Matthew 1-4

21st Century King James Version

1 The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the Son of David, the Son of Abraham.

² Abraham begot Isaac, and Isaac begot Jacob, and Jacob begot Judah and his brethren.

³ And Judah begot Perez and Zerah by Tamar, and Perez begot Hezron, and Hezron begot Aram,

⁴ and Aram begot Aminadab, and Aminadab begot Nahshon, and Nahshon begot Salmon,

⁵ and Salmon begot Boaz by Rahab, and Boaz begot Obed by Ruth, and Obed begot Jesse,

⁶ and Jesse begot David the king. And David the king begot Solomon by her that had been the wife of Uriah,

⁷ and Solomon begot Rehoboam, and Rehoboam begot Abijah, and Abijah begot Asa,

⁸ and Asa begot Jehoshaphat, and Jehoshaphat begot Joram, and Joram begot Uzziah,

⁹ and Uzziah begot Jotham, and Jotham begot Ahaz, and Ahaz begot Hezekiah,

¹⁰ and Hezekiah begot Manasseh, and Manasseh begot Amon, and Amon begot Josiah,

¹¹ and Josiah begot Jechonias and his brethren, about the time they were carried away to Babylon.

¹² And after they were brought to Babylon, Jechonias begot Salathiel, and Salathiel begot Zerubbabel,

¹³ and Zerubbabel begot Abiud, and Abiud begot Eliakim, and Eliakim begot Azor,

¹⁴ and Azor begot Zadok, and Zadok begot Achim, and Achim begot Eliud,

¹⁵ and Eliud begot Eleazar, and Eleazar begot Matthan, and Matthan begot Jacob,

¹⁶ and Jacob begot Joseph, the husband of Mary of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ.

¹⁷ So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations, and from David until the carrying away into Babylon are fourteen generations, and from the carrying away into Babylon unto Christ are fourteen generations.

¹⁸ Now the birth of Jesus Christ was in this way: When His mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost.

¹⁹ And Joseph her husband, being a just man and not willing to make her a public example, was minded to put her away privily.

²⁰ But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost.

²¹ And she shall bring forth a Son, and thou shalt call His name Jesus, for He shall save His people from their sins.”

²² Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying,

²³ “Behold, a virgin shall be with child and shall bring forth a Son, and they shall call His name Emmanuel” (which being interpreted is, “God with us”).

²⁴ Then Joseph, being raised from sleep, did as the angel of the Lord had bidden him, and took unto him his wife,

²⁵ and knew her not until she had brought forth her firstborn Son. And he called His name Jesus.

2 Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the East to Jerusalem,

² saying, “Where is He that is born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the East and have come to worship Him.”

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

⁴ And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he demanded of them where Christ should be born.

⁵ And they said unto him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for thus it is written by the prophet:

⁶ ‘And thou, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, art not the least among the princes of Judah; for out of thee shall come a Governor, that shall rule My people Israel.’”

⁷ Then Herod, when he had privily called the wise men, inquired of them diligently what time the star appeared.

⁸ And he sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search diligently for the young child, and when ye have found him, bring me word again, that I may come and worship him also.”

⁹ When they had heard the king, they departed; and lo, the star which they saw in the East went before them until it came and stood over where the young Child was.

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

¹¹ And when they had come into the house, they saw the young Child with Mary His mother, and fell down and worshiped Him. And when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto Him gifts: gold and frankincense and myrrh.

¹² And being warned by God in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed into their own country another way.

¹³ And when they had departed, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, saying, “Arise, and take the young Child and His mother, and flee into Egypt, and be thou there until I bring thee word; for Herod will seek the young Child to destroy Him.”

¹⁴ When he arose, he took the young Child and His mother by night and departed into Egypt,

¹⁵ and was there until the death of Herod, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, “Out of Egypt have I called My Son.”

¹⁶ Then Herod, when he saw that he was mocked by the wise men, was exceeding wroth, and sent forth and slew all the children who were in Bethlehem and in all the region thereof, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had diligently inquired of the wise men.

