Matthew 1-3

Amplified Bible, Classic Edition

1 The book of the ancestry (genealogy) of Jesus Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed), the son (descendant) of David, the son (descendant) of Abraham.^(A)

² Abraham was the father of Isaac, Isaac the father of Jacob, Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers,

³ Judah the father of Perez and Zerah, whose mother was Tamar, Perez the father of Hezron, Hezron the father of Aram,

⁴ Aram the father of Aminadab, Aminadab the father of Nahshon, Nahshon the father of Salmon,

⁵ Salmon the father of Boaz, whose mother was Rahab, Boaz the father of Obed, whose mother was Ruth, Obed the father of Jesse,

⁶ Jesse the father of King David, King David the father of Solomon, whose mother had been the wife of Uriah,^(B)

⁷ Solomon the father of Rehoboam, Rehoboam the father of Abijah, Abijah the father of Asa,

⁸ Asa the father of Jehoshaphat, Jehoshaphat the father of Joram [Jehoram], Joram the father of Uzziah,

⁹ Uzziah the father of Jotham, Jotham the father of Ahaz, Ahaz the father of Hezekiah,

¹⁰ Hezekiah the father of Manasseh, Manasseh the father of Amon, Amon the father of Josiah,

¹¹ And Josiah became the father of Jeconiah [also called Coniah and Jehoiachin] and his brothers about the time of the removal (deportation) to Babylon.^(C)

¹² After the exile to Babylon, Jeconiah became the father of Shealtiel [Salathiel], Shealtiel the father of Zerubbabel,

¹³ Zerubbabel the father of Abiud, Abiud the father of Eliakim, Eliakim the father of Azor,

¹⁴ Azor the father of Sadoc, Sadoc the father of Achim, Achim the father of Eliud,

¹⁵ Eliud the father of Eleazar, Eleazar the father of Matthan, Matthan the father of Jacob,

¹⁶ Jacob the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, Who is called the Christ. (the Messiah, the Anointed)

¹⁷ So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen, from David to the Babylonian exile (deportation) fourteen generations, from the Babylonian exile to the Christ fourteen generations.

¹⁸ Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place under these circumstances: When His mother Mary had been promised in marriage to Joseph, before they came together, she was found to be pregnant [through the power] of the Holy Spirit.

¹⁹ And her [promised] husband Joseph, being a just and upright man and not willing to expose her publicly and to shame and disgrace her, decided to repudiate and dismiss (divorce) her quietly and secretly.

²⁰ But as he was thinking this over, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, Joseph, descendant of David, do not be afraid to take Mary [as] your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of (from, out of) the Holy Spirit.

²¹ She will bear a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus [the Greek form of the Hebrew Joshua, which means Savior], for He will save His people from their sins [that is, prevent them from ^[a]failing and missing the true end and scope of life, which is God].

²² All this took place that it might be fulfilled which the Lord had spoken through the prophet,

²³ Behold, the virgin shall become pregnant and give birth to a Son, and they shall call His name Emmanuel—which, when translated, means, God with us.^(D)

²⁴ Then Joseph, being aroused from his sleep, did as the angel of the Lord had commanded him: he took [her to his side as] his wife.

²⁵ But he had no union with her as her husband until she had borne her firstborn Son; and he called His name Jesus.

2 Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men [astrologers] from the east came to Jerusalem, asking,

² Where is He Who has been born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the east ^[b]at its rising and have come to worship Him.^(E)

³ When Herod the king heard this, he was disturbed and troubled, and the whole of Jerusalem with him.

⁴ So he called together all the chief priests and learned men (scribes) of the people and ^[c]anxiously asked them where the Christ was to be born.

⁵ They replied to him, In Bethlehem of Judea, for so it is written by the prophet:

⁶ And you Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, you are not in any way least or insignificant among the ^[d]chief cities of Judah; for from you shall come a Ruler (^[e]Leader) Who will govern and ^[f]shepherd My people Israel.^(F)

⁷ Then Herod sent for the wise men [astrologers] secretly, and ^[g]accurately to the last point ascertained from them the time of the appearing of the star [that is, ^[h]how long the star had made itself visible since its rising in the east].

⁸ Then he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, Go and search for the Child carefully and diligently, and when you have found ^[i]Him, bring me word, that I too may come and worship Him.

