²⁰ But when he had thought this over, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “^(A)Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife; for ^[a]the Child who has been conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. ²¹ She will give birth to a Son; and ^(B)you shall name Him Jesus, for ^[b]He ^(C)will save His people from their sins.”

The Escape to Egypt

¹³ Now when they had gone, behold, an ^(A)angel of the Lord *^(B)appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Get up! Take the Child and His mother and flee to Egypt, and stay there until I tell you; for Herod is going to search for the Child to kill Him.”

¹⁴ So ^[a]Joseph got up and took the Child and His mother while it was still night, and left for Egypt. ¹⁵ He ^[b]stayed there until the death of Herod; this happened so that what had been spoken by the Lord through ^[c]the prophet would be fulfilled: “^(C)Out of Egypt I called ^(D)My Son.”

Herod Slaughters Babies

¹⁶ Then when Herod saw that he had been tricked by ^(E)the magi, he became very enraged, and sent men and ^(F)killed all the boys who were in Bethlehem and all its vicinity ^[d]who were two years old or under, according to the time which he had determined from the magi. ¹⁷ Then what had been spoken through Jeremiah the prophet was fulfilled:

¹⁹ But when Herod died, behold, an angel of the Lord *^(H)appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, and said,

⁵¹ “You men who are ^(A)stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears are always resisting the Holy Spirit; you are doing just as your fathers did. ^52 (B)Which one of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? They killed those who had previously announced the coming of ^(C)the Righteous One, and ^(D)you have now become betrayers and murderers of Him; ⁵³ you who received the Law as ^(E)ordained by angels, and yet did not keep it.”

² For if the word ^(A)spoken through ^(B)angels proved ^[a]unalterable, and ^(C)every violation and act of disobedience received a just ^[b](D)punishment,

¹⁹ And he said, “Behold, I am going to ^(A)inform you of what will occur at the final period of the indignation, because it pertains to the appointed time of the end.

²¹ while I was still speaking in prayer, the man ^(A)Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision ^[a]previously, ^[b]came to me ^[c]in my extreme weariness about the time of the ^(B)evening offering. ²² And he instructed me and talked with me and said, “Daniel, I have come now to give you insight with ^(C)understanding. ²³ At the ^(D)beginning of your pleas the ^[d]command was issued, and I have come to tell you, because you are ^[e](E)highly esteemed; so pay attention to the message and gain ^(F)understanding of the vision.

Daniel Comforted

¹⁰ Then behold, a hand ^(A)touched me and shook me on my ^[a]hands and knees. ¹¹ And he said to me, “^(B)Daniel, ^[b]you who are treasured, ^(C)understand the words that I am about to tell you and ^(D)stand at your place, for I have now been sent to you.” And when he had spoken this word to me, I stood up ^(E)trembling. ¹² Then he said to me, “^(F)Do not be afraid, Daniel, for from the first day that you set your heart on understanding this and on ^(G)humbling yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I have come ^(H)in response to your words. ¹³ But the prince of the kingdom of Persia was standing ^[c]in my way for twenty-one days; then behold, ^(I)Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, for I had been left there with the kings of Persia. ¹⁴ Now I have come to ^(J)explain to you what will happen to your people in the ^[d](K)latter days, because the vision pertains to ^(L)the days still future.”

¹⁵ When he had spoken to me according to these words, I ^[e]turned my face toward the ground and became ^(M)speechless. ¹⁶ And behold, ^[f](N)one who resembled a human was ^(O)touching my lips. Then I opened my mouth and spoke and said to him who was standing before me, “My lord, due to the vision ^[g](P)anguish has come upon me, and I have retained no strength. ¹⁷ For ^(Q)how can such a servant of my lord talk with such as my lord? As for me, there remains just now ^(R)no strength in me, nor has any breath been left in me.”

¹⁸ Then this one with human appearance touched me again and ^(S)strengthened me. ¹⁹ And he said, “^[h]You who are treasured, ^(T)do not be afraid. Peace be to you; take ^(U)courage and be courageous!” Now as soon as he spoke to me, I felt strengthened and said, “May my lord speak, for you have ^(V)strengthened me.” ²⁰ Then he said, “Do you ^[i]understand why I came to you? But I shall now return to fight against the prince of Persia; so I am leaving, and behold, the ^(W)prince of ^[j]Greece is about to come.

¹⁹ But during the night ^(A)an angel of the Lord opened the gates of the prison, and leading them out, he said, ²⁰ “Go, stand and ^[a]speak to the people in the temple area ^[b](B)the whole message of this Life.”

Cornelius’ Vision

10 Now there was a man in ^(A)Caesarea named Cornelius, a centurion of what was ^(B)called the Italian ^[a]cohort, ² a devout man and ^(C)one who feared God with all his household, and ^(D)made many charitable contributions to the Jewish people and prayed to God continually. ³ About ^(E)the ^[b]ninth hour of the day he clearly saw ^(F)in a vision ^(G)an angel of God who had just come in and said to him, “Cornelius!” ⁴ And he ^(H)looked at him intently and became terrified, and said, “What is it, lord?” And he said to him, “Your prayers and charitable gifts ^(I)have ascended ^(J)as a memorial offering before God. ⁵ Now dispatch some men to ^(K)Joppa and send for a man named Simon, who is also called Peter; ⁶ he is staying with a tanner named ^(L)Simon, whose house is by the sea.” ⁷ When the angel who *spoke to him left, he summoned two of his ^[c]servants and a devout soldier from his personal attendants, ⁸ and after he had explained everything to them, he sent them to ^(M)Joppa.