Matthew 2:1-5:20

English Standard Version

The Visit of the Wise Men

2 Now ^(A)after Jesus was born in ^(B)Bethlehem of Judea ^(C)in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men^[a] from ^(D)the east came to Jerusalem, ²saying, “Where is he who has been born ^(E)king of the Jews? For we saw ^(F)his star when it rose^[b] and have come to ^(G)worship him.” ³When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him; ⁴and assembling all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where ^(H)the Christ was to be born. ⁵They told him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for so it is written by the prophet:

⁶^(I)“‘And you, O Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;
for from you shall come a ruler
who will ^(J)shepherd my people Israel.’”

⁷Then Herod summoned the wise men secretly and ascertained from them what time the star had appeared. ⁸And he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, “Go and search diligently for the child, and when you have found him, bring me word, that I too may come and worship him.” ⁹After listening to the king, they went on their way. And behold, the star that they had seen when it rose went before them until it came to rest over the place where the child was. ¹⁰When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. ¹¹And going into the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him. Then, opening their treasures, ^(K)they offered him gifts, ^(L)gold and ^(M)frankincense and ^(N)myrrh. ¹²And ^(O)being warned ^(P)in a dream not to return to Herod, they departed to their own country by another way.

The Flight to Egypt

¹³Now when they had departed, behold, ^(Q)an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Rise, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you, for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him.” ¹⁴And he rose and took the child and his mother by night and departed to Egypt ¹⁵and remained there until the death of Herod. ^(R)This was to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet, ^(S)“Out of Egypt I called my son.”

Herod Kills the Children

¹⁶Then Herod, when he saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, became furious, and he sent and killed all the male children in Bethlehem and in all that region who were two years old or under, according to the time that he had ascertained from the wise men. ¹⁷^(T)Then was fulfilled what was spoken by the prophet Jeremiah:

¹⁸^(U)“A voice was heard in Ramah,
weeping and loud lamentation,
Rachel weeping for her children;
she refused to be comforted, because they ^(V)are no more.”

The Return to Nazareth

¹⁹But when Herod died, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, ²⁰saying, “Rise, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, for ^(W)those who sought the child's life are dead.” ²¹And he rose and took the child and his mother and went to the land of Israel. ²²But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there, and ^(X)being warned in a dream he withdrew to the district of Galilee. ²³And he went and lived in a city called ^(Y)Nazareth, ^(Z)so that what was spoken by the prophets might be fulfilled, that he would be called a Nazarene.

John the Baptist Prepares the Way

3 ^(AA)In those days ^(AB)John the Baptist came preaching in ^(AC)the wilderness of Judea, ²^(AD)“Repent, for ^(AE)the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”^[c] ³For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah when he said,

^(AF)“The voice of one crying in the wilderness:
^(AG)‘Prepare^[d] the way of the Lord;
make his paths straight.’”

⁴Now John wore ^(AH)a garment of camel's hair and a leather belt around his waist, and his food was ^(AI)locusts and ^(AJ)wild honey. ⁵Then Jerusalem and all Judea and all the region about the Jordan were going out to him, ⁶and they were baptized by him in the river Jordan, ^(AK)confessing their sins.

⁷But when he saw many of ^(AL)the Pharisees and ^(AM)Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, ^(AN)“You brood of ^(AO)vipers! Who warned you to flee from ^(AP)the wrath to come? ⁸Bear fruit ^(AQ)in keeping with repentance. ⁹And do not presume to say to yourselves, ^(AR)‘We have Abraham as our father,’ for I tell you, God is able from ^(AS)these stones to raise up children for Abraham. ¹⁰Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. ^(AT)Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.

¹¹^(AU)“I baptize you with water ^(AV)for repentance, but ^(AW)he who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you ^(AX)with the Holy Spirit and ^(AY)fire. ¹²His ^(AZ)winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and ^(BA)gather his wheat into the barn, ^(BB)but the chaff he will burn with ^(BC)unquenchable fire.”

The Baptism of Jesus

¹³^(BD)Then Jesus came ^(BE)from Galilee to the Jordan to John, to be baptized by him. ¹⁴^(BF)John would have prevented him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” ¹⁵But Jesus answered him, “Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he consented. ¹⁶And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, ^(BG)the heavens were opened to him,^[e] and he ^(BH)saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him; ¹⁷and behold, ^(BI)a voice from heaven said, ^(BJ)“This is my beloved Son,^[f] with whom I am well pleased.”

