Matthew 1-4

New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition

The Genealogy of Jesus the Messiah

1 An account^[a] of the genealogy^[b] of Jesus the Messiah,^[c] the son of David, the son of Abraham.^(A)

² Abraham was the father of Isaac, and Isaac the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers,^{(B) 3} and Judah the father of Perez and Zerah by Tamar, and Perez the father of Hezron, and Hezron the father of Aram,^{(C) 4} and Aram the father of Aminadab, and Aminadab the father of Nahshon, and Nahshon the father of Salmon, ⁵ and Salmon the father of Boaz by Rahab, and Boaz the father of Obed by Ruth, and Obed the father of Jesse, ⁶ and Jesse the father of King David.

And David was the father of Solomon by the wife of Uriah,^{(D) 7} and Solomon the father of Rehoboam, and Rehoboam the father of Abijah, and Abijah the father of Asaph,^{[d](E) 8} and Asaph^[e] the father of Jehoshaphat, and Jehoshaphat the father of Joram, and Joram the father of Uzziah, ⁹ and Uzziah the father of Jotham, