1
Chapter 1
The ancestors of Jesus Christ
1This is a list of the ancestors of Jesus Christ. Jesus was from the family of King David. David was from the family of Abraham. #1:1 Jesus was a descendant of Abraham. Abraham was the ancestor of all the Israelite people. We can read about Abraham in Genesis 12—25. Jesus was also a descendant of Judah, one of Jacob's sons. Later, the descendants of Judah were called Jews. Jesus was also a descendant of King David. We can read about King David in 1 Samuel 16—31 and in 2 Samuel.
2Abraham was the father of Isaac.
Isaac was the father of Jacob.
Jacob was the father of Judah and his brothers.
3Judah was the father of Perez and Zerah. Tamar was their mother.
Perez was the father of Hezron.
Hezron was the father of Ram.
4Ram was the father of Amminadab.
Amminadab was the father of Nahshon.
Nahshon was the father of Salmon.
5Salmon was the father of Boaz. Rahab was his mother.
Boaz was the father of Obed. Ruth was his mother.
Obed was the father of Jesse.
6Jesse was the father of King David.
David was Solomon's father. Solomon's mother was the wife of Uriah.
7Solomon was the father of Rehoboam.
Rehoboam was the father of Abijah.
Abijah was the father of Asa.
8Asa was the father of Jehoshaphat.
Jehoshaphat was the father of Jehoram.
Jehoram was the father of Uzziah.
9Uzziah was the father of Jotham.
Jotham was the father of Ahaz.
Ahaz was the father of Hezekiah.
10Hezekiah was the father of Manasseh.
Manasseh was the father of Amon.
Amon was the father of Josiah.
11Josiah was the father of Jeconiah and his brothers.
This was at the time when the Israelites' enemies took them away to Babylon.
12Here is a list of Jesus' ancestors who lived after that time:
Jeconiah was the father of Shealtiel.
Shealtiel was the father of Zerubbabel.
13Zerubbabel was the father of Abiud.
Abiud was the father of Eliakim.
Eliakim was the father of Azor.
14Azor was the father of Zadok.
Zadok was the father of Akim.
Akim was the father of Eliud.
15Eliud was the father of Eleazar.
Eleazar was the father of Matthan.
Matthan was the father of Jacob.
16Jacob was the father of Joseph.
Joseph married Mary. Mary was the mother of Jesus. Jesus is the one who is called Christ, the Messiah.#1:16 ‘Christ’ and ‘Messiah’ both mean someone that God has chosen to be a special king. ‘Christ’ is the Greek word. ‘Messiah’ is the Hebrew word.
17So then, there were 14 generations from Abraham to David. There were another 14 generations from David to the time they took the Israelite people away to Babylon. Then there were 14 generations from that time until Jesus, the Messiah, was born. #1:17 The names of all their ancestors were very important to the Jews. Then they knew that they were Jews. The list shows that Jesus was in the same family as Abraham, Judah, Joshua and David. They were his ancestors. Matthew records Jesus' ancestors as far as Joseph. Jesus was Mary's son, but he was not Joseph's son. Matthew explains this in the next verses. But, when Joseph married Mary, he became the father of Jesus by the law.
Jesus is born
18This is how Jesus Christ was born. His mother's name was Mary. She had promised to marry a man called Joseph. Then she discovered that she was pregnant. This happened before they started to live together. It was the Holy Spirit that caused this to happen to her. 19Joseph was a good man. He wanted to do what was right. He did not want her to become ashamed in front of people. So he decided to stop their marriage secretly. #1:19 Joseph thought that Mary had had sex with another man. When two Jewish people had promised to marry each other, it was not easy to stop the marriage. Joseph could have told people in a public place that Mary had done something wrong. This would stop the marriage. The law said that they should then kill Mary. But Joseph wanted to be kind to Mary. Then the angel told him that Mary had not done anything wrong, so he should marry her. 20He thought about what he should do. Then an angel came from the Lord God to see him. The angel came to Joseph while he was dreaming. The angel said, ‘Joseph, you who are from the family of King David, take Mary home as your wife. Do not be afraid to do that. The baby that is growing inside her is from the Holy Spirit. 21Mary's baby will be a boy. He will save his people from their sins. #1:21 Jesus saves people from God's punishment for the wrong things that they have done. Because of that, you must give him the name “Jesus”.’
22The Lord God had given a message about this to one of his prophets long ago. Now that message would become true. 23The prophet had said, ‘A young woman who has never had sex will have a baby boy. People will call her son Immanuel.’ This name means ‘God is with us’.
24Then Joseph woke up from his sleep. He did what God's angel had said to him. He married Mary and he took her to his home. 25Joseph did not have sex with Mary until after the baby boy was born. He said that the boy's name should be Jesus.