only In The US and Possessions" are void in Canada).

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Key-Way Publishing
PO Box 520
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Your thank you CD will be mailed in the very next day's mail after your donation arrives. The CDs are packaged in paper CD sleeves and mailed by regular First Class Mail in order to keep the minimum donation affordable for everyone.

Your CD should arrive in about 2 weeks after the day that you mailed your donation i.e. 1 week for your donation to arrive after you mailed it, then 1 week for your thank you CD to travel to you.

If you wish to receive a confirmation email that your donation has arrived and that your CD has been sent, simply indicate a contact email address with your donation. If you have any questions, write to Donor Inquiry (pathfinder@keyway2.ca) and your email will be answered immediately.

God bless you!