In 527 Justinian became Emperor of the Byzantine Empire. His reign was one of great prosperity and expansion for the churches, but not for the non-Christians. In 529 the Samaritans revolted. Spreading from Nablus, they plundered the countryside. The rising was soon quelled and the Samaritans in great part exterminated. According to a posterior source (Eutichius of Alexandria) the rebuilding of the Church in Bethlehem is attributed to this emperor. This same source says that the Emperor himself was not "satisfied" with the job carried out by his architects who had pulled the Constantinian church down, damaged during the Samaritan uprising, and built in its place a new one. The Emperor found that this new church was "dark" and he even accused the architect of wasting the Empire's money. So much was his dissatisfaction that the architect was executed! Whatever was the Emperor's judgement about this new Church remains the fact that it survived time and history and today is still standing at the site of the Nativity.

西元527年査士丁尼成為拜占庭帝國的皇帝，他的領土為教會來說成了興旺、擴展之地，但對非基督徒來說卻不然。西元529年Samaritans叛亂，從Nablus擴散席捲了鄉間，但叛亂迅速的被鎮壓，大部分的Samaritans被剿滅。根據幕後消息（Eutichius of Alexandria）指出白冷的教堂因為這個皇帝而重建，同一消息指出，皇帝本身並不滿意他的建築師在拆掉叛亂中受損的Constantinian教堂，而在原址上新建的那一座，他發現新教堂「黑暗」並指責建築師浪費帝國公款，如此的不滿意之下，他處決了那位建築師！雖然如此，這新教堂仍在時間歷史中被保留下來，直到今日仍矗立在耶穌誕生的地方。

The essential form of the church has not altered since but the original plan of the Constantine edifice was modified. The atrium was raised to o higher level. The fa?de retreated back about two metres. The Constantinian mosaic floor was covered up with two feet of imported soil and a new marble pavement was laid at a higher level. The lower part of the interior walls was also covered with marble and the upper parts with mosaics. It was one of these mosaic scenes that spared the Church from destruction during the Persian invasion (614 AD). This is what a ninth century greek document states: "(when the Persians) arrived at Bethlehem, they saw with awe the figures of the Persian Wise Men, star-gazers, their country folk. For the respect and love towards their ancestors they revered them as if they were still alive and spared the church. That is why it is still standing today".

Constantine建築的基本形式並沒有改變，只是原本的設計做了些變化。中庭被提高了，正面退縮了約兩米，Constantinian馬賽克地板被覆上兩英尺的泥土之後鋪上大理石，殿內牆壁下層亦覆以大理石，上層是馬賽克，其中一幅馬賽克使教堂在波斯人入侵（西元614年）時免於被摧毀。根據第九世紀一份希臘文獻的記載：「（當波斯人）到達白冷，他們敬畏的看著波斯智者的圖像，占星師，他們的國旗。他們尊敬並愛著他們的先人如同先人們仍然在世，因此並未傷害這個教堂，這也是為什麼至今她仍然矗立在那。」

The main modification to the Constantinian church plan was performed at the "sacred area" above the grotto. This was enlarged to the East, North and South in each being added an apse to create a cross-form basilica. The canopy was substituted by a "crescent shaped" (semicircular) presbytery leaving access all around it. It is at this time that the two side entrances were opened. It is also at this time that the whole grotto was vaulted in stone and an altar on the Easter side built under which the "exact birth-site of Jesus" started to be venerated.

對Constantinian教堂設計的主要改變呈現在地窟上方的「聖所」。被向東、北、南三個方向延伸各加了一個側殿apse而成為一個十字形的聖殿，天頂也改為「新月形」（半圓形），司祭席環繞著他。從這時候開始，開了兩個入口，也從這時候開始整個地窟用石頭鋪成，並且立了一個祭台在東面「耶穌誕生的實際位置」上，以為崇敬。

With the occupation of Palestine by the Islamic army we assist to a gradual decline of the Christian presence. The Caliph Omar visited Bethlehem and promised that the Moslems would pray in the church as individuals only, without assembly or muezzin. At Christmas time members of both religions performed their devotions together in the church and on the whole lived on peaceful terms due to the common respect of Moslems and Christians for the birth-place of Jesus and to the money paid by the Christians as a price of peace. This probably saved the church from the orders of the Caliph Hakim in 1009.

在伊斯蘭軍隊佔領巴勒斯坦時期，我們對於逐漸減少的基督徒加以協助，Caliph Omar拜訪白冷時答應穆斯林只會在教堂中單獨禱告，而不會有聚會或報時者。聖誕節時兩個宗教的教徒一起在教堂內表達他們的虔敬，對耶穌誕生地的共同尊重，以及基督徒付錢作為和平的代價，穆斯林及基督徒生活在和平中。這或許也是在西元1009年由Caliph Hakim的命令中救了教堂的原因。

