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The Birth of Jesus the Messiah

18 This is how Jesus the Messiah was born. His mother, Mary, was engaged to be married to Joseph. But before the marriage took place, while she was still a virgin, she became pregnant through the power of the Holy Spirit. 19 Joseph, to whom she was engaged, was a righteous man and did not want to disgrace her publicly, so he decided to break the engagement[a] quietly.

20 As he considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream. “Joseph, son of David,” the angel said, “do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife. For the child within her was conceived by the Holy Spirit. 21 And she will have a son, and you are to name him Jesus,[b] for he will save his people from their sins.”

22 All of this occurred to fulfill the Lord’s message through his prophet:

23 “Look! The virgin will conceive a child!
    She will give birth to a son,
and they will call him Immanuel,[c]
    which means ‘God is with us.’”

24 When Joseph woke up, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded and took Mary as his wife. 25 But he did not have sexual relations with her until her son was born. And Joseph named him Jesus.

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Footnotes

  1. 1:19 Greek to divorce her.
  2. 1:21 Jesus means “The Lord saves.”
  3. 1:23 Isa 7:14; 8:8, 10 (Greek version).

Christ Born of Mary(A)

18 Now the (B)birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: After His mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child (C)of the Holy Spirit. 19 Then Joseph her husband, being [a]a just man, and not wanting (D)to make her a public example, was minded to put her away secretly. 20 But while he thought about these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to you Mary your wife, (E)for that which is [b]conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. 21 (F)And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name [c]Jesus, (G)for He will save His people from their sins.”

22 So all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying: 23 (H)“Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,” which is translated, “God with us.”

24 Then Joseph, being aroused from sleep, did as the angel of the Lord commanded him and took to him his wife, 25 and [d]did not know her till she had brought forth (I)her[e] firstborn Son. And he called His name Jesus.

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Footnotes

  1. Matthew 1:19 an upright
  2. Matthew 1:20 Lit. begotten
  3. Matthew 1:21 Lit. Savior
  4. Matthew 1:25 Kept her a virgin
  5. Matthew 1:25 NU a Son

The Nativity of the Messiah

18 The birth of Jesus Christ came about this way: After his mother Mary had been engaged[a] to Joseph, it was discovered before they came together that she was pregnant from the Holy Spirit.(A) 19 So her husband, Joseph, being a righteous man,(B) and not wanting to disgrace her publicly, decided to divorce her secretly.(C)

20 But after he had considered these things, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, don’t be afraid to take Mary as your wife, because what has been conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.(D) 21 She will give birth to a son, and you are to name him Jesus,(E) because he will save his people from their sins.”(F)

22 Now all this took place to fulfill what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet:

23 See, the virgin will become pregnant
and give birth to a son,
and they will name him Immanuel,[b]

which is translated “God is with us.”(G)

24 When Joseph woke up, he did as the Lord’s angel had commanded him. He married her(H) 25 but did not have sexual relations with her until she gave birth to a son.[c] And he named him Jesus.(I)

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Footnotes

  1. 1:18 Or betrothed
  2. 1:23 Is 7:14
  3. 1:25 Other mss read to her firstborn son

Joseph Accepts Jesus as His Son

18 This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about[a]: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit.(A) 19 Because Joseph her husband was faithful to the law, and yet[b] did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce(B) her quietly.

20 But after he had considered this, an angel(C) of the Lord appeared to him in a dream(D) and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus,[c](E) because he will save his people from their sins.”(F)

22 All this took place to fulfill(G) what the Lord had said through the prophet: 23 “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel”[d](H) (which means “God with us”).

24 When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel(I) of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. 25 But he did not consummate their marriage until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.(J)

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Footnotes

  1. Matthew 1:18 Or The origin of Jesus the Messiah was like this
  2. Matthew 1:19 Or was a righteous man and
  3. Matthew 1:21 Jesus is the Greek form of Joshua, which means the Lord saves.
  4. Matthew 1:23 Isaiah 7:14

The Birth of Jesus

18-19 The birth of Jesus took place like this. His mother, Mary, was engaged to be married to Joseph. Before they enjoyed their wedding night, Joseph discovered she was pregnant. (It was by the Holy Spirit, but he didn’t know that.) Joseph, chagrined but noble, determined to take care of things quietly so Mary would not be disgraced.

20-23 While he was trying to figure a way out, he had a dream. God’s angel spoke in the dream: “Joseph, son of David, don’t hesitate to get married. Mary’s pregnancy is Spirit-conceived. God’s Holy Spirit has made her pregnant. She will bring a son to birth, and when she does, you, Joseph, will name him Jesus—‘God saves’—because he will save his people from their sins.” This would bring the prophet’s embryonic revelation to full term:

Watch for this—a virgin will get pregnant and bear a son;
They will name him Immanuel (Hebrew for “God is with us”).

24-25 Then Joseph woke up. He did exactly what God’s angel commanded in the dream: He married Mary. But he did not consummate the marriage until she had the baby. He named the baby Jesus.

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