Matthew 1-4 (New American Standard Bible)

Matthew 1

The Genealogy of Jesus the Messiah

 ¹The record of the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah, ^(A)the son of David, ^(B)the son of Abraham:

 ²Abraham was the father of Isaac, Isaac the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of ^[a]Judah and his brothers.

 ³Judah was the father of Perez and Zerah by Tamar, ^(C)Perez was the father of Hezron, and Hezron the father of Ram.

 ⁴Ram was the father of Amminadab, Amminadab the father of Nahshon, and Nahshon the father of Salmon.

 ⁵Salmon was the father of Boaz by Rahab, Boaz was the father of Obed by Ruth, and Obed the father of Jesse.

 ⁶Jesse was the father of David the king. David ^(D)was the father of Solomon by ^[b]Bathsheba who had been the wife of Uriah.

 ⁷Solomon ^(E)was the father of Rehoboam, Rehoboam the father of Abijah, and Abijah the father of Asa.

 ⁸Asa was the father of Jehoshaphat, Jehoshaphat the father of Joram, and Joram the father of Uzziah.

 ⁹Uzziah was the father of Jotham, Jotham the father of Ahaz, and Ahaz the father of Hezekiah.

 ¹⁰Hezekiah was the father of Manasseh, Manasseh the father of Amon, and Amon the ^(F)father of Josiah.

 ¹¹Josiah became the father of Jeconiah and his brothers, at the time of the ^(G)deportation to Babylon.

 ¹²After the ^(H)deportation to Babylon: Jeconiah became the father of Shealtiel, and Shealtiel the father of Zerubbabel.

 ¹³Zerubbabel was the father of Abihud, Abihud the father of Eliakim, and Eliakim the father of Azor.

 ¹⁴Azor was the father of Zadok, Zadok the father of Achim, and Achim the father of Eliud.

 ¹⁵Eliud was the father of Eleazar, Eleazar the father of Matthan, and Matthan the father of Jacob.

 ¹⁶Jacob was the father of Joseph the husband of Mary, by whom Jesus was born, ^(I)who is called the Messiah.

 ¹⁷So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations; from David to the ^(J)deportation to Babylon, fourteen generations; and from the ^(K)deportation to Babylon to the Messiah, fourteen generations.

Conception and Birth of Jesus

 ¹⁸Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: when His ^(L)mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was ^(M)found to be with child by the Holy Spirit.

 ¹⁹And Joseph her husband, being a righteous man and not wanting to disgrace her, planned ^[c](N)to send her away secretly.

 ²⁰But when he had considered this, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, "^(O)Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife; for the Child who has been ^[d]conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit.

 ²¹"She will bear a Son; and ^(P)you shall call His name Jesus, for He ^(Q)will save His people from their sins."

 ²²Now all this took place to fulfill what was ^(R)spoken by the Lord through the prophet:

 ²³"^(S)BEHOLD, THE VIRGIN SHALL BE WITH ^(T)CHILD AND SHALL BEAR A SON, AND THEY SHALL CALL HIS NAME IMMANUEL," which translated means, "^(U)GOD WITH US."

 ²⁴And Joseph awoke from his sleep and did as the angel of the Lord commanded him, and took Mary as his wife,

 ^25[e]but kept her a virgin until she ^(V)gave birth to a Son; and ^(W)he called His name Jesus.

Matthew 2

The Visit of the Magi

 ¹Now after Jesus was ^(X)born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of ^(Y)Herod the king, ^[f]magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem, saying,

 ²"Where is He who has been born ^(Z)King of the Jews? For we saw ^(AA)His star in the east and have come to worship Him."

 ³When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him.

 ⁴Gathering together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Messiah was to be born.

 ⁵They said to him, "^(AB)In Bethlehem of Judea; for this is what has been written by the prophet:
    ⁶'^(AC)AND YOU, BETHLEHEM, LAND OF JUDAH,
         ARE BY NO MEANS LEAST AMONG THE LEADERS OF JUDAH;
         FOR OUT OF YOU SHALL COME FORTH A RULER
         WHO WILL ^(AD)SHEPHERD MY PEOPLE ISRAEL.'"

