For to us a child is born,(A)
    to us a son is given,(B)
    and the government(C) will be on his shoulders.(D)
And he will be called
    Wonderful Counselor,(E) Mighty God,(F)
    Everlasting(G) Father,(H) Prince of Peace.(I)

Read full chapter

Of the greatness of his government(A) and peace(B)
    there will be no end.(C)
He will reign(D) on David’s throne
    and over his kingdom,
establishing and upholding it
    with justice(E) and righteousness(F)
    from that time on and forever.(G)
The zeal(H) of the Lord Almighty
    will accomplish this.

Read full chapter

The Branch From Jesse

11 A shoot(A) will come up from the stump(B) of Jesse;(C)
    from his roots a Branch(D) will bear fruit.(E)
The Spirit(F) of the Lord will rest on him—
    the Spirit of wisdom(G) and of understanding,
    the Spirit of counsel and of might,(H)
    the Spirit of the knowledge and fear of the Lord
and he will delight in the fear(I) of the Lord.

He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes,(J)
    or decide by what he hears with his ears;(K)
but with righteousness(L) he will judge the needy,(M)
    with justice(N) he will give decisions for the poor(O) of the earth.
He will strike(P) the earth with the rod of his mouth;(Q)
    with the breath(R) of his lips he will slay the wicked.(S)
Righteousness will be his belt(T)
    and faithfulness(U) the sash around his waist.(V)

The wolf will live with the lamb,(W)
    the leopard will lie down with the goat,
the calf and the lion and the yearling[a] together;
    and a little child will lead them.
The cow will feed with the bear,
    their young will lie down together,
    and the lion will eat straw like the ox.(X)
The infant(Y) will play near the cobra’s den,
    and the young child will put its hand into the viper’s(Z) nest.
They will neither harm nor destroy(AA)
    on all my holy mountain,(AB)
for the earth(AC) will be filled with the knowledge(AD) of the Lord
    as the waters cover the sea.

10 In that day(AE) the Root of Jesse(AF) will stand as a banner(AG) for the peoples; the nations(AH) will rally to him,(AI) and his resting place(AJ) will be glorious.(AK)

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 11:6 Hebrew; Septuagint lion will feed

Joseph Accepts Jesus as His Son

18 This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about[a]: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit.(A) 19 Because Joseph her husband was faithful to the law, and yet[b] did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce(B) her quietly.

20 But after he had considered this, an angel(C) of the Lord appeared to him in a dream(D) and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus,[c](E) because he will save his people from their sins.”(F)

22 All this took place to fulfill(G) what the Lord had said through the prophet: 23 “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel”[d](H) (which means “God with us”).

24 When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel(I) of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife.

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. Matthew 1:18 Or The origin of Jesus the Messiah was like this
  2. Matthew 1:19 Or was a righteous man and
  3. Matthew 1:21 Jesus is the Greek form of Joshua, which means the Lord saves.
  4. Matthew 1:23 Isaiah 7:14

The Magi Visit the Messiah

After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea,(A) during the time of King Herod,(B) Magi[a] from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews?(C) We saw his star(D) when it rose and have come to worship him.”

When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. When he had called together all the people’s chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Messiah was to be born. “In Bethlehem(E) in Judea,” they replied, “for this is what the prophet has written:

“‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
    are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;
for out of you will come a ruler
    who will shepherd my people Israel.’[b](F)

Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. He sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him.”

After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen when it rose went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. 10 When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. 11 On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him.(G) Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts(H) of gold, frankincense and myrrh. 12 And having been warned(I) in a dream(J) not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. Matthew 2:1 Traditionally wise men
  2. Matthew 2:6 Micah 5:2,4

Bible Gateway Recommends