The Birth of Jesus the Messiah^(A)

¹⁸ This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah happened. His mother Mary was engaged to marry Joseph. But before they married, he learned that she was expecting a baby. (She was pregnant by the power of the Holy Spirit.) ¹⁹ Mary’s husband, Joseph, was a good man. He did not want to cause her public disgrace, so he planned to divorce her secretly.

²⁰ But after Joseph thought about this, an angel from the Lord came to him in a dream. The angel said, “Joseph, son of David, don’t be afraid to accept Mary to be your wife. The baby inside her is from the Holy Spirit. ²¹ She will give birth to a son. You will name him Jesus.^[a] Give him that name because he will save his people from their sins.”

²² All this happened to make clear the full meaning of what the Lord said through the prophet: ²³ “The virgin will be pregnant and will give birth to a son. They will name him Immanuel.”^[b] (Immanuel means “God with us.”)

²⁴ When Joseph woke up, he did what the Lord’s angel told him to do. He married Mary. ²⁵ But Joseph did not have sexual relations with her until her son was born. And he named him Jesus.

Jesus’ Parents Take Him to Egypt

¹³ After the wise men left, an angel from the Lord came to Joseph in a dream. The angel said, “Get up! Take the child with his mother and escape to Egypt. Herod wants to kill the child and will soon start looking for him. Stay in Egypt until I tell you to come back.”

¹⁴ So Joseph got ready and left for Egypt with the child and the mother. They left during the night. ¹⁵ Joseph stayed in Egypt until Herod died. This gave full meaning to what the Lord said through the prophet: “I called my son to come out of Egypt.”^[a]

Herod Kills the Baby Boys in Bethlehem

¹⁶ Herod saw that the wise men had fooled him, and he was very angry. So he gave an order to kill all the baby boys in Bethlehem and the whole area around Bethlehem. Herod had learned from the wise men the time the baby was born. It was now two years from that time. So he said to kill all the boys who were two years old and younger. ¹⁷ This gave full meaning to what God said through the prophet Jeremiah:

Joseph and Mary Return From Egypt

¹⁹ While Joseph was in Egypt, Herod died. An angel from the Lord came to Joseph in a dream ²⁰ and said, “Get up! Take the child with his mother and go to Israel. Those who were trying to kill the child are now dead.”

²¹ So Joseph took the child and the mother and went to Israel. ²² But he heard that Archelaus was now king in Judea. Archelaus became king when his father Herod died. So Joseph was afraid to go there. Then, after being warned in a dream, he went away to the area of Galilee. ²³ He went to a town called Nazareth and lived there. This gave full meaning to what God said through the prophets. God said the Messiah^[b] would be called a Nazarene.^[c]