Psalm 8^[a]

For the director of music. According to gittith.^[b] A psalm of David.

Jacob Goes to Egypt

46 So Israel^(A) set out with all that was his, and when he reached Beersheba,^(B) he offered sacrifices^(C) to the God of his father Isaac.^(D)

² And God spoke to Israel^(E) in a vision at night^(F) and said, “Jacob! Jacob!”

“Here I am,”^(G) he replied.

³ “I am God, the God of your father,”^(H) he said. “Do not be afraid^(I) to go down to Egypt,^(J) for I will make you into a great nation^(K) there.^{(L) 4} I will go down to Egypt with you, and I will surely bring you back again.^(M) And Joseph’s own hand will close your eyes.^(N)”

⁵ Then Jacob left Beersheba,^(O) and Israel’s^(P) sons took their father Jacob and their children and their wives in the carts^(Q) that Pharaoh had sent to transport him. ⁶ So Jacob and all his offspring went to Egypt,^(R) taking with them their livestock and the possessions^(S) they had acquired^(T) in Canaan. ⁷ Jacob brought with him to Egypt^(U) his sons and grandsons and his daughters and granddaughters—all his offspring.^(V)

Suffering for Being a Christian

¹² Dear friends, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that has come on you^(A) to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. ¹³ But rejoice^(B) inasmuch as you participate in the sufferings of Christ,^(C) so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed.^{(D) 14} If you are insulted because of the name of Christ,^(E) you are blessed,^(F) for the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you. ¹⁵ If you suffer, it should not be as a murderer or thief or any other kind of criminal, or even as a meddler. ¹⁶ However, if you suffer as a Christian, do not be ashamed, but praise God that you bear that name.^{(G) 17} For it is time for judgment to begin with God’s household;^(H) and if it begins with us, what will the outcome be for those who do not obey the gospel of God?^{(I) 18} And,

¹⁹ So then, those who suffer according to God’s will^(K) should commit themselves to their faithful Creator and continue to do good.

The Escape to Egypt

¹³ When they had gone, an angel^(A) of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream.^(B) “Get up,” he said, “take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.”^(C)

¹⁴ So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt, ¹⁵ where he stayed until the death of Herod. And so was fulfilled^(D) what the Lord had said through the prophet: “Out of Egypt I called my son.”^[a](E)

¹⁶ When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi. ¹⁷ Then what was said through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled:^(F)

The Return to Nazareth

¹⁹ After Herod died, an angel^(I) of the Lord appeared in a dream^(J) to Joseph in Egypt ²⁰ and said, “Get up, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who were trying to take the child’s life are dead.”^(K)

²¹ So he got up, took the child and his mother and went to the land of Israel. ²² But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning in Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. Having been warned in a dream,^(L) he withdrew to the district of Galilee,^{(M) 23} and he went and lived in a town called Nazareth.^(N) So was fulfilled^(O) what was said through the prophets, that he would be called a Nazarene.^(P)