Matthew 2:13-3:6

English Standard Version

The Flight to Egypt

¹³Now when they had departed, behold, ^(A)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. ^(B)This was to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet, ^(C)“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^(D)Then was fulfilled what was spoken by the prophet Jeremiah:

¹⁸^(E)“A voice was heard in Ramah,
weeping and loud lamentation,
Rachel weeping for her children;
she refused to be comforted, because they ^(F)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 ^(G)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 ^(H)being warned in a dream he withdrew to the district of Galilee. ²³And he went and lived in a city called ^(I)Nazareth, ^(J)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 ^(K)In those days ^(L)John the Baptist came preaching in ^(M)the wilderness of Judea, ²^(N)“Repent, for ^(O)the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”^[a] ³For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah when he said,

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

⁴Now John wore ^(R)a garment of camel's hair and a leather belt around his waist, and his food was ^(S)locusts and ^(T)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, ^(U)confessing their sins.