Matthew 1; Matthew 2; Matthew 3; Matthew 4

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."

Matthew 3

1 Later, John the Baptizer appeared in the desert of Judea. His message was,

2 "Turn to God and change the way you think and act, because the kingdom of heaven is near."

3 Isaiah the prophet spoke about this man when he said, "A voice cries out in the desert: 'Prepare the way for the Lord! Make his paths straight!'"

4 John wore clothes made from camel's hair and had a leather belt around his waist. His diet consisted of locusts and wild honey.

5 Jerusalem, all Judea, and the whole Jordan Valley went to him.

6 As they confessed their sins, he baptized them in the Jordan River.

7 But when he saw many Pharisees and Sadducees coming to be baptized, he said to them, "You poisonous snakes! Who showed you how to flee from God's coming anger?

8 Do those things that prove you have turned to God and have changed the way you think and act.

9 Don't think you can say, 'Abraham is our ancestor.' I can guarantee that God can raise up descendants for Abraham from these stones.

10 The ax is now ready to cut the roots of the trees. Any tree that doesn't produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into a fire.

11 I baptize you with water so that you will change the way you think and act. But the one who comes after me is more powerful than I. I am not worthy to remove his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.

12 His winnowing shovel is in his hand, and he will clean up his threshing floor. He will gather his wheat into a barn, but he will burn the husks in a fire that can never be put out."

13 Then Jesus appeared. He came from Galilee to the Jordan River to be baptized by John.

14 But John tried to stop him and said, "I need to be baptized by you. Why are you coming to me?"

15 Jesus answered him, "This is the way it has to be now. This is the proper way to do everything that God requires of us." Then John gave in to him.

16 After Jesus was baptized, he immediately came up from the water. Suddenly, the heavens were opened, and he saw the Spirit of God coming down as a dove to him.

17 Then a voice from heaven said, "This is my Son, whom I love--my Son with whom I am pleased."

Matthew 4

1 Then the Spirit led Jesus into the desert to be tempted by the devil.

2 Jesus did not eat anything for 40 days and 40 nights. At the end of that time, he was hungry.

3 The tempter came to him and said, "If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become loaves of bread."

4 Jesus answered, "Scripture says, 'A person cannot live on bread alone but on every word that God speaks.'"

5 Then the devil took him into the holy city and had him stand on the highest part of the temple.

6 He said to Jesus, "If you are the Son of God, jump! Scripture says, 'He will put his angels in charge of you. They will carry you in their hands so that you never hit your foot against a rock.'"

7 Jesus said to him, "Again, Scripture says, 'Never tempt the Lord your God.'"

8 Once more the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms in the world and their glory.

9 The devil said to him, "I will give you all this if you will bow down and worship me."

10 Jesus said to him, "Go away, Satan! Scripture says, 'Worship the Lord your God and serve only him.'"

11 Then the devil left him, and angels came to take care of him.

12 When Jesus heard that John had been put in prison, he went back to Galilee.

13 He left Nazareth and made his home in Capernaum on the shores of the Sea of Galilee. This was in the region of Zebulun and Naphtali.

14 So what the prophet Isaiah had said came true:

15 "Land of Zebulun and land of Naphtali, on the way to the sea, across the Jordan River, Galilee, where foreigners live!

16 The people who lived in darkness have seen a bright light. A light has risen for those who live in a land overshadowed by death."

17 From then on, Jesus began to tell people, "Turn to God and change the way you think and act, because the kingdom of heaven is near!"

18 As he was walking along the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon (called Peter) and Andrew. They were throwing a net into the sea because they were fishermen.

19 Jesus said to them, "Come, follow me! I will teach you how to catch people instead of fish."

20 They immediately left their nets and followed him.

21 As Jesus went on, he saw two other brothers, James and John, the sons of Zebedee. They were in a boat with their father Zebedee preparing their nets to go fishing. He called them,

22 and they immediately left the boat and their father and followed Jesus.

23 Jesus went all over Galilee. He taught in the synagogues and spread the Good News of the kingdom. He also cured every disease and sickness among the people.

24 The news about Jesus spread throughout Syria. People brought him everyone who was sick, those who suffered from any kind of disease or pain. They also brought epileptics, those who were paralyzed, and people possessed by demons, and he cured them all.

25 Large crowds followed him. They came from Galilee, the Ten Cities, Jerusalem, Judea, and from across the Jordan River.