Matthew 1; Matthew 2

Matthew 1

1 This is the list of ancestors of Jesus Christ, descendant of David and Abraham.

2 Abraham was the father of Isaac, Isaac the father of Jacob, Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers.

3 Judah and Tamar were the father and mother of Perez and Zerah. Perez was the father of Hezron, Hezron the father of Ram,

4 Ram the father of Amminadab, Amminadab the father of Nahshon, Nahshon the father of Salmon.

5 Salmon and Rahab were the father and mother of Boaz. Boaz and Ruth were the father and mother of Obed. Obed was the father of Jesse,

6 Jesse the father of King David. David and Uriah's wife [Bathsheba] were the father and mother of Solomon.

7 Solomon was the father of Rehoboam, Rehoboam the father of Abijah, Abijah the father of Asa,

8 Asa the father of Jehoshaphat, Jehoshaphat the father of Joram, Joram the father of Uzziah,

9 Uzziah the father of Jotham, Jotham the father of Ahaz, Ahaz the father of Hezekiah,

10 Hezekiah the father of Manasseh, Manasseh the father of Amon, Amon the father of Josiah.

11 Josiah was the father of Jechoniah and his brothers. They lived at the time when the people were exiled to Babylon.

12 After the exile to Babylon, Jechoniah became the father of Shealtiel. Shealtiel was the father of Zerubbabel,

13 Zerubbabel the father of Abiud, Abiud the father of Eliakim, Eliakim the father of Azor,

14 Azor the father of Zadok, Zadok the father of Achim, Achim the father of Eliud,

15 Eliud the father of Eleazar, Eleazar the father of Matthan, Matthan the father of Jacob.

16 Jacob was the father of Joseph, who was the husband of Mary. Mary was the mother of Jesus, who is called Christ.

17 So there were 14 generations from Abraham to David, 14 generations from David until the exile to Babylon, 14 generations from the exile until the Messiah.

18 The birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. His mother Mary had been promised to Joseph in marriage. But before they were married, Mary realized that she was pregnant by the Holy Spirit.

19 Her husband Joseph was an honorable man and did not want to disgrace her publicly. So he decided to break the marriage agreement with her secretly.

20 Joseph had this in mind when an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream. The angel said to him, "Joseph, descendant of David, don't be afraid to take Mary as your wife. She is pregnant by the Holy Spirit.

21 She will give birth to a son, and you will name him Jesus [He Saves], because he will save his people from their sins."

22 All this happened so that what the Lord had spoken through the prophet came true:

23 "The virgin will become pregnant and give birth to a son, and they will name him Immanuel," which means "God is with us."

24 When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him to do. He took Mary to be his wife.

25 He did not have marital relations with her before she gave birth to a son. Joseph named the child Jesus.

Matthew 2

1 Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea when Herod was king. After Jesus' birth wise men from the east arrived in Jerusalem.

2 They asked, "Where is the one who was born to be the king of the Jews? We saw his star rising and have come to worship him."

3 When King Herod and all Jerusalem heard about this, they became disturbed.

4 He called together all the chief priests and scribes and tried to find out from them where the Messiah was supposed to be born.

5 They told him, "In Bethlehem in Judea. The prophet wrote about this:

6 Bethlehem in the land of Judah, you are by no means least among the leaders of Judah. A leader will come from you. He will shepherd my people Israel."

7 Then Herod secretly called the wise men and found out from them exactly when the star had appeared.

8 As he sent them to Bethlehem, he said, "Go and search carefully for the child. When you have found him, report to me so that I may go and worship him too."

9 After they had heard the king, they started out. The star they had seen rising led them until it stopped over the place where the child was.

10 They were overwhelmed with joy to see the star.

11 When they entered the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary. So they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasure chests and offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

12 God warned them in a dream not to go back to Herod. So they left for their country by another road.

13 After they had left, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. The angel said to him, "Get up, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, because Herod intends to search for the child and kill him."

14 Joseph got up, took the child and his mother, and left for Egypt that night.

15 He stayed there until Herod died. What the Lord had spoken through the prophet came true: "I have called my son out of Egypt."

16 When Herod saw that the wise men had tricked him, he became furious. He sent soldiers to kill all the boys two years old and younger in or near Bethlehem. This matched the exact time he had learned from the wise men.

17 Then the words spoken through the prophet Jeremiah came true:

18 "A sound was heard in Ramah, the sound of crying in bitter grief. Rachel was crying for her children. She refused to be comforted because they were dead."

19 After Herod was dead, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt.

20 The angel said to him, "Get up, take the child and his mother, and go to Israel. Those who tried to kill the child are dead."

21 Joseph got up, took the child and his mother, and went to Israel.

22 But when he heard that Archelaus had succeeded his father Herod as king of Judea, Joseph was afraid to go there. Warned in a dream, he left for Galilee

23 and made his home in a city called Nazareth. So what the prophets had said came true: "He will be called a Nazarene."