Matthew 2:11–23

¹¹Entering the house, they saw the child with Mary His mother, and falling to their knees, they worshiped Him. ^tThen they opened their treasures and presented Him with gifts: gold, frankincense, and myrrh. ^u12And being warned ^vin 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 suddenly 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 destroy Him.” ^w14So 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. ^xy

The Massacre of the Innocents

¹⁶Then Herod, when he saw that he had been outwitted by the wise men, flew into a rage. He gave orders to massacre all the male children in and around Bethlehem who were two years ^zold and under, in keeping with the time he had learned from the wise men. ^a17Then what was spoken through Jeremiah the prophet was fulfilled:

¹⁸A voice was heard in Ramah,

weeping, ^band great mourning,

Rachel weeping for her children;

and she refused to be consoled,

because they were no more. ^cd

The Holy Family in Nazareth

¹⁹After Herod died, an angel of the Lord suddenly appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, ^e20saying, “Get up! Take the child and His mother and go to the land of Israel, because those who sought the child’s life are dead.” ²¹So he got up, took the child and His mother, and entered the land of Israel. ²²But when he heard that Archelaus ^fwas 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. ^g23Then he went and settled in a town called Nazareth to fulfill what was spoken through the prophets, that He will be called a Nazarene. ^h