Samuel did what the LORD said. When he arrived at Bethlehem, the elders of the town trembled when they met him. They asked, "Do you come in peace?" Samuel replied, "Yes, in peace; I have come to sacrifice to the LORD. Consecrate yourselves and come to the sacrifice with me." Then he consecrated Jesse and his sons and invited them to the sacrifice. When they arrived, Samuel saw Eliab and thought, "Surely the Lord's anointed stands here before the LORD." But the LORD said to Samuel, "Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart." Then Jesse called Abinadab and had him pass in front of Samuel. But Samuel said, "The Lord has not chosen this one either." Jesse then had Shammah pass by, but Samuel said, "Nor has the Lord chosen this one." Jesse had seven of his sons pass before Samuel, but Samuel said to him, "The Lord has not chosen these." So he asked Jesse, "Are these all the sons you have?" "There is still the youngest,"The arrival of the Crusaders in 1099 changed things for the better. The Crusader army under Godfrey de Bouillon was resting at Emmaus, when messengers arrived from Bethlehem requesting aid against the Saracens of the villages who were about to attack Bethlehem. Tancred with one hundred knights was dispatched and in the morning the flag of Tancred was raised over the Basilica. From that day the Normans regarded the church of the Nativity as something peculiarly their own. On Christmas Day, 1100, Baldwin the first king of the Latin Kingdom was crowned in Bethlehem. His successor Baldwin II followed his example in 1122.

撒慕爾遂依照上主吩咐他的作了。及至到了白冷，城內的長老都戰慄前來迎接他說：「你駕臨這裡平安嗎？」他回答說：「平安，我是為祭獻上主而來的，你們應聖潔自己，來同我一起獻祭。」他聖潔了葉瑟和他的兒子，請他們來參與祭獻。他們一來到，他見了厄里雅布，心裡想：這一定是立在上主前的受傅者。但上主對撒慕爾說：「你不要注意他的容貌和他高大的身材，我拒絕要他，因為天主的看法與人不同：人看外貌，上主卻看人心。」葉瑟叫阿彼納達布來，領他到撒慕爾面前；但是他說：「這也不是上主所揀選的。」葉瑟就叫沙瑪來；他又說：「這也不是上主所揀選的。」葉瑟就叫他的七個兒子都到撒慕爾面前來，撒慕爾對葉瑟說：「上主沒有揀選這些人。」撒慕爾於是問葉瑟說：「孩子們全到了嗎？」他回答說：「還有一個最小的。」當西元1099年十字軍抵達後，情況變的比較好。Godfrey de Bouillon麾下的十字軍軍隊駐紮在厄瑪烏，當從白冷來的使者請求協助對抗那些意圖攻打白冷的Saracens村落，Tancred帶領一百名騎士奉派，在早晨Tancred的旗幟飄揚在聖殿上方。從那天起Normans 人特別視聖誕大殿是專屬他們的。西元1100年聖誕節，拉丁王國的第一位國王Baldwin在白冷受加冕，在西元1122年他的繼承者Baldwin II也是。

The Crusaders did not have to do restoration of the Church as it seems that it was in a good state. But to the north side of the church they built a cloister and monastery which was given to the Canons of St. Augustine.

十字軍並不需要整修教堂，因為似乎狀態良好。但他們在北邊蓋了一座隱修院及修道院提供給the Canons of St. Augustine。

The restoration affected most of the church. The walls below the architraves were covered with white marble: above were coloured or gilt mosaics of glass and mother-of-pearl. Although time and man have destroyed much of this splendid work we can, through literary sources, know exactly what was represented. In the absidal semi-dome a dominant Virgin Mary with her son Jesus. In the absidal arch the Annunciation scene flanked by two biblical figures: Abraham and David. On the lower walls of the apse scenes from the life of Mary based on the apocryphal writings. Greek and Latin inscriptions praised the Latin crusader king Amalircus, bishop Radolfus and the Byzantine emperor Commenus. A date at the foot of this work dated the mosaic: 1169 A.D.. In the Northern transept the scenes of the bewilderment of Thomas and Ascension while in the Southern transepts scenes depicting the Transfiguration and the Entry of Jesus in Jerusalem. These scenes, parts of them still visible, had latin inscriptions. The upper part of the central nave was also decorated with this golden mosaic, of which large parts are still visible.

The restoration affected most of the church.樑下的牆壁被覆蓋上白色大理石，其上相嵌了彩色或鍍金的玻璃和珍珠藝術的mother-of-pearl馬賽克。雖然時間和人為因素毀壞了這壯麗工程的大部分，但我們仍能透過文獻清楚的知道他所呈現的。在the absidal semi-dome是童貞瑪利亞與耶穌。在the absidal arch是天使報喜，側面是兩個聖經人像：亞巴郎和達味。在側殿apse的牆上是根據偽經傳說聖母的一生。希臘及拉丁題字是拉丁十字軍國王Amalircus、Radolfus主教及拜占庭皇帝Commenus的祈禱。馬賽克標註了工程的日期：西元1169年。在北面的走廊是多默的懷疑及耶穌升天，南面的走廊是耶穌顯聖容及榮進耶路撒冷。這些畫部分仍可見，有拉丁題字。中央nave的上部裝飾的金色馬賽克仍大部分可見。

In the space between the windows a procession of angels, all moving towards East (as if going to adore Baby Jesus in the Holy Grotto). At the foot of one of the angels the signature of one of the artists "Basilius pictor". Under the windowsills, in very elaborate architecture compositions a synthesis, in greek, of the principal decisions of the main ecumenical and provincial councils of the Church. These Greek and Latin inscriptions in the same works reflects the short period of peace between the Latin and Greek worlds. The northern and southern frieze above the cedar wood architrave contained portraits of the ancestors of Jesus, the former based on the Gospel of Matthew (1,1-16) while the latter based on that of Luke (3,23-38). Of these medallions only the first eight on the northern frieze survived. During this period the roof of cedar wood was covered with lead. The two entrances to the holy grotto received their present monumental form.

