Nebuchadnezzar's Dream

2 In the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuchadnezzar had dreams; ^(A)his spirit was troubled, and ^(B)his sleep left him. ² Then the king commanded that ^(C)the magicians, ^(D)the enchanters, the ^(E)sorcerers, and ^(F)the Chaldeans be summoned to tell the king his dreams. So they came in and ^(G)stood before the king. ³ And the king said to them, “I had a dream, and ^(H)my spirit is troubled to know the dream.” ⁴ Then ^(I)the Chaldeans said to the king in Aramaic,^{[a] (J)}“O king, live forever! Tell your servants the dream, and we will show the interpretation.” ⁵ The king answered and said to ^(K)the Chaldeans, “The word from me is firm: if you do not make known to me the dream and its interpretation, you shall be ^(L)torn limb from limb, ^(M)and your ^(N)houses shall be laid in ruins. ⁶ But if you show the dream and its interpretation, ^(O)you shall receive from me gifts and rewards and great honor. ^(P)Therefore show me the dream and its interpretation.” ⁷ They answered a second time and said, “Let the king tell his servants the dream, and we will show its interpretation.” ⁸ The king answered and said, “I know with certainty that you are trying to ^(Q)gain time, because you see that the word from me is firm— ⁹ if you do not make the dream known to me, ^(R)there is but one sentence for you. You have agreed to speak lying and corrupt words before me till ^(S)the times change. ^(T)Therefore tell me the dream, and I shall know that you can show me its interpretation.” ^10 (U)The Chaldeans answered the king and said, “There is not a man on earth who can meet the king's demand, for no great and powerful king has asked such a thing of any magician or enchanter or ^(V)Chaldean. ¹¹ The thing that the king asks is difficult, and no one can show it to the king except ^(W)the gods, whose dwelling is not with flesh.”

¹² Because of this the king was angry and ^(X)very furious, and ^(Y)commanded that all ^(Z)the wise men of Babylon be destroyed. ¹³ So the decree went out, and the wise men were about to be killed; and they sought ^(AA)Daniel and his companions, to kill them. ¹⁴ Then Daniel replied with prudence and discretion to ^(AB)Arioch, the ^(AC)captain of the king's guard, who had gone out to kill the wise men of Babylon. ¹⁵ He declared^[b] to Arioch, the king's captain, “Why is the decree of the king ^(AD)so urgent?” Then Arioch made the matter known to Daniel. ¹⁶ And Daniel went in and requested the king to appoint him a time, that he might show the interpretation to the king.

The Visit of the Wise Men

2 Now ^(A)after Jesus was born in ^(B)Bethlehem of Judea ^(C)in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men^[a] from ^(D)the east came to Jerusalem, ² saying, “Where is he who has been born ^(E)king of the Jews? For we saw ^(F)his star when it rose^[b] and have come to ^(G)worship him.” ³ When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him; ⁴ and assembling all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where ^(H)the Christ was to be born. ⁵ They told him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for so it is written by the prophet:

⁷ Then Herod summoned the wise men secretly and ascertained from them what time the star had appeared. ⁸ And he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, “Go and search diligently for the child, and when you have found him, bring me word, that I too may come and worship him.” ⁹ After listening to the king, they went on their way. And behold, the star that they had seen when it rose went before them until it came to rest over the place where the child was. ¹⁰ When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. ¹¹ And going into the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him. Then, opening their treasures, ^(K)they offered him gifts, ^(L)gold and ^(M)frankincense and ^(N)myrrh. ¹² And ^(O)being warned ^(P)in a dream not to return to Herod, they departed to their own country by another way.

The Flight to Egypt

¹³ Now when they had departed, behold, ^(Q)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.” ¹⁴ And he rose and took the child and his mother by night and departed to Egypt ¹⁵ and remained there until the death of Herod. ^(R)This was to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet, ^(S)“Out of Egypt I called my son.”