Matthew 1:18–2:23

Conception and Birth of Jesus

¹⁸Now the birth of Jesus ¹Christ was as follows: when His ^amother Mary had been ²betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was ^bfound to be with child by the Holy Spirit.

¹⁹And Joseph her husband, being a righteous man and not wanting to disgrace her, planned ^1ato send her away secretly.

²⁰But when he had considered this, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “^aJoseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife; for ¹the Child who has been ²conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit.

²¹“She will bear a Son; and ^ayou shall call His name Jesus, for ¹He ^bwill save His people from their sins.”

²²Now all this ¹took place to fulfill what was ^aspoken by the Lord through the prophet:

²³“^aBehold, the virgin shall be with ^bchild and shall bear a Son, and they shall call His name ¹Immanuel,” which translated means, “^cGod with us.”

²⁴And Joseph ¹awoke from his sleep and did as the angel of the Lord commanded him, and took Mary as his wife,

²⁵¹but kept her a virgin until she ^agave birth to a Son; and ^bhe called His name Jesus.

Chapter 2

The Visit of the Magi

¹Now 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.”

³When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him.

⁴Gathering together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the ¹Messiah was to be born.

⁵They 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.’ ”

⁷Then Herod secretly called the magi and determined from them ¹the exact time ^athe star appeared.

⁸And 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.”

⁹After 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.

¹⁰When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy.

¹¹After 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.

¹²And having been ^awarned by God ^bin a dream not to return to Herod, the magi left for their own country by another way.

The Flight to Egypt

¹³Now 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.”

¹⁴So ¹Joseph got up and took the Child and His mother while it was still night, and left for Egypt.

¹⁵He 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.”

Herod Slaughters Babies

¹⁶Then 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.

¹⁷Then 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.”

¹⁹But 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.”

²¹So ¹Joseph got up, took the Child and His mother, and came into 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. Then after being ^awarned by God in a dream, he left for the regions of Galilee,

²³and came and lived in a city called ^aNazareth. This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophets: “He shall be called a ^bNazarene.”