Matthew 2
1 Now after Jesus was aborn in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of bHerod the king, 1magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem, saying,
2 “Where is He who has been born aKing of the Jews? For we saw bHis star in the east and have come to worship Him.”
3 When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him.
4 Gathering together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the 1Messiah was to be born.
5 They said to him, “aIn Bethlehem of Judea; for this is what has been written 1by the prophet:
6 ‘aAnd you, Bethlehem, land of Judah,
Are by no means least among the leaders of Judah;
For out of you shall come forth a Ruler
Who will bshepherd My people Israel.’ ”
7 Then Herod secretly called the magi and determined from them 1the exact time athe star appeared.
8 And he sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the Child; and when you have found Him, report to me, so that I too may come and worship Him.”
9 After hearing the king, they went their way; and the star, which they had seen in the east, went on before them until it came and stood over the place where the Child was.
10 When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy.
11 After coming into the house they saw the Child with aMary His mother; and they 1fell to the ground and bworshiped Him. Then, opening their treasures, they presented to Him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
12 And having been awarned by God bin a dream not to return to Herod, the magi left for their own country by another way.
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.”
Matthew 26–28
1 aWhen Jesus had finished all these words, He said to His disciples,
2 “aYou know that after two days bthe Passover is coming, and the Son of Man is to be chanded over for crucifixion.”
3 aThen the chief priests and the elders of the people were gathered together in bthe court of the high priest, named cCaiaphas;
4 and they aplotted together to seize Jesus by stealth and kill Him.
5 But they were saying, “Not during the festival, aotherwise a riot might occur among the people.”
6 aNow when Jesus was in bBethany, at the home of Simon the leper,
7 aa woman came to Him with an alabaster vial of very costly perfume, and she poured it on His head as He reclined at the table.
8 But the disciples were indignant when they saw this, and said, “Why this waste?
9 “For this perfume might have been sold for a high price and the money given to the poor.”
10 But Jesus, aware of this, said to them, “Why do you bother the woman? For she has done a good deed to Me.
11 “For you always have athe poor with you; but you do not always have Me.
12 “For when she poured this perfume on My body, she did it ato prepare Me for burial.
13 “Truly I say to you, awherever this gospel is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be spoken of in memory of her.”
14 aThen one of the twelve, named bJudas Iscariot, went to the chief priests
15 and said, “What are you willing to give me 1to 2abetray Him to you?” And bthey weighed out thirty 3pieces of silver to him.
16 From then on he began looking for a good opportunity to 1betray 2Jesus.
17 aNow on the first day of bUnleavened Bread the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Where do You want us to prepare for You to eat the Passover?”
18 And He said, “Go into the city to aa certain man, and say to him, ‘The Teacher says, “bMy time is near; I am to keep the Passover at your house with My disciples.” ’ ”
19 The disciples did as Jesus had directed them; and they prepared the Passover.
20 aNow when evening came, Jesus was reclining at the table with the twelve disciples.
21 As they were eating, He said, “aTruly I say to you that one of you will betray Me.”
22 Being deeply grieved, they 1each one began to say to Him, “Surely not I, Lord?”
23 And He answered, “aHe who dipped his hand with Me in the bowl is the one who will betray Me.
24 “The Son of Man is to go, ajust as it is written of Him; but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! bIt would have been good 1for that man if he had not been born.”
25 And aJudas, who was betraying Him, said, “Surely it is not I, bRabbi?” Jesus * said to him, “cYou have said it yourself.”
26 aWhile they were eating, Jesus took some bread, and 1bafter a blessing, He broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is My body.”
27 And when He had taken a cup and given thanks, He gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you;
28 for athis is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for bmany for forgiveness of sins.
29 “But I say to you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in My Father’s kingdom.”
30 aAfter singing a hymn, they went out to bthe Mount of Olives.
31 Then Jesus * said to them, “You will all 1afall away because of Me this night, for it is written, ‘bI will strike down the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock shall be cscattered.’
32 “But after I have been raised, aI will go ahead of you to Galilee.”
33 But Peter said to Him, “Even though all may 1fall away because of You, I will never fall away.”
34 Jesus said to him, “aTruly I say to you that bthis very night, before a rooster crows, you will deny Me three times.”
35 Peter * said to Him, “aEven if I have to die with You, I will not deny You.” All the disciples said the same thing too.
36 aThen Jesus * came with them to a place called bGethsemane, and * said to His disciples, “Sit here while I go over there and pray.”
37 And He took with Him aPeter and the two sons of Zebedee, and began to be grieved and distressed.
38 Then He * said to them, “aMy soul is deeply grieved, to the point of death; remain here and bkeep watch with Me.”
39 And He went a little beyond them, and fell on His face and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it is possible, let athis cup pass from Me; byet not as I will, but as You will.”
40 And He * came to the disciples and * found them sleeping, and * said to Peter, “So, you men could not akeep watch with Me for one hour?
41 “aKeep watching and praying that you may not enter into temptation; bthe spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”
42 He went away again a second time and prayed, saying, “My Father, if this acannot pass away unless I drink it, bYour will be done.”
43 Again He came and found them sleeping, for their eyes were heavy.
44 And He left them again, and went away and prayed a third time, saying the same thing once more.