¹⁷ Then was fulfilled that which was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet, saying,

¹⁸ “In Ramah was there a voice heard, lamentation and weeping and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children and would not be comforted, because they are no more.”

¹⁹ But when Herod was dead, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt,

²⁰ saying, “Arise, and take the young Child and His mother, and go into the land of Israel, for they are dead who sought the young Child’s life.”

²¹ And he arose and took the young Child and His mother, and came into the land of Israel.

²² But when he heard that Archelaus reigned in Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go thither. Notwithstanding, being warned by God in a dream, he turned aside into the region of Galilee.

²³ And he came and dwelt in a city called Nazareth, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophets: “He shall be called a Nazarene.”

3 In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judea

² and saying, “Repent ye, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.”

³ For this is he that was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah, saying, “The voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make His paths straight.’”

⁴ And the same John had his raiment of camel’s hair, and a leather girdle about his loins; and his meat was locusts and wild honey.

⁵ Then there went out to him Jerusalem and all Judea and all the region round about the Jordan.

⁶ And they were baptized by him in the Jordan, confessing their sins.

⁷ But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said unto them, “O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come?

⁸ Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance,

⁹ and think not to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I say unto you that God is able from these stones to raise up children unto Abraham.

¹⁰ And now also the ax is laid unto the root of the trees; therefore every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down and cast into the fire.

¹¹ I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but He that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear. He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire.

¹² His fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly purge His threshing floor and gather His wheat into the garner; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”

¹³ Then came Jesus from Galilee to the Jordan unto John to be baptized by him.

¹⁴ But John forbad Him, saying, “I have need to be baptized by Thee, and comest Thou to me?”

¹⁵ And Jesus answering said unto him, “Suffer it to be so now, for thus it becometh us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then John suffered Him.

¹⁶ And Jesus, when He had been baptized, went up straightway out of the water. And lo, the heavens were opened unto Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and lighting upon Him.

¹⁷ And lo, a voice came from Heaven, saying, “This Is My Beloved Son, In Whom I Am Well Pleased.”

4 Then was Jesus led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.

² And when He had fasted forty days and forty nights, He afterward hungered.

³ And when the tempter came to Him, he said, “If Thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread.”

⁴ But He answered and said, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.’”

⁵ Then the devil took Him up into the holy city, and set Him on a pinnacle of the temple, and

⁶ said unto Him, “If Thou be the Son of God, cast Thyself down. For it is written: ‘He shall give His angels charge concerning thee; and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone.’”

⁷ Jesus said unto him, “It is written again: ‘Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.’”

⁸ Again, the devil took Him up onto an exceeding high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and the glory of them,

⁹ and said unto Him, “All these things will I give Thee if Thou wilt fall down and worship me.”

¹⁰ Then said Jesus unto him, “Get thee hence, Satan! For it is written: ‘Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and Him only shalt thou serve.’”

¹¹ Then the devil left Him, and behold, angels came and ministered unto Him.

¹² Now when Jesus had heard that John was cast into prison, He departed into Galilee.

¹³ And leaving Nazareth, He came and dwelt in Capernaum, which is upon the seacoast in the regions of Zebulun and Naphtali,

¹⁴ that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying,

¹⁵ “The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, by the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles:

¹⁶ the people who sat in darkness saw a great Light; and to them that sat in the region and shadow of death, Light has sprung up.”

¹⁷ From that time Jesus began to preach and to say, “Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.”

¹⁸ And Jesus, walking by the Sea of Galilee, saw two brethren, Simon called Peter and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishers.

¹⁹ And He said unto them, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.”

²⁰ And they straightway left their nets and followed Him.

²¹ And going on from thence He saw two other brethren, James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, in a boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets. And He called them,

²² and they immediately left the boat and their father, and followed Him.

²³ And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and preaching the Gospel of the Kingdom, and healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among the people.

²⁴ And His fame went throughout all Syria. And they brought unto Him all sick people who were taken with divers diseases and torments, and those who were possessed with devils, and those who were lunatic, and those who had the palsy; and He healed them.

²⁵ And there followed Him great multitudes of people from Galilee and from Decapolis, and from Jerusalem and from Judea, and from beyond the Jordan.