Conception and Birth of Jesus

¹⁸ Now the birth of Jesus ^[a]Christ was as follows: when His ^(A)mother Mary had been ^[b]betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was ^(B)found to be with child by the Holy Spirit. ¹⁹ And Joseph her husband, being a righteous man and not wanting to disgrace her, planned ^[c](C)to send her away secretly. ²⁰ But when he had considered this, 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 ^[e]conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. ²¹ She will bear a Son; and ^(E)you shall call His name Jesus, for ^[f]He ^(F)will save His people from their sins.” ²² Now all this ^[g]took place to fulfill what was ^(G)spoken by the Lord through the prophet: ²³ “^(H)Behold, the virgin shall be with ^(I)child and shall bear a Son, and they shall call His name ^[h]Immanuel,” which translated means, “^(J)God with us.” ²⁴ And Joseph ^[i]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 called His name Jesus.

The Flight to Egypt

¹³ Now when they had gone, behold, an ^(A)angel of the Lord *^(B)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.”

¹⁴ So ^[a]Joseph got up and took the Child and His mother while it was still night, and left for Egypt. ¹⁵ He ^[b]remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet: “^(C)Out of Egypt I called ^(D)My Son.”

Herod Slaughters Babies

¹⁶ Then when Herod saw that he had been tricked by ^(E)the magi, he became very enraged, and sent and ^(F)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. ¹⁷ Then what had been spoken through Jeremiah the prophet was fulfilled:

¹⁹ But when Herod died, behold, an angel of the Lord *^(H)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.” ²¹ So ^[c]Joseph got up, took the Child and His mother, and came into the land of Israel. ²² But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. Then after being ^(I)warned by God in a dream, he left for the regions of Galilee, ²³ and came and lived in a city called ^(J)Nazareth. This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophets: “He shall be called a ^(K)Nazarene.”