Question: Which part of Handel's Messiah covers the birth of a child who, according to the gospels of Luke and Matthew, was born in Bethlehem?

Messiah (HWV 56), the English-language oratorio composed by George Frideric Handel in 1741, is structured in three parts.  This listing covers Part III in a table and comments on individual movements, reflecting the relation of the musical setting to the text.  Part I begins with the prophecy of the Messiah and his birth, shows the annunciation to the shepherds as a scene from the Gospel of Luke, and reflects the Messiah's deeds on Earth.  Part II covers the Passion, death, resurrection, ascension, and the later spreading of the Gospel.  Part III concentrates on Paul's teaching of the and Christ's glorification in heaven. <SEP> The return of the family of Jesus to Nazareth, also known as the Return from Egypt, appears in the reports of the early life of Jesus given in the Canonical gospels. Both of the gospels which describe the nativity of Jesus agree that he was born in Bethlehem and then later moved with his family to live in Nazareth.  The Gospel of Matthew describes how Joseph, Mary, and Jesus went to Egypt to escape from Herod the Great's slaughter of the baby boys in Bethlehem.  Matthew does not mention Nazareth as being the previous home of Joseph and Mary; he says that Joseph was afraid to go to Judea because Herod Archelaus was ruling there and so the family went to Nazareth instead.  The Gospel of Luke, on the other hand, does not record anything about the flight to Egypt, but says that Joseph had been previously living in Nazareth, and returned there after the Presentation of Jesus at the Temple. <SEP>  This listing covers Part II in a table and comments on individual movements, reflecting the relation of the musical setting to the text.  Part I begins with the prophecy of the Messiah and his birth, shows the annunciation to the shepherds and reflects the Messiah's deeds on earth.  Part II covers the Passion in nine movements including the oratorio's longest movement, an air for alto He was despised, then mentions death, resurrection, ascension, and reflects the spreading of the Gospel and its rejection.  The part is concluded by a scene called "God's Triumph" which culminates in the "Hallelujah Chorus".  Part III of the oratorio concentrates on Paul's teaching of the and Christ's glorification in heaven. Messiah (HWV 56), the English-language oratorio composed by George Frideric Handel in 1741, is structured in three parts. <SEP>  The two accounts agree that Jesus was born in Bethlehem in the time of Herod the Great to a betrothed virgin whose name was Mary.  There are, however, major differences. The nativity of Jesus or birth of Jesus is described in the gospels of Luke and Matthew.  Matthew has no census, annunciation to the shepherds or presentation in the Temple, implies that Jesus's parents' home is Bethlehem, and has him born in a house there, and has an unnamed angel appear to Joseph to announce the birth.  In Luke there are no Magi, no flight into Egypt, or Massacre of the Innocents, Joseph is a resident of Nazareth, the birth appears to take place in an inn instead of the family home, and the angel (named as Gabriel) announces the coming birth to Mary.  While it is possible that Matthew's account might be based on Luke, or Luke's on Matthew, the majority of scholars conclude that the two are independent of each other.