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.”

Herod Kills the Children

¹⁶ Then 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 (T)Then was fulfilled what was spoken by the prophet Jeremiah:

The Return to Nazareth

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

^16 (A)“I, Jesus, have sent my angel to testify to you about these things ^(B)for the churches. I am ^(C)the root and ^(D)the descendant of David, ^(E)the bright morning star.”

² And calling to him a child, he put him in the midst of them

³⁹ And when he had entered, he said to them, ^(A)“Why are you making a commotion and weeping? The child is not dead but ^(B)sleeping.”

^13 (A)You will seek me and find me, when you seek me ^(B)with all your heart.

²¹ For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach^[a] to save those who believe. ²² For ^(A)Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, ²³ but we preach Christ ^(B)crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, ²⁴ but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ ^(C)the power of God and ^(D)the wisdom of God. ²⁵ For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.

²⁶ For consider your calling, brothers: ^(E)not many of you were wise according to worldly standards,^[b] not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. ²⁷ But ^(F)God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; ^(G)God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; ²⁸ God chose what is low and despised in the world, even ^(H)things that are not, to ^(I)bring to nothing things that are, ²⁹ so ^(J)that no human being^[c] might boast in the presence of God. ³⁰ And because of him^[d] you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us ^(K)wisdom from God, ^(L)righteousness and ^(M)sanctification and ^(N)redemption,

²⁹ “The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law.