 ⁷Then Herod secretly called the magi and determined from them the exact time ^(AE)the star appeared.

 ⁸And 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."

 ⁹After hearing the king, they went their way; and the star, which they had seen in the east, went on before them until it came and stood over the place where the Child was.

 ¹⁰When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy.

 ¹¹After coming into the house they saw the Child with ^(AF)Mary His mother; and they fell to the ground and ^(AG)worshiped Him. Then, opening their treasures, they presented to Him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

 ¹²And having been ^(AH)warned by God ^(AI)in a dream not to return to Herod, the magi left for their own country by another way.

The Flight to Egypt

 ¹³Now when they had gone, behold, an ^(AJ)angel of the Lord ^(AK)appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, "Get up! Take the Child and His mother and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you; for Herod is going to search for the Child to destroy Him."

 ¹⁴So Joseph got up and took the Child and His mother while it was still night, and left for Egypt.

 ¹⁵He remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet: "^(AL)OUT OF EGYPT I CALLED ^(AM)MY SON."

Herod Slaughters Babies

 ¹⁶Then when Herod saw that he had been tricked by ^(AN)the magi, he became very enraged, and sent and ^(AO)slew all the male children who were in Bethlehem and all its vicinity, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had determined from the magi.

 ¹⁷Then what had been spoken through Jeremiah the prophet was fulfilled:
    ¹⁸"^(AP)A VOICE WAS HEARD IN RAMAH,
         WEEPING AND GREAT MOURNING,
         RACHEL WEEPING FOR HER CHILDREN;
         AND SHE REFUSED TO BE COMFORTED,
         BECAUSE THEY WERE NO MORE."

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

 ²⁰"Get up, take the Child and His mother, and go into the land of Israel; for those who sought the Child's life are dead."

 ²¹So Joseph got up, took the Child and His mother, and came into 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. Then after being ^(AR)warned by God in a dream, he left for the regions of Galilee,

 ²³and came and lived in a city called ^(AS)Nazareth This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophets: "He shall be called a ^(AT)Nazarene."

Matthew 3

The Preaching of John the Baptist

 ¹Now ^(AU)in those days ^(AV)John the Baptist came, preaching in the ^(AW)wilderness of Judea, saying,

 ²"^(AX)Repent, for ^(AY)the kingdom of heaven is at hand."

 ³For this is the ^(AZ)one referred to by Isaiah the prophet when he said,
         "^(BA)THE VOICE OF ONE CRYING IN THE WILDERNESS,
         '^(BB)MAKE READY THE WAY OF THE LORD,
         MAKE HIS PATHS STRAIGHT!'"

 ⁴Now John himself had ^(BC)a garment of camel's hair and a leather belt around his waist; and his food was ^(BD)locusts and wild honey.

 ⁵Then Jerusalem ^(BE)was going out to him, and all Judea and all ^(BF)the district around the Jordan;

 ⁶and they were being ^(BG)baptized by him in the Jordan River, as they confessed their sins.

 ⁷But when he saw many of the ^(BH)Pharisees and ^(BI)Sadducees coming for baptism, he said to them, "You ^(BJ)brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from ^(BK)the wrath to come?

 ⁸"^(BL)Therefore bear fruit ^(BM)in keeping with repentance;

 ⁹and do not suppose that you can say to yourselves, '^(BN)We have Abraham for our father'; for I say to you that from these stones God is able to raise up children to Abraham.

 ¹⁰"The ^(BO)axe is already laid at the root of the trees; therefore ^(BP)every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.

 ¹¹"As for me, ^(BQ)I baptize you ^[g]with water for repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, and I am not fit to remove His sandals; ^(BR)He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.

 ¹²"His ^(BS)winnowing fork is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clear His threshing floor; and He will ^(BT)gather His wheat into the barn, but He will burn up the ^(BU)chaff with ^(BV)unquenchable fire."

