Matthew 2:13–3:6
13 Now when they had gone, behold, an aangel of the Lord * bappeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Get up! Take the Child and His mother and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you; for Herod is going to search for the Child to destroy Him.”
14 So 1Joseph got up and took the Child and His mother while it was still night, and left for Egypt.
15 He 1remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet: “aOut of Egypt I called bMy Son.”
16 Then when Herod saw that he had been tricked by athe magi, he became very enraged, and sent and bslew all the male children who were in Bethlehem and all its vicinity, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had determined from the magi.
17 Then what had been spoken through Jeremiah the prophet was fulfilled:
18 “aA voice was heard in Ramah,
Weeping and great mourning,
Rachel weeping for her children;
And she refused to be comforted,
Because they were no more.”
19 But when Herod died, behold, an angel of the Lord * aappeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, and said,
20 “Get up, take the Child and His mother, and go into the land of Israel; for those who sought the Child’s life are dead.”
21 So 1Joseph got up, took the Child and His mother, and came into the land of Israel.
22 But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. Then after being awarned by God in a dream, he left for the regions of Galilee,
23 and came and lived in a city called aNazareth. This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophets: “He shall be called a bNazarene.”
The Preaching of John the Baptist
1 Now ain those days bJohn the Baptist * 1came, 2preaching in the cwilderness of Judea, saying,
2 “aRepent, for bthe kingdom of heaven 1is at hand.”
3 For this is the aone referred to 1by Isaiah the prophet when he said,
“bThe voice of one 2crying in the wilderness,
‘cMake ready the way of the Lord,
Make His paths straight!’ ”
4 Now John himself had 1aa garment of camel’s hair and a leather belt around his waist; and his food was blocusts and wild honey.
5 Then Jerusalem awas going out to him, and all Judea and all bthe district around the Jordan;
6 and they were being abaptized by him in the Jordan River, as they confessed their sins.