Matthew 1–13

THE GENEALOGY OF JESUS CHRIST

1An^a account^b of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the Son of David,^c the Son of Abraham:^d

FROM ABRAHAM TO DAVID

²Abraham fathered Isaac,

Isaac fathered Jacob,

Jacob fathered Judah and his brothers,^e

³Judah fathered Perez and Zerah by Tamar,

Perez fathered Hezron,

Hezron fathered Aram,^f

⁴Aram fathered Amminadab,

Amminadab fathered Nahshon,

Nahshon fathered Salmon,

⁵Salmon fathered Boaz by Rahab,

Boaz fathered Obed by Ruth,

Obed fathered Jesse,^g

⁶and Jesse fathered King David.

FROM DAVID TO THE BABYLONIAN EXILE

David fathered Solomon^B by Uriah’s wife,^h

⁷Solomon fathered Rehoboam,

Rehoboam fathered Abijah,

Abijah fathered Asa,^C

⁸Asa^C fathered Jehoshaphat,

Jehoshaphat fathered Joram,^D

Joram fathered Uzziah,ⁱ

⁹Uzziah fathered Jotham,

Jotham fathered Ahaz,

Ahaz fathered Hezekiah,

¹⁰Hezekiah fathered Manasseh,

Manasseh fathered Amon,^E

Amon fathered Josiah,^j

¹¹and Josiah fathered Jeconiah and his brothers

at the time of the exile to Babylon.^k

FROM THE EXILE TO THE MESSIAH

¹²After the exile to Babylon

Jeconiah fathered Shealtiel,

Shealtiel fathered Zerubbabel,

¹³Zerubbabel fathered Abiud,

Abiud fathered Eliakim,

Eliakim fathered Azor,^l

¹⁴Azor fathered Zadok,

Zadok fathered Achim,

Achim fathered Eliud,

¹⁵Eliud fathered Eleazar,

Eleazar fathered Matthan,

Matthan fathered Jacob,

¹⁶and Jacob fathered Joseph the husband of Mary,

who gave birth to Jesus who is called the Messiah.^m

¹⁷So all the generations from Abraham to David were fourteen generations; and from David until the exile to Babylon, fourteen generations; and from the exile to Babylon until the Messiah, fourteen generations.ⁿ

THE NATIVITY OF THE MESSIAH

¹⁸The birth of Jesus Christ came about this way: After his mother Mary had been engaged^F to Joseph, it was discovered before they came together that she was pregnant from the Holy Spirit.^{o 19}So her husband, Joseph, being a righteous man,^p and not wanting to disgrace her publicly, decided to divorce her secretly.^q

²⁰But after he had considered these things, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, don’t be afraid to take Mary as your wife, because what has been conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.^{r 21}She will give birth to a son, and you are to name him Jesus,^s because he will save his people from their sins.”^t

²²Now all this took place to fulfill what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet:

²³See, the virgin will become pregnant

and give birth to a son,

and they will name him Immanuel,^A

which is translated “God is with us.”^u

²⁴When Joseph woke up, he did as the Lord’s angel had commanded him. He married her^{v 25}but did not have sexual relations with her until she gave birth to a son.^B And he named him Jesus.^w

WISE MEN VISIT THE KING

2After Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of King Herod, wise men from the east arrived in Jerusalem,^{a 2}saying, “Where is he who has been born king of the Jews?^b For we saw his star at its rising^c and have come to worship him.”^C

³When King Herod heard this, he was deeply disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. ⁴So he assembled all the chief priests and scribes^d of the people and asked them where the Messiah would be born.

⁵“In Bethlehem of Judea,” they told him, “because this is what was written by the prophet:

⁶And you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,

are by no means least among the rulers of Judah:

Because out of you will come a ruler

who will shepherd my people Israel.”^De

⁷Then Herod secretly summoned the wise men and asked them the exact time the star appeared. ⁸He sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the child. When you find him, report back to me so that I too can go and worship him.”^Ef

⁹After hearing the king, they went on their way. And there it was—the star they had seen at its rising. It led them until it came and stopped above the place where the child was. ¹⁰When they saw the star, they were overwhelmed with joy. ¹¹Entering the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother, and falling to their knees, they worshiped him.^F Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts: gold, frankincense, and myrrh.^{g 12}And being warned^h in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their own country by another route.

