Matthew 2
Lexham English Bible
Wise Men Visit Jesus
2 Now after[a] Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem, 2 saying, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? For we have seen his star at its rising[b] and have come to worship him.” 3 And when[c] King Herod heard it,[d] he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him, 4 and after[e] calling together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired from them where the Christ was to be born. 5 So they said to him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for thus it is written by the prophet,
6 ‘And you, Bethlehem, land of Judah,
are by no means least among the rulers of Judah,
for from you will go out a ruler
who will shepherd my people Israel.’”[f]
7 Then Herod secretly summoned the wise men and[g] determined precisely from them the time when[h] the star appeared. 8 And he sent them to Bethlehem and[i] said, “Go, inquire carefully concerning the child, and when you have found him, report to me so that I also may come and[j] worship him.” 9 After[k] they listened to the king, they went out, and behold, the star which they had seen at its rising[l] led them until it came and[m] stood above the place where the child was. 10 Now when they[n] saw the star, they rejoiced with very great joy. 11 And when they[o] came into the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and[p] worshiped him. And opening their treasure boxes, they offered him gifts of gold and frankincense and myrrh. 12 And being warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they went back to their own country by another route.
Joseph, Mary, and Jesus Escape to Egypt
13 Now after they had gone away, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph, saying, “Get up, take the child and his mother and flee to Egypt, and stay there until I tell you. For Herod is about to seek the child to destroy him.” 14 So he got up and[q] took the child and his mother during the night and went away to Egypt. 15 And he was there until the death of Herod, in order that what was said by the Lord through the prophet would be fulfilled, saying,
“Out of Egypt I called my son.”
Herod Has Innocent Children Murdered
16 Then Herod, when he[r] saw that he had been deceived by the wise men, became very angry, and he sent soldiers[s] and[t] executed all the children in Bethlehem and in all the region around it from the age of two years old and under, according to the time which he had determined precisely from the wise men. 17 Then what was spoken by the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled, saying,
18 “A voice was heard in Ramah,
weeping and great mourning,
Rachel weeping for her children,
and she did not want to be comforted,
because they exist no longer[u].”[v]
Joseph, Mary, and Jesus Return to Nazareth
19 Now after[w] Herod had died, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, 20 saying, “Get up, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who were seeking the life of the child are dead.” 21 So he got up and[x] took the child and his mother and entered[y] the land of Israel. 22 But when he[z] heard that Archelaus was reigning over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there, and being warned in a dream, he took refuge in the regions of Galilee. 23 And he came and[aa] lived in a town called Nazareth, in order that what was said by the prophets would be fulfilled:[ab] “He will be called a Nazarene.”
Footnotes
- Matthew 2:1 Here “after” is supplied as a component of the temporal genitive absolute participle (“was born”)
- Matthew 2:2 Or, “when it rose”; traditionally rendered “in the east” by many English versions
- Matthew 2:3 Here “when” is supplied as a component of the participle (“heard”) which is understood as temporal
- Matthew 2:3 *Here the direct object is supplied from context in the English translation
- Matthew 2:4 Here “after” is supplied as a component of the participle (“calling together”) which is understood as temporal
- Matthew 2:6 A quotation from Mic 5:2
- Matthew 2:7 Here “and” is supplied because the previous participle (“summoned”) has been translated as a finite verb
- Matthew 2:7 Here “when” is supplied as a component of the temporal genitive absolute participle (“appeared”)
- Matthew 2:8 Here “and” is supplied because the previous participle (“sent”) has been translated as a finite verb
- Matthew 2:8 Here “and” is supplied because the previous participle (“may come”) has been translated as a finite verb
- Matthew 2:9 Here “after” is supplied as a component of the participle (“listened to”) which is understood as temporal
- Matthew 2:9 Or, “when it rose”; traditionally rendered “in the east” by many English versions
- Matthew 2:9 Here “and” is supplied because the previous participle (“came”) has been translated as a finite verb
- Matthew 2:10 Here “when” is supplied as a component of the participle (“saw”) which is understood as temporal
- Matthew 2:11 Here “when” is supplied as a component of the participle (“came”) which is understood as temporal
- Matthew 2:11 Here “and” is supplied because the previous participle (“fell down”) has been translated as a finite verb
- Matthew 2:14 Here “and” is supplied because the previous participle (“got up”) has been translated as a finite verb
- Matthew 2:16 Here “when” is supplied as a component of the participle (“saw”) which is understood as temporal
- Matthew 2:16 Here the direct object is supplied from context in the English translation
- Matthew 2:16 Here “and” is supplied because the previous participle (“sent”) has been translated as a finite verb
- Matthew 2:18 Literally “they are not”
- Matthew 2:18 A quotation from Jer 31:15
- Matthew 2:19 Here “after” is supplied as a component of the temporal genitive absolute participle (“had died”)
- Matthew 2:21 Here “and” is supplied because the previous participle (“got up”) has been translated as a finite verb
- Matthew 2:21 Literally “entered into”
- Matthew 2:22 Here “when” is supplied as a component of the participle (“heard”) which is understood as temporal
- Matthew 2:23 Here “and” is supplied because the previous participle (“came”) has been translated as a finite verb
- Matthew 2:23 Literally “that”; the conjunction could be understood (1) to introduce a direct quotation, serving a function similar to modern English quotation marks, and thus not translated; or (2) to introduce an indirect quotation, in which case it could be translated “that he would be called a Nazarene”
Matthew 2
International Standard Version
The Visit of the Wise Men
2 After Jesus had been born in Bethlehem of Judea during the reign[a] of King Herod, wise men[b] arrived in Jerusalem from the east 2 and asked, “Where is the one who was born king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east[c] and have come to worship him.”
