Messiah: No. 14 There were shepherds abiding in the fields

The text is from Luke 2:8-9:  "8 And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.  9 And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with fear."

The shape of this phrase is interesting.  Visually (and I suppose also audibly), it goes really well with the text.  "Keeping watch over their flock by night" forms an arc, as if to symbolize the shepherds' watching, and the highest note in the phrase occurs over "flock," the object over which they're watching.