The Temptation of Jesus

4 ^(BK)Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness ^(BL)to be tempted by the devil. ²And after fasting ^(BM)forty days and forty nights, he ^(BN)was hungry. ³And ^(BO)the tempter came and said to him, “If you are ^(BP)the Son of God, command ^(BQ)these stones to become loaves of bread.” ⁴But he answered, ^(BR)“It is written,

^(BS)“‘Man shall not live by bread alone,
but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”

⁵^(BT)Then the devil took him to ^(BU)the holy city and set him on the pinnacle of the temple ⁶and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written,

^(BV)“‘He will command his angels concerning you,’

and

“‘On their hands they will bear you up,
lest you strike your foot against a stone.’”

⁷Jesus said to him, “Again ^(BW)it is written, ^(BX)‘You shall not ^(BY)put the Lord your God to the test.’” ⁸^(BZ)Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. ⁹And he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.” ¹⁰Then Jesus said to him, “Be gone, ^(CA)Satan! For ^(CB)it is written,

^(CC)“‘You shall worship the Lord your God
and ^(CD)him only shall you serve.’”

¹¹Then the devil left him, and behold, ^(CE)angels came and were ministering to him.

Jesus Begins His Ministry

¹²Now when he heard that ^(CF)John had been arrested, ^(CG)he withdrew into Galilee. ¹³And leaving ^(CH)Nazareth he went and lived in ^(CI)Capernaum by ^(CJ)the sea, in the territory of ^(CK)Zebulun and Naphtali, ¹⁴^(CL)so that what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled:

¹⁵^(CM)“The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali,
    the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles—
¹⁶^(CN)the people dwelling in darkness
    have seen a great light,
and for those dwelling in the region and ^(CO)shadow of death,
    on them a light has dawned.”

¹⁷^(CP)From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, ^(CQ)“Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”^[g]

Jesus Calls the First Disciples

¹⁸^(CR)While walking by ^(CS)the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon (who is called Peter) and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. ¹⁹And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you ^(CT)fishers of men.”^[h] ²⁰Immediately they left their nets and followed him. ²¹And going on from there he saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets, and he called them. ²²Immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.

Jesus Ministers to Great Crowds

²³^(CU)And he went throughout all Galilee, ^(CV)teaching in their synagogues and ^(CW)proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and ^(CX)healing every disease and every affliction among the people. ²⁴So his fame spread throughout all ^(CY)Syria, and ^(CZ)they brought him all the sick, those afflicted with various diseases and ^(DA)pains, ^(DB)those oppressed by demons, ^(DC)those having seizures, and ^(DD)paralytics, and he healed them. ²⁵^(DE)And great crowds followed him from Galilee and the ^(DF)Decapolis, and from Jerusalem and Judea, and from beyond the Jordan.

The Sermon on the Mount

5 Seeing the crowds, ^(DG)he went up on the mountain, and when he ^(DH)sat down, his disciples came to him.

The Beatitudes

²And ^(DI)he opened his mouth and taught them, saying:

³^(DJ)“Blessed are ^(DK)the poor in spirit, for ^(DL)theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

⁴“Blessed are ^(DM)those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.

⁵“Blessed are the ^(DN)meek, for they ^(DO)shall inherit the earth.

⁶“Blessed are those who hunger and ^(DP)thirst ^(DQ)for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.

⁷“Blessed are ^(DR)the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.

⁸“Blessed are ^(DS)the pure in heart, for ^(DT)they shall see God.

⁹“Blessed are ^(DU)the peacemakers, for ^(DV)they shall be called ^(DW)sons^[i] of God.

¹⁰^(DX)“Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for ^(DY)theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

¹¹^(DZ)“Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely ^(EA)on my account. ¹²^(EB)Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for ^(EC)so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

Salt and Light

¹³“You are the salt of the earth, ^(ED)but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people's feet.

¹⁴^(EE)“You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. ¹⁵^(EF)Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. ¹⁶In the same way, let your light shine before others, so ^(EG)that^[j] they may see your good works and ^(EH)give glory to your Father who is in heaven.

Christ Came to Fulfill the Law

¹⁷^(EI)“Do not think that I have come to abolish ^(EJ)the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but ^(EK)to fulfill them. ¹⁸For truly, I say to you, ^(EL)until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished. ¹⁹^(EM)Therefore whoever relaxes ^(EN)one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least ^(EO)in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great ^(EP)in the kingdom of heaven. ²⁰For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds ^(EQ)that of the scribes and Pharisees, you ^(ER)will never enter the kingdom of heaven.