Matthew 1:18-25

Expanded Bible

The Birth of Jesus Christ

¹⁸ This is how the birth of Jesus ·Christ [the Messiah] came about. His mother Mary was ·engaged [pledged; ^Tbetrothed; ^Ca formal agreement between families that required a “divorce” to annul] to marry Joseph, but before they ·married [came to live together], she ·learned she was [or was found/discovered to be] ·pregnant [^Twith child] ·by the power of [through] the Holy Spirit. ¹⁹ Because Mary’s husband, Joseph, was a ·good [righteous] man, he did not want to disgrace her in public, so he planned to ·divorce her [end the engagement] ·secretly [privately; quietly].

²⁰ While Joseph ·thought about [considered; decided; resolved to do] these things, [^Llook; ^Tbehold] an angel of the Lord ·came [appeared] to him in a dream. The angel said, “Joseph, ·descendant [son] of David, don’t be afraid to take Mary as your wife, because ·the baby [^Lwhat is conceived] in her is from the Holy Spirit. ²¹ She will give birth to a son, and you will name him Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins [^Cthe name Jesus means “the Lord saves”].”

²² All this happened to ·bring about [fulfill] what the Lord had ·said [spoken] through the prophet: ²³ “[^LLook; ^TBehold] The virgin will ·be pregnant [^Lconceive in her womb; Is. 7:14]. She will ·have [give birth to] a son, and they will name him Immanuel,” which [^Cin Hebrew] means “God is with us.”

²⁴ When Joseph woke up, he did what the Lord’s angel had ·told [commanded] him to do. Joseph took Mary as his wife, ²⁵ but he did not have sexual relations with her until she gave birth to a son. And ·Joseph [^Lhe] named him Jesus.