THE FLIGHT INTO EGYPT

¹³After they were gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, saying, “Get up! Take the child and his mother, flee to Egypt, and stay there until I tell you. For Herod is about to search for the child to kill him.”^{i 14}So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night, and escaped to Egypt. ¹⁵He stayed there until Herod’s death, so that what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet might be fulfilled: Out of Egypt I called my Son.^Aj

THE MASSACRE OF THE INNOCENTS

¹⁶Then Herod, when he realized that he had been outwitted by the wise men, flew into a rage. He gave orders to massacre all the boys in and around Bethlehem who were two years old and under, in keeping with the time he had learned from the wise men.^{k 17}Then what was spoken through Jeremiah the prophet was fulfilled:

¹⁸A voice was heard in Ramah,

weeping,^B and great mourning,

Rachel weeping for her children;

and she refused to be consoled,

because they are no more.^Cl

THE RETURN TO NAZARETH

¹⁹After Herod died, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt,^{m 20}saying, “Get up, take the child and his mother, and go to the land of Israel, because those who intended to kill the child are dead.” ²¹So he got up, took the child and his mother, and entered the land of Israel. ²²But when he heard that Archelaus was ruling over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. And being warned in a dream, he withdrew to the region of Galilee.^{n 23}Then he went and settled in a town called Nazareth to fulfill what was spoken through the prophets, that he would be called a Nazarene.^o

THE HERALD OF THE MESSIAH

3In those days John the Baptist came,^p preaching in the wilderness of Judea^{q 2}and saying, “Repent, because the kingdom of heaven has come near!”^{r 3}For he is the one spoken of through the prophet Isaiah, who said:

A voice of one crying out in the wilderness:

Prepare the way for the Lord;

make his paths straight!^Ds

⁴Now John had a camel-hair garment with a leather belt around his waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey. ⁵Then people from Jerusalem, all Judea, and all the vicinity of the Jordan were going out to him, ⁶and they were baptized by him in the Jordan River, confessing their sins.^t

⁷When he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees^u coming to his baptism, he said to them, “Brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?^{a 8}Therefore produce fruit^b consistent with^E repentance. ⁹And don’t presume to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’^c For I tell you that God is able to raise up children for Abraham from these stones. ¹⁰The ax is already at the root of the trees. Therefore, every tree that doesn’t produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.^d

¹¹“I baptize you with^A water for repentance,^e but the one who is coming after me is more powerful than I. I am not worthy to remove^B his sandals. He himself will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.^{f 12}His winnowing shovel is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and gather his wheat into the barn. But the chaff he will burn with fire that never goes out.”^g

THE BAPTISM OF JESUS

¹³Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan, to be baptized by him.^{h 14}But John tried to stop him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and yet you come to me?”

¹⁵Jesus answered him, “Allow it for now, because this is the way for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then John allowed him to be baptized.

¹⁶When Jesus was baptized, he went up immediately from the water. The heavensⁱ suddenly opened for him,^C and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming down on him.^{j 17}And a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well-pleased.”^k

THE TEMPTATION OF JESUS

4Then^l Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.^{m 2}After he had fasted forty days and forty nights,ⁿ he was hungry. ³Then the tempter approached him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.”^o

⁴He answered, “It is written: Man must not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.”^Dp

⁵Then the devil took him to the holy city, had him stand on the pinnacle of the temple,^{q 6}and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down. For it is written:

He will give his angels^r orders concerning you,

and they will support you with their hands

so that you will not strike

your foot against a stone.”^Es

⁷Jesus told him, “It is also written: Do not test the Lord your God.”^Ft

⁸Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. ⁹And he said to him, “I will give you all these things if you will fall down and worship me.”^G

¹⁰Then Jesus told him, “Go away,^H Satan! For it is written: Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.”^Iu

¹¹Then the devil left him, and angels came and began to serve him.^v

MINISTRY IN GALILEE

¹²When he heard that John had been arrested,^w he withdrew into Galilee.^{x 13}He left Nazareth and went to live in Capernaum^y by the sea, in the region of Zebulun and Naphtali. ¹⁴This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah:

¹⁵Land of Zebulun and land of Naphtali,

along the road by the sea, beyond the Jordan,

Galilee of the Gentiles.

¹⁶The people who live in darkness

have seen a great light,

and for those living in the land of the shadow of death,

a light has dawned.^ABz

¹⁷From then on Jesus began to preach, “Repent, because the kingdom of heaven^aa has come near.”

THE FIRST DISCIPLES

¹⁸As^ab he was walking along the Sea of Galilee,^ac he saw two brothers, Simon (who is called Peter), and…