3 When King Herod heard this, he was disturbed, as was all of Jerusalem. 4 He called together all the high priests and scribes of the people and asked them where the Messiah[d] was to be born. 5 They told him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, because that is what was written by the prophet:
6 ‘O Bethlehem in the land of Judah,
you are by no means least among the rulers of Judah,
because from you will come a ruler
who will shepherd[e] my people Israel.’”[f]
7 Then Herod secretly called together the wise men, found out from them the time the star had appeared, 8 and sent them to Bethlehem. He told them,[g] “As you go, search carefully for the child. When you find him, tell me so that I, too, may go and worship him.”
9 After listening to the king, they set out, and the star they had seen in the east[h] went ahead of them until it came and stopped over the place where the child was. 10 When they saw the star, they were ecstatic with joy. 11 After they went into the house and saw the child with his mother Mary, they fell down and worshipped him. Then they opened their treasure sacks and offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. 12 Having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they left for their own country by a different road.
The Escape to Egypt
13 After they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. “Get up, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt,” he said. “Stay there until I tell you, because Herod intends to search for the child and kill him.” 14 So Joseph[i] got up, took the child and his mother, and left at night for Egypt. 15 He stayed there until Herod’s death in order to fulfill what was declared by the Lord[j] through the prophet when he said, “Out of Egypt I called my Son.”[k]
The Massacre of the Infants
16 Herod flew into a rage when he learned that he had been tricked by the wise men, so he ordered the execution of all the male children in Bethlehem and all its neighboring regions, who were two years old and younger, according to the time that he had determined from the wise men. 17 Then what was declared by the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled when he said,
18 “A voice was heard in Ramah:
wailing and great mourning.
Rachel was crying for her children.
She refused to be comforted,
because they no longer existed.”[l]
The Return to Nazareth
19 But after Herod died, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt. 20 “Get up,” he said. “Take the child and his mother, and go to the land of Israel, because those who were trying to kill[m] the child are dead.”
21 So Joseph[n] got up, took the child and his mother, and went into the land of Israel. 22 But when he heard that Archelaus was ruling over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there, after having been warned in a dream. So he left for the region of Galilee 23 and settled in a town called Nazareth in order to fulfill what was said by the prophets: “He will be called a Nazarene.”[o]
Footnotes
- Matthew 2:1 Lit. days
- Matthew 2:1 Lit. magoi (Magi); i.e. Aramaic speaking wise men from Mesopotamia; or magi-astrologers; and so throughout the chapter; cf. Dan 1:4
- Matthew 2:2 Or at its rising
- Matthew 2:4 Or Christ
- Matthew 2:6 Or govern
- Matthew 2:6 Cf. Mic 5:2; 2 Sam 5:2
- Matthew 2:8 The Gk. lacks them
- Matthew 2:9 Or at its rising
- Matthew 2:14 Lit. he
- Matthew 2:15 MT source citation reads Lord
- Matthew 2:15 Cf. Hos 11:1
- Matthew 2:18 Cf. Jer 31:15
- Matthew 2:20 Lit. were seeking the life of
- Matthew 2:21 Lit. he
- Matthew 2:23 The Gk. Nazoraios may be a word play between Heb. netser, meaning branch (cf. Isa 11:1), and the name Nazareth.
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