Matthew 2:16-23

The Massacre of the Innocents

16 Then 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^[a] old and under, in keeping with the time he had learned from the wise men.

17 Then what was spoken through Jeremiah the prophet was fulfilled:

18 A voice was heard in Ramah, weeping, ^[b] and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children; and she refused to be consoled, because they were no more. ^[c]

The Holy Family in Nazareth

19 After Herod died, an angel of the Lord suddenly appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt,

20 saying, "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."

21 So he got up, took the child and His mother, and entered the land of Israel.

22 But when he heard that Archelaus^[d] 6 was 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.

23 Then he went and settled in a town called Nazareth to fulfill what was spoken through the prophets, that He will be called a Nazarene.

Footnotes

• [a]. Lit were from two years
• [b]. Other mss read Ramah, lamentation, and weeping,
• [c]. Jr 31:15
• [d]. A son of Herod the Great who ruled a portion of his father's kingdom 4 b.c.-a.d.