Matthew 2
2
1And Jesus having been born in Beth-Lehem of Judea, in the days of Herod the king, lo, mages from the east came to Jerusalem,
2saying, ‘Where is he who was born king of the Jews? for we saw his star in the east, and we came to bow to him.’
3And Herod the king having heard, was stirred, and all Jerusalem with him,
4and having gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he was inquiring from them where the Christ is born.
5And they said to him, ‘In Beth-Lehem of Judea, for thus it hath been written through the prophet,
6And thou, Beth-Lehem, the land of Judah, thou art by no means the least among the leaders of Judah, for out of thee shall come one leading, who shall feed My people Israel.’
7Then Herod, privately having called the mages, did inquire exactly from them the time of the appearing star,
8and having sent them to Beth-Lehem, he said, ‘Having gone — inquire ye exactly for the child, and whenever ye may have found, bring me back word, that I also having come may bow to him.’
9And they, having heard the king, departed, and lo, the star, that they did see in the east, did go before them, till, having come, it stood over where the child was.
10And having seen the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy,
11and having come to the house, they found the child with Mary his mother, and having fallen down they bowed to him, and having opened their treasures, they presented to him gifts, gold, and frankincense, and myrrh,
12and having been divinely warned in a dream not to turn back unto Herod, through another way they withdrew to their own region.
13And on their having withdrawn, lo, a messenger of the Lord doth appear in a dream to Joseph, saying, ‘Having risen, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and be thou there till I may speak to thee, for Herod is about to seek the child to destroy him.’
14And he, having risen, took the child and his mother by night, and withdrew to Egypt,
15and he was there till the death of Herod, that it might be fulfilled that was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying, ‘Out of Egypt I did call My Son.’
16Then Herod, having seen that he was deceived by the mages, was very wroth, and having sent forth, he slew all the male children in Beth-Lehem, and in all its borders, from two years and under, according to the time that he inquired exactly from the mages.
17Then was fulfilled that which was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet, saying,
18‘A voice in Ramah was heard — lamentation and weeping and much mourning — Rachel weeping [for] her children, and she would not be comforted because they are not.’
19And Herod having died, lo, a messenger of the Lord in a dream doth appear to Joseph in Egypt,
20saying, ‘Having risen, take the child and his mother, and be going to the land of Israel, for they have died — those seeking the life of the child.’
21And he, having risen, took the child and his mother, and came to the land of Israel,
22and having heard that Archelaus doth reign over Judea instead of Herod his father, he was afraid to go thither, and having been divinely warned in a dream, he withdrew to the parts of Galilee,
23and coming, he dwelt in a city named Nazareth, that it might be fulfilled that was spoken through the prophets, that ‘A Nazarene he shall be called.’
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Matthew 2: YLT98
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maintained by the British and Foreign Bible Society
Matthew 2
2
Visitors from the East
1Jesus was born in the town of Bethlehem in Judea, during the time when Herod was king. Soon afterwards, some men who studied the stars came from the east to Jerusalem 2and asked, “Where is the baby born to be the king of the Jews? We saw his star when it came up in the east, and we have come to worship him.”
3When King Herod heard about this, he was very upset, and so was everyone else in Jerusalem. 4He called together all the chief priests and the teachers of the Law and asked them, “Where will the Messiah be born?”
5“In the town of Bethlehem in Judea,” they answered. “For this is what the prophet wrote:
6 #
Mic 5.2
‘Bethlehem in the land of Judah,
you are by no means the least of the leading cities of Judah;
for from you will come a leader
who will guide my people Israel.’ ”
7So Herod called the visitors from the east to a secret meeting and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. 8Then he sent them to Bethlehem with these instructions: “Go and make a careful search for the child, and when you find him, let me know, so that I too may go and worship him.”
9-10And so they left, and on their way they saw the same star they had seen in the east. When they saw it, how happy they were, what joy was theirs! It went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. 11They went into the house, and when they saw the child with his mother Mary, they knelt down and worshipped him. They brought out their gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh, and presented them to him.
12Then they returned to their country by another road, since God had warned them in a dream not to go back to Herod.
The Escape to Egypt
13After they had left, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph and said, “Herod will be looking for the child in order to kill him. So get up, take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt, and stay there until I tell you to leave.”
14Joseph got up, took the child and his mother, and left during the night for Egypt, 15#Hos 11.1where he stayed until Herod died. This was done to make what the Lord had said through the prophet come true, “I called my Son out of Egypt.”
The Killing of the Children
16When Herod realized that the visitors from the east had tricked him, he was furious. He gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its neighbourhood who were two years old and younger — this was done in accordance with what he had learned from the visitors about the time when the star had appeared.
17In this way what the prophet Jeremiah had said came true:
18 #
Jer 31.15
“A sound is heard in Ramah,
the sound of bitter weeping.
Rachel is crying for her children;
she refuses to be comforted,
for they are dead.”
The Return from Egypt
19After Herod died, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt 20and said, “Get up, take the child and his mother, and go back to the land of Israel, because those who tried to kill the child are dead.” 21So Joseph got up, took the child and his mother, and went back to Israel.
22But when Joseph heard that Archelaus had succeeded his father Herod as king of Judea, he was afraid to go there. He was given more instructions in a dream, so he went to the province of Galilee 23#Mk 1.24; Lk 2.39; Jn 1.45and made his home in a town named Nazareth. And so what the prophets had said came true: “He will be called a Nazarene.”
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Good News Bible. Scripture taken from the Good News Bible (r) (Today's English Version Second Edition, UK/British Edition). Copyright © 1992 British & Foreign Bible Society. Used by permission.