Matthew 1:18-2

Holman Christian Standard Bible

The Nativity of the Messiah

¹⁸ The birth of Jesus Christ came about this way: After His mother Mary had been engaged to Joseph, it was discovered before they came together that she was pregnant by 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 suddenly 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 by the Holy Spirit.^{(D) 21} She will give birth to a son, and you are to name Him Jesus,^[a](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:

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

²⁴ When Joseph got up from sleeping, he did as the Lord’s angel had commanded him. He married her^{(H) 25} but did not know her intimately until she gave birth to a son.^[c] And he named Him Jesus.^(I)

Wise Men Seek the King

2 After Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of King Herod, wise men from the east arrived unexpectedly in Jerusalem,^{(J) 2} saying, “Where is He who has been born King of the Jews?^(K) For we saw His star in the east^[d](L) and have come to worship Him.”^[e]

³ When King Herod heard this, he was deeply disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. ⁴ So he assembled all the chief priests and scribes^(M) of the people and asked them where the Messiah would be born.

⁵ “In Bethlehem of Judea,” they told him, “because this is what was written by the prophet:

⁷ Then Herod secretly summoned the wise men and asked them the exact time the star appeared. ⁸ He sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the child. When you find Him, report back to me so that I too can go and worship Him.”^[g](O)

⁹ After hearing the king, they went on their way. And there it was—the star they had seen in the east!^[h] It led them until it came and stopped above the place where the child was. ¹⁰ When they saw the star, they were overjoyed beyond measure. ¹¹ Entering the house, they saw the child with Mary His mother, and falling to their knees, they worshiped Him.^[i] Then they opened their treasures and presented Him with gifts: gold, frankincense, and myrrh.^{(P) 12} And being warned^(Q) in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their own country by another route.

The Flight into Egypt

¹³ After they were gone, an angel of the Lord suddenly appeared to Joseph in a dream, saying, “Get up! Take the child and His mother, flee to Egypt, and stay there until I tell you. For Herod is about to search for the child to destroy Him.”^{(R) 14} So he got up, took the child and His mother during the night, and escaped to Egypt. ¹⁵ He stayed there until Herod’s death, so that what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet might be fulfilled: Out of Egypt I called My Son.^(S)[j]

The Massacre of the Innocents

¹⁶ Then Herod, when he saw that he had been outwitted by the wise men, flew into a rage. He gave orders to massacre all the male children in and around Bethlehem who were two years^[k] old and under, in keeping with the time he had learned from the wise men.^{(T) 17} Then what was spoken through Jeremiah the prophet was fulfilled: