Matthew 1–13

The Genealogy of Jesus Christ

1The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.

²Abraham became the father of Isaac, and Isaac became the father of Jacob, and Jacob became the father of Judah and his brothers, ³and Judah became the father of Perez and Zerah by Tamar, and Perez became the father of Hezron, and Hezron became the father of Aram,^{a 4}and Aram became the father of Amminadab, and Amminadab became the father of Nahshon, and Nahshon became the father of Salmon, ⁵and Salmon became the father of Boaz by Rahab, and Boaz became the father of Obed by Ruth, and Obed became the father of Jesse, ⁶and Jesse became the father of David the king.

And David became the father of Solomon by the wife^* of Uriah, ⁷and Solomon became the father of Rehoboam, and Rehoboam became the father of Abijah, and Abijah became the father of Asa,^{b 8}and Asa became the father of Jehoshaphat,^c and Jehoshaphat became the father of Joram, and Joram became the father of Uzziah, ⁹and Uzziah became the father of Jotham, and Jotham became the father of Ahaz, and Ahaz became the father of Hezekiah, ¹⁰and Hezekiah became the father of Manasseh, and Manasseh became the father of Amon,^d and Amon became the father of Josiah, ¹¹and Josiah became the father of Jechoniah and his brothers, at the time of the deportation to Babylon.

¹²And after the deportation to Babylon, Jechoniah became the father of Shealtiel,^e and Shealtiel became the father of Zerubbabel, ¹³and Zerubbabel became the father of Abiud, and Abiud became the father of Eliakim, and Eliakim became the father of Azor, ¹⁴and Azor became the father of Zadok, and Zadok became the father of Achim, and Achim became the father of Eliud, ¹⁵and Eliud became the father of Eleazar, and Eleazar became the father of Matthan, and Matthan became the father of Jacob, ¹⁶and Jacob became the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary by whom^f was born Jesus, who is called Christ.

¹⁷Therefore all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations, and from David to the deportation to Babylon are fourteen generations, and from the deportation to Babylon to the Christ are fourteen generations.

The Birth of Jesus Christ

¹⁸Now the birth of Jesus Christ occurred in this way. His mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant^g by the Holy Spirit. ¹⁹So Joseph her husband, being righteous and not wanting to disgrace her, intended to divorce her secretly. ²⁰But as^* he was considering these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for what has been conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. ²¹And she will give birth to a son, and you will call his name ‘Jesus,’ because he will save his people from their sins.” ²²Now all this happened in order that what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet would be fulfilled, saying,

²³“Behold, the virgin will become pregnant^h and will give birth to a son,

and they will call his name Emmanuel,”ⁱ

which is translated, “God with us.”^{j 24}And Joseph, when he^* woke up from sleep, did as the angel of the Lord commanded him, and he took his wife ²⁵and did not have sexual relations with^k her until she gave birth to a son. And he called his name Jesus.

Wise Men Visit Jesus

2Now after^* Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem, ²saying, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? For we have seen his star at its rising^a and have come to worship him.” ³And when^* King Herod heard it,^* he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him, ⁴and after^* calling together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired from them where the Christ was to be born. ⁵So they said to him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for thus it is written by the prophet,

⁶‘And you, Bethlehem, land of Judah,

are by no means least among the rulers of Judah,

for from you will go out a ruler

who will shepherd my people Israel.’ ”^b

⁷Then Herod secretly summoned the wise men and^* determined precisely from them the time when^* the star appeared. ⁸And he sent them to Bethlehem and^* said, “Go, inquire carefully concerning the child, and when you have found him, report to me so that I also may come and^* worship him.” ⁹After^* they listened to the king, they went out, and behold, the star which they had seen at its rising^c led them until it came and^* stood above the place where the child was. ¹⁰Now when they^* saw the star, they rejoiced with very great joy. ¹¹And when they^* came into the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and^* worshiped him. And opening their treasure boxes, they offered him gifts of gold and frankincense and myrrh. ¹²And being warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they went back to their own country by another route.

