Matthew 2-4

New American Standard Bible

The Visit of the Magi

2 Now after Jesus was ^(A)born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of ^(B)Herod the king, behold, ^[a]magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem, saying, ² “Where is He who has been born ^(C)King of the Jews? For we saw ^(D)His star in the east and have come to worship Him.” ³ When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. ⁴ And gathering together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the ^[b]Messiah was to be born. ⁵ They said to him, “^(E)In Bethlehem of Judea; for this is what has been written ^[c]by ^[d]the prophet:

⁷ Then Herod secretly called for the magi and determined from them the exact ^[e]time ^(H)the star appeared. ⁸ And he sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the Child; and when you have found Him, report to me, so that I too may come and worship Him.” ⁹ After hearing the king, they went on their way; and behold, the star, which they had seen in the east, went on ahead of them until it came to a stop over the place where the Child was to be found. ¹⁰ When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. ¹¹ And after they came into the house, they saw the Child with ^(I)His mother Mary; and they fell down and ^[f](J)worshiped Him. Then they opened their treasures and presented to Him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. ¹² And after being ^(K)warned by God ^(L)in a dream not to return to Herod, the magi left for their own country by another way.

The Escape to Egypt

¹³ Now when they had gone, behold, an ^(M)angel of the Lord *^(N)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 ^[g]Joseph got up and took the Child and His mother while it was still night, and left for Egypt. ¹⁵ He ^[h]stayed there until the death of Herod; this happened so that what had been spoken by the Lord through ^[i]the prophet would be fulfilled: “^(O)Out of Egypt I called ^(P)My Son.”

Herod Slaughters Babies

¹⁶ Then when Herod saw that he had been tricked by ^(Q)the magi, he became very enraged, and sent men and ^(R)killed all the boys who were in Bethlehem and all its vicinity ^[j]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 *^(T)appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, and said, ²⁰ “Get up, take the Child and His mother, and go to the land of Israel; for those who sought the Child’s life are dead.” ²¹ So ^[k]Joseph got up, took the Child and His mother, and came into the land of Israel. ²² But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. Then after being ^(U)warned by God in a dream, he left for the regions of Galilee, ²³ and came and settled in a city called ^(V)Nazareth. This happened so that what was spoken through the prophets would be fulfilled: “He will be called a ^(W)Nazarene.”

The Preaching of John the Baptist

3 Now ^(X)in those days ^(Y)John the Baptist *^[l]came, ^[m]preaching in the ^(Z)wilderness of Judea, saying, ² “^(AA)Repent, for ^(AB)the kingdom of heaven ^[n]is at hand.” ³ For this is the ^(AC)one referred to ^[o]by Isaiah the prophet when he said,

⁴ Now John himself had ^[r](AF)a garment of camel’s hair and a leather belt around his waist; and his food was ^(AG)locusts and wild honey. ⁵ At that time Jerusalem ^(AH)was going out to him, and all Judea and all ^(AI)the region around the Jordan; ⁶ and they were being ^(AJ)baptized by him in the Jordan River, as they confessed their sins.

⁷ But when he saw many of the ^(AK)Pharisees and ^(AL)Sadducees coming for ^[s]baptism, he said to them, “You ^[t](AM)offspring of vipers, who warned you to flee from ^(AN)the wrath to come? ^8 (AO)Therefore produce fruit ^(AP)consistent with repentance; ⁹ and do not assume that you can say to yourselves, ‘^(AQ)We have Abraham as our father’; for I tell you that God is able, from these stones, to raise up children for Abraham. ¹⁰ And the ^(AR)axe is already laid at the root of the trees; therefore, ^(AS)every tree that does not bear good fruit is being cut down and thrown into the fire.

¹¹ “As for me, ^(AT)I baptize you ^[u]with water for repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, and I am not fit to remove His sandals; ^(AU)He will baptize you ^[v]with the Holy Spirit and fire. ¹² His ^(AV)winnowing fork is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clear His threshing floor; and He will ^(AW)gather His wheat into the barn, but He will burn up the ^(AX)chaff with ^(AY)unquenchable fire.”

The Baptism of Jesus

^13 (AZ)Then Jesus *arrived ^(BA)from Galilee at the Jordan, coming to John to be baptized by him. ¹⁴ But John tried to prevent Him, saying, “I have the need to be baptized by You, and yet You are coming to me?” ¹⁵ But Jesus, answering, said to him, “Allow it at this time; for in this way it is fitting for us ^(BB)to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he *allowed Him. ¹⁶ After He was baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened, and ^[w](BC)he saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove and ^[x]settling on Him, ¹⁷ and behold, a voice from the heavens said, “^(BD)This is ^[y]My beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”

The Temptation of Jesus

4 ^(BE)Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness ^(BF)to be tempted by the devil. ² And after He had ^(BG)fasted for forty days and forty nights, He ^[z]then became hungry. ³ And ^(BH)the tempter came and said to Him, “If You are the ^(BI)Son of God, command that these stones become bread.” ⁴ But He answered and said, “It is written: ‘^(BJ)Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes out of the mouth of God.’”

⁵ Then the devil *took Him along into ^(BK)the holy city and had Him stand on the pinnacle of the temple, ⁶ and he *said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down; for it is written:

and

⁷ Jesus said to him, “^[aa]On the other hand, it is written: ‘^(BM)You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’”

^8 (BN)Again, the devil *took Him along to a very high mountain and *showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory; ⁹ and he said to Him, “^(BO)All these things I will give You, if You fall down and ^[ab]worship me.” ¹⁰ Then Jesus *said to him, “Go away, Satan! For it is written: ‘^(BP)You shall worship the Lord your God, and ^[ac]serve Him only.’” ¹¹ Then the devil *left Him; and behold, ^(BQ)angels came and began to serve Him.

Jesus Begins His Ministry

¹² Now when Jesus heard that ^(BR)John had been taken into custody, ^(BS)He withdrew into Galilee; ¹³ and leaving Nazareth, He came and ^(BT)settled in Capernaum, which is by the sea, in the region of Zebulun and Naphtali. ¹⁴ This happened so that what was spoken through Isaiah the prophet would be fulfilled:

^17 (BW)From that time Jesus began to ^[af]preach and say, “^(BX)Repent, for the kingdom of heaven ^[ag]is at hand.”

The First Disciples

^18 (BY)Now as Jesus was walking by ^(BZ)the Sea of Galilee, He saw two brothers, ^(CA)Simon, who was called Peter, and his brother Andrew, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen. ¹⁹ And He *said to them, “^[ah]Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of people.” ²⁰ Immediately they left their nets and followed Him. ²¹ Going on from there He saw two other brothers, ^[ai](CB)James the son of Zebedee, and his brother ^[aj]John, in the boat with their father Zebedee, mending their nets; and He called them. ²² Immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed Him.

Ministry in Galilee

²³ Jesus was going ^(CC)about in all of Galilee, ^(CD)teaching in their synagogues and ^(CE)proclaiming the ^[ak]gospel of the kingdom, and ^(CF)healing every disease and every sickness among the people.

²⁴ And the news about Him spread ^(CG)throughout Syria; and they brought to Him all who were ill, those suffering with various diseases and severe pain, ^(CH)demon-possessed, people with ^(CI)epilepsy, and people who were ^(CJ)paralyzed; and He healed them. ²⁵ Large crowds ^(CK)followed Him from Galilee and ^(CL)the Decapolis, and Jerusalem, and Judea, and from ^(CM)beyond the Jordan.