The Bible in Basic English BBE
Good News Translation GNT
1 The book of the generations of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.
1
This is the list of the ancestors of Jesus Christ, a descendant of David, who was a descendant of Abraham.
2 The son of Abraham was Isaac; and the son of Isaac was Jacob; and the sons of Jacob were Judah and his brothers;
2
a From Abraham to King David, the following ancestors are listed: Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Judah and his brothers; then Perez and Zerah (their mother was Tamar), Hezron, Ram, Amminadab, Nahshon, Salmon, Boaz (his mother was Rahab), Obed (his mother was Ruth), Jesse, and King David.
3 And the sons of Judah were Perez and Zerah by Tamar; and the son of Perez was Hezron; and the son of Hezron was Ram;
4 And the son of Ram was Amminadab; and the son of Amminadab was Nahshon; and the son of Nahshon was Salmon;
5 And the son of Salmon by Rahab was Boaz; and the son of Boaz by Ruth was Obed; and the son of Obed was Jesse;
6 And the son of Jesse was David the king; and the son of David was Solomon by her who had been the wife of Uriah;
6
b-11 From David to the time when the people of Israel were taken into exile in Babylon, the following ancestors are listed: David, Solomon (his mother was the woman who had been Uriah's wife), Rehoboam, Abijah, Asa, Jehoshaphat, Jehoram, Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, Hezekiah, Manasseh, Amon, Josiah, and Jehoiachin and his brothers.
7 And the son of Solomon was Rehoboam; and the son of Rehoboam was Abijah; and the son of Abijah was Asa;
8 And the son of Asa was Jehoshaphat; and the son of Jehoshaphat was Joram; and the son of Joram was Uzziah;
9 And the son of Uzziah was Jotham; and the son of Jotham was Ahaz; and the son of Ahaz was Hezekiah;
10 And the son of Hezekiah was Manasseh; and the son of Manasseh was Amon; and the son of Amon was Josiah;
11 And the sons of Josiah were Jechoniah and his brothers, at the time of the taking away to Babylon.
12 And after the taking away to Babylon, Jechoniah had a son Shealtiel; and Shealtiel had Zerubbabel;
12
From the time after the exile in Babylon to the birth of Jesus, the following ancestors are listed: Jehoiachin, Shealtiel, Zerubbabel, Abiud, Eliakim, Azor, Zadok, Achim, Eliud, Eleazar, Matthan, Jacob, and Joseph, who married Mary, the mother of Jesus, who was called the Messiah.
13 And Zerubbabel had Abiud; and Abiud had Eliakim; and Eliakim had Azor;
14 And Azor had Zadok; and Zadok had Achim; and Achim had Eliud;
15 And Eliud had Eleazar; and Eleazar had Matthan; and Matthan had Jacob;
16 And the son of Jacob was Joseph the husband of Mary, who gave birth to Jesus, whose name is Christ.
17 So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations; and from David to the taking away to Babylon, fourteen generations; and from the taking away to Babylon to the coming of Christ, fourteen generations.
17
So then, there were fourteen generations from Abraham to David, and fourteen from David to the exile in Babylon, and fourteen from then to the birth of the Messiah.
18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ was in this way: when his mother Mary was going to be married to Joseph, before they came together the discovery was made that she was with child by the Holy Spirit.
18
This was how the birth of Jesus Christ took place. His mother Mary was engaged to Joseph, but before they were married, she found out that she was going to have a baby by the Holy Spirit.
19 And Joseph, her husband, being an upright man, and not desiring to make her a public example, had a mind to put her away privately.
19
Joseph was a man who always did what was right, but he did not want to disgrace Mary publicly; so he made plans to break the engagement privately.
20 But when he was giving thought to these things, an angel of the Lord came to him in a dream, saying, Joseph, son of David, have no fear of taking Mary as your wife; because that which is in her body is of the Holy Spirit.
20
While he was thinking about this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, "Joseph, descendant of David, do not be afraid to take Mary to be your wife. For it is by the Holy Spirit that she has conceived.
21 And she will give birth to a son; and you will give him the name Jesus; for he will give his people salvation from their sins.
21
She will have a son, and you will name him Jesus - because he will save his people from their sins."
22 Now all this took place so that the word of the Lord by the prophet might come true,
22
Now all this happened in order to make come true what the Lord had said through the prophet,
23 See, the virgin will be with child, and will give birth to a son, and they will give him the name Immanuel, that is, God with us.
23
"A virgin will become pregnant and have a son, and he will be called Immanuel" (which means, "God is with us").
24 And Joseph did as the angel of the Lord had said to him, and took her as his wife;
24
So when Joseph woke up, he married Mary, as the angel of the Lord had told him to.
25 And he had no connection with her till she had given birth to a son; and he gave him the name Jesus.
25
But he had no sexual relations with her before she gave birth to her son. And Joseph named him Jesus.
The Bible in Basic English is in the public domain.
Scripture taken from the Good News Translation - Second Edition, Copyright 1992 by American Bible Society. Used by Permission.