The Baptism of Jesus

 ^13(BW)Then Jesus arrived ^(BX)from Galilee at the Jordan coming to John, to be baptized by him.

 ¹⁴But John tried to prevent Him, saying, "I have need to be baptized by You, and do You come to me?"

 ¹⁵But Jesus answering said to him, "Permit it at this time; for in this way it is fitting for us ^(BY)to fulfill all righteousness." Then he permitted Him.

 ¹⁶After being baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened, and ^(BZ)he saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove and lighting on Him,

 ¹⁷and behold, a voice out of the heavens said, "^(CA)This is ^[h]My beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased."

Matthew 4

The Temptation of Jesus

 ^1(CB)Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness ^(CC)to be tempted by the devil.

 ²And after He had ^(CD)fasted forty days and forty nights, He ^[i]then became hungry.

 ³And ^(CE)the tempter came and said to Him, "If You are the ^(CF)Son of God, command that these stones become bread."

 ⁴But He answered and said, "It is written, '^(CG)MAN SHALL NOT LIVE ON BREAD ALONE, BUT ON EVERY WORD THAT PROCEEDS OUT OF THE MOUTH OF GOD.'"

 ⁵Then the devil took Him into ^(CH)the holy city and had Him stand on the pinnacle of the temple,

 ⁶and said to Him, "If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down; for it is written,
         '^(CI)HE WILL COMMAND HIS ANGELS CONCERNING YOU';
         and
         'ON their HANDS THEY WILL BEAR YOU UP,
         SO THAT YOU WILL NOT STRIKE YOUR FOOT AGAINST A STONE.'"

 ⁷Jesus said to him, "On the other hand, it is written, '^(CJ)YOU SHALL NOT PUT THE LORD YOUR GOD TO THE TEST.'"

 ^8(CK)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, "^(CL)All these things I will give You, if You fall down and worship me."

 ¹⁰Then Jesus said to him, "Go, Satan! For it is written, '^(CM)YOU SHALL WORSHIP THE LORD YOUR GOD, AND SERVE HIM ONLY.'"

 ¹¹Then the devil left Him; and behold, ^(CN)angels came and began to minister to Him.

Jesus Begins His Ministry

 ¹²Now when Jesus heard that ^(CO)John had been taken into custody, ^(CP)He withdrew into Galilee;

 ¹³and leaving Nazareth, He came and ^(CQ)settled in Capernaum, which is by the sea, in the region of Zebulun and Naphtali.

 ¹⁴This was to fulfill what was spoken through Isaiah the prophet:
    ¹⁵"^(CR)THE LAND OF ZEBULUN AND THE LAND OF NAPHTALI,
         BY THE WAY OF THE SEA, BEYOND THE JORDAN, GALILEE OF THE ^[j]GENTILES--
    ¹⁶"^(CS)THE PEOPLE WHO WERE SITTING IN DARKNESS SAW A GREAT LIGHT,
         AND THOSE WHO WERE SITTING IN THE LAND AND SHADOW OF DEATH,
         UPON THEM A LIGHT DAWNED."

 ^17(CT)From that time Jesus began to preach and say, "^(CU)Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand."

The First Disciples

 ^18(CV)Now as Jesus was walking by ^(CW)the Sea of Galilee, He saw two brothers, ^(CX)Simon who was 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 fishers of men."

 ²⁰Immediately they left their nets and followed Him.

 ²¹Going on from there He saw two other brothers, ^(CY)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.

Ministry in Galilee

 ²³Jesus was going ^(CZ)throughout all Galilee, ^(DA)teaching in their synagogues and ^(DB)proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom, and ^(DC)healing every kind of disease and every kind of sickness among the people.

 ²⁴The news about Him spread ^(DD)throughout all Syria; and they brought to Him all who were ill, those suffering with various diseases and pains, ^(DE)demoniacs, ^(DF)epileptics, ^(DG)paralytics; and He healed them.

 ²⁵Large crowds ^(DH)followed Him from Galilee and ^(DI)the Decapolis and Jerusalem and Judea and from ^(DJ)beyond the Jordan.