在窗戶之間的空間是天使的隊伍，都朝向東方移動（如同要去朝拜神聖地窟中的嬰孩耶穌）。一位天使腳下有畫家之中的一個的簽名「Basilius繪」。在窗台上，在精心設計構築的組合中，在希臘文中，包含著一般的及地方的教會參議會的原則決定。這些希臘文與拉丁文並列在同一個工程中的情形，反映著拉丁及希臘世界的短暫和平時期。北面及南面的香柏木框緣橫條上是耶穌祖先的肖像，前者根據《瑪竇福音》（一1-16），後者根據《路加福音》（三23-38）。這些圓形浮雕只剩下北面的前八個還在。在這個時期，屋頂主要由香柏木構成並覆上鉛。而通往神聖地窟的兩個入口承襲了他們不變的形式。

The rosy columns of the central nave, made from the red stone of Bethlehem, were depicted with figures of our Lady, Eastern Saints (St. Macarius, St. Euthimius, St. Saba, St. Theodosius, St. George....) and Western Saints (S. Cathaldus of Taranto, S. Canutos of Denmark, St. Olaph of Norway...).

中央nave玫瑰色的column是由白冷的紅石所製，上面刻的人像是聖母，東方諸聖（St. Macarius，St. Euthimius，St. Saba，St. Theodosius，St. George…）及西方諸聖（St. Cathaldus of Taranto，St. Canutos of Denmark，St. Olaph of Norway…）。

With the fall of Jerusalem, things went bad for Bethlehem. In 1192 Hubert Walter, the Bishop of Salisbury, obtained permission from Saladin for two priests and two deacons of the Latin rite to remain in Bethlehem, but now a Moslem guard sat at the door collecting fees. The treaty of 1229 between Frederick II and Sultan Kamil Mohammed restored temporarily Bethlehem to the Franks, but ten years later the church was in financial straits under the mismanagement of Bishop Giovanni Romano. His successor Godfrey de Prefetti tried to repair the losses. Godfrey had been the holder of two benefices in England, Long Kensington and Coleby and he visited France and England to get funds. He had some success and was back in Palestine in 1253. Three years later he helped to negotiate marriages between the royal families of England and Cyprus: Hugh II and Dowager Queen of Cyprus with a daughter and son of Edward I of England.

隨著耶路撒冷的陷落，白冷的情勢也每況愈下。西元1192年Salisbury主教Hubert Walter得到允許安排拉丁禮的司鐸及執事各兩名派駐在白冷，但同時有一名穆斯林警衛在門口收費。西元1229年Frederick II與Sultan Kamil Mohammed協議暫時將白冷歸還給Franks，但十年後因Giovanni Romano主教的管理不善，教堂財政窘迫。他的繼任者Godfrey de Prefetti企圖彌補這虧缺，Godfrey在英格蘭有兩位贊助者，Long Kensington和Coleby。他拜訪了法國和英格蘭募款。他得到些成果，並於西元1253年回到巴勒斯坦。三年後他搓合了英格蘭和賽浦路斯皇室之間的婚姻：賽浦路斯王Huge II及王后Dowager的女兒與英格蘭王Edward I的兒子。

When Bibars came into power, Palestine suffered. In 1263 he ordered the destruction of Bethlehem, but the church somehow escaped. When finally the Crusaders were driven from Palestine in 1291, the Moslem rulers used the holy places for political and financial ends. Although Bethlehem was still nominally endowed, collection of revenue from the estates was impossible. In 1332 Pope John XXII wrote to Edward III of England, to David II of Scotland and to Simon of Meopham, Archbishop of Canterbury, asking them to help the bishop of Bethlehem recover his revenue and so enable him to return to Bethlehem and carry out repairs. It seems little was done!

當Bibars挾威而來時，巴勒斯坦再次遭殃。西元1263年他下令摧毀白冷，但教堂不知為何又倖免於難。當西元1291年十字軍完全的被驅離巴勒斯坦後，穆斯林統治者將各個朝聖地當作政治經濟場所。雖然白冷名義上仍屬於教會，卻無法有收入。西元1332年教宗若望二十二世寫信給英格蘭王Edward III、蘇格蘭王David II、Simon of Meopham、Archbishop of Canterbury請他們資助白冷主教，讓他得以回到白冷並開始修復工程。似乎小小的都達成了！

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