⁹ When they had listened to the king, they went their way, and behold, the star which had been seen in the east ^[j]in its rising went before them until it came and stood over the place where the young Child was.

¹⁰ When they saw the star, they were thrilled with ecstatic joy.

¹¹ And on going into the house, they saw the Child with Mary His mother, and they fell down and worshiped Him. Then opening their treasure bags, they presented to Him gifts—gold and frankincense and myrrh.

¹² And ^[k]receiving an answer to their asking, they were divinely instructed and warned in a dream not to go back to Herod; so they departed to their own country by a different way.

¹³ Now after they had gone, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, Get up! [^[l]Tenderly] take unto you the young Child and His mother and flee to Egypt; and remain there till I tell you [otherwise], for Herod intends to search for the Child in order to destroy Him.

¹⁴ And having risen, he took the Child and His mother by night and withdrew to Egypt

¹⁵ And remained there until Herod’s death. This was to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet, Out of Egypt have I called My Son.^(G)

¹⁶ Then Herod, when he realized that he had been misled by the wise men, was furiously enraged, and he sent and put to death all the male children in Bethlehem and in all that territory who were two years old and under, reckoning according to the date which he had investigated diligently and had learned exactly from the wise men.

¹⁷ Then was fulfilled what was spoken by the prophet Jeremiah:

¹⁸ A voice was heard in Ramah, wailing and loud lamentation, Rachel weeping for her children; she refused to be comforted, because they were no more.^(H)

¹⁹ But when Herod died, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt

²⁰ And said, Rise, [^[m]tenderly] take unto you the Child and His mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who sought the Child’s life are dead.

²¹ Then he awoke and arose and [^[n]tenderly] took the Child and His mother and came into the land of Israel.

²² But because he heard that Archelaus was ruling over Judea in the place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. And being divinely warned in a dream, he withdrew to the region of Galilee.

²³ He went and dwelt in a town called Nazareth, so that what was spoken through the prophets might be fulfilled: He shall be called a Nazarene [Branch, Separated One].^(I)

3 In those days there appeared John the Baptist, preaching in the Wilderness (Desert) of Judea

² And saying, Repent (^[o]think differently; change your mind, regretting your sins and changing your conduct), for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

³ This is he who was mentioned by the prophet Isaiah when he said, The voice of one crying in the wilderness (shouting in the desert), Prepare the road for the Lord, make His highways straight (level, ^[p]direct).^(J)

⁴ This same John’s garments were made of camel’s hair, and he wore a leather girdle about his waist; and his food was locusts and wild honey.^(K)

⁵ Then Jerusalem and all Judea and all the country round about the Jordan went out to him;

⁶ And they were baptized in the Jordan by him, confessing their sins.

⁷ But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming for baptism, he said to them, You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee and escape from the wrath and indignation [of God against disobedience] that is coming?

⁸ Bring forth fruit that is consistent with repentance [let your lives prove your change of heart];

⁹ And do not presume to say to yourselves, We have Abraham for our forefather; for I tell you, God is able to raise up descendants for Abraham from these stones!

¹⁰ And already the ax is lying at the root of the trees; every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.

¹¹ I indeed baptize you ^[q]in (with) water ^[r]because of repentance [that is, because of your ^[s]changing your minds for the better, heartily amending your ways, with abhorrence of your past sins]. But He Who is coming after me is mightier than I, Whose sandals I am not worthy or fit to take off or carry; He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.

¹² His winnowing fan (shovel, fork) is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clear out and clean His threshing floor and gather and store His wheat in His barn, but the chaff He will burn up with fire that cannot be put out.

¹³ Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to John to be baptized by him.

¹⁴ But John ^[t]protested strenuously, having in mind to prevent Him, saying, It is I who have need to be baptized by You, and do You come to me?

¹⁵ But Jesus replied to him, ^[u]Permit it just now; for this is the fitting way for [both of] us to fulfill all righteousness [that is, to ^[v]perform completely whatever is right]. Then he permitted Him.

¹⁶ And when Jesus was baptized, He went up at once out of the water; and behold, the heavens were opened, and he [John] saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on Him.

¹⁷ And behold, a voice from heaven said, This is My Son, My Beloved, in Whom I delight!^(L)