Matthew 2:16-3:17

English Standard Version

Herod Kills the Children

¹⁶Then Herod, when he saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, became furious, and he sent and killed all the male children in Bethlehem and in all that region who were two years old or under, according to the time that he had ascertained from the wise men. ¹⁷^(A)Then was fulfilled what was spoken by the prophet Jeremiah:

¹⁸^(B)“A voice was heard in Ramah,
weeping and loud lamentation,
Rachel weeping for her children;
she refused to be comforted, because they ^(C)are no more.”

The Return to Nazareth

¹⁹But when Herod died, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, ²⁰saying, “Rise, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, for ^(D)those who sought the child's life are dead.” ²¹And he rose and took the child and his mother and went to the land of Israel. ²²But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there, and ^(E)being warned in a dream he withdrew to the district of Galilee. ²³And he went and lived in a city called ^(F)Nazareth, ^(G)so that what was spoken by the prophets might be fulfilled, that he would be called a Nazarene.

John the Baptist Prepares the Way

3 ^(H)In those days ^(I)John the Baptist came preaching in ^(J)the wilderness of Judea, ²^(K)“Repent, for ^(L)the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”^[a] ³For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah when he said,

^(M)“The voice of one crying in the wilderness:
^(N)‘Prepare^[b] the way of the Lord;
make his paths straight.’”

⁴Now John wore ^(O)a garment of camel's hair and a leather belt around his waist, and his food was ^(P)locusts and ^(Q)wild honey. ⁵Then Jerusalem and all Judea and all the region about the Jordan were going out to him, ⁶and they were baptized by him in the river Jordan, ^(R)confessing their sins.

⁷But when he saw many of ^(S)the Pharisees and ^(T)Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, ^(U)“You brood of ^(V)vipers! Who warned you to flee from ^(W)the wrath to come? ⁸Bear fruit ^(X)in keeping with repentance. ⁹And do not presume to say to yourselves, ^(Y)‘We have Abraham as our father,’ for I tell you, God is able from ^(Z)these stones to raise up children for Abraham. ¹⁰Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. ^(AA)Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.

¹¹^(AB)“I baptize you with water ^(AC)for repentance, but ^(AD)he who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you ^(AE)with the Holy Spirit and ^(AF)fire. ¹²His ^(AG)winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and ^(AH)gather his wheat into the barn, ^(AI)but the chaff he will burn with ^(AJ)unquenchable fire.”

The Baptism of Jesus

¹³^(AK)Then Jesus came ^(AL)from Galilee to the Jordan to John, to be baptized by him. ¹⁴^(AM)John would have prevented him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” ¹⁵But Jesus answered him, “Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he consented. ¹⁶And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, ^(AN)the heavens were opened to him,^[c] and he ^(AO)saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him; ¹⁷and behold, ^(AP)a voice from heaven said, ^(AQ)“This is my beloved Son,^[d] with whom I am well pleased.”