Matthew 1:18-2:20

New American Standard Bible

Conception and Birth of Jesus

¹⁸ Now the birth of Jesus the ^[a]Messiah was as follows: when His ^(A)mother Mary had been ^[b]betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was ^(B)found to be pregnant by the Holy Spirit. ¹⁹ And her husband Joseph, since he was a righteous man and did not want to disgrace her, planned to ^[c](C)send her away secretly. ²⁰ But when he had thought this over, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “^(D)Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife; for ^[d]the Child who has been conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. ²¹ She will give birth to a Son; and ^(E)you shall name Him Jesus, for ^[e]He ^(F)will save His people from their sins.” ²² Now all this ^[f]took place so that what was ^(G)spoken by the Lord through ^[g]the prophet would be fulfilled: ²³ “^(H)Behold, the virgin will ^[h](I)conceive and give birth to a Son, and they shall name Him ^[i]Immanuel,” which translated means, “^(J)God with us.” ²⁴ And Joseph awoke from his sleep and did as the angel of the Lord commanded him, and took Mary as his wife, ^25 [j]but kept her a virgin until she ^(K)gave birth to a Son; and ^(L)he named Him Jesus.

The Visit of the Magi

2 Now after Jesus was ^(M)born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of ^(N)Herod the king, behold, ^[k]magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem, saying, ² “Where is He who has been born ^(O)King of the Jews? For we saw ^(P)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 ^[l]Messiah was to be born. ⁵ They said to him, “^(Q)In Bethlehem of Judea; for this is what has been written ^[m]by ^[n]the prophet:

⁷ Then Herod secretly called for the magi and determined from them the exact ^[o]time ^(T)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 ^(U)His mother Mary; and they fell down and ^[p](V)worshiped Him. Then they opened their treasures and presented to Him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. ¹² And after being ^(W)warned by God ^(X)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 ^(Y)angel of the Lord *^(Z)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 ^[q]Joseph got up and took the Child and His mother while it was still night, and left for Egypt. ¹⁵ He ^[r]stayed there until the death of Herod; this happened so that what had been spoken by the Lord through ^[s]the prophet would be fulfilled: “^(AA)Out of Egypt I called ^(AB)My Son.”

Herod Slaughters Babies

¹⁶ Then when Herod saw that he had been tricked by ^(AC)the magi, he became very enraged, and sent men and ^(AD)killed all the boys who were in Bethlehem and all its vicinity ^[t]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 *^(AF)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.”