Joseph, Mary, and Jesus Escape to Egypt

¹³Now after they had gone away, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph, saying, “Get up, take the child and his mother and flee to Egypt, and stay there until I tell you. For Herod is about to seek the child to destroy him.” ¹⁴So he got up and^* took the child and his mother during the night and went away to Egypt. ¹⁵And he was there until the death of Herod, in order that what was said by the Lord through the prophet would be fulfilled, saying,

“Out of Egypt I called my son.”

Herod Has Innocent Children Murdered

¹⁶Then Herod, when he^* saw that he had been deceived by the wise men, became very angry, and he sent soldiers^* and^* executed all the children in Bethlehem and in all the region around it from the age of two years old and under, according to the time which he had determined precisely from the wise men. ¹⁷Then what was spoken by the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled, saying,

¹⁸“A voice was heard in Ramah,

weeping and great mourning,

Rachel weeping for her children,

and she did not want to be comforted,

because they exist no longer^d.”^e

Joseph, Mary, and Jesus Return to Nazareth

¹⁹Now after^* Herod had died, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, ²⁰saying, “Get up, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who were seeking the life of the child are dead.” ²¹So he got up and^* took the child and his mother and entered^f the land of Israel. ²²But when he^* heard that Archelaus was reigning over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there, and being warned in a dream, he took refuge in the regions of Galilee. ²³And he came and^* lived in a town called Nazareth, in order that what was said by the prophets would be fulfilled:^g “He will be called a Nazarene.”

John the Baptist Begins His Ministry

3Now in those days John the Baptist came preaching in the Judean wilderness ²and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near!” ³For this is the one who was spoken about by the prophet Isaiah, saying,

“The voice of one crying out in the wilderness,

‘Prepare the way of the Lord,

make his paths straight.’ ”^a

⁴Now John himself had his clothing made from camel’s hair and a belt made of leather around his waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey. ⁵Then Jerusalem and all Judea and all the district around the Jordan were going out to him, ⁶and they were being baptized by him in the Jordan River as they^* confessed their sins.

⁷But when he^* saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, “Offspring of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? ⁸Therefore produce fruit worthy of repentance! ⁹And do not think to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as father.’ For I say to you that God is able to raise up children for Abraham from these stones! ¹⁰Already now the ax is positioned at the root of the trees; therefore every tree not producing good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. ¹¹I baptize you with water for repentance, but the one who comes after me is more powerful than I am, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. ¹²His winnowing shovel is in his hand, and he will clean out his threshing floor and will gather his wheat into the storehouse, but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”

The Baptism of Jesus

¹³Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to John in order to be baptized by him. ¹⁴But John tried to prevent^* him, saying, “I need^b to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” ¹⁵But Jesus answered and^* said to him, “Permit it now, for in this way it is right for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he permitted him. ¹⁶Now after he^* was baptized, Jesus immediately went up from the water, and behold, the heavens opened^c and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove coming^d upon him. ¹⁷And behold, there was^e a voice from heaven saying, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”

The Temptation of Jesus

4Then Jesus was led up into the wilderness by the Spirit to be tempted by the devil, ²and after he^* had fasted forty days and forty nights, then he was hungry. ³And the tempter approached and^* said to him, “If you are the Son of God, order that these stones become bread.” ⁴But he answered and^* said, “It is written, ‘Man will not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes out of the mouth of God.’ ”^a

⁵Then the devil took him to the holy city^b and placed him on the highest point of the temple ⁶and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down! For it is written,

‘He will command his angels concerning you,’^c

and

‘On their hands they will lift you up,

lest you strike your foot against a stone.’ ”^d

⁷Jesus said to him, “On the other hand it is written, ‘You are not to put the Lord your God to the test.’ ”^e

⁸Again the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory, ⁹and he said to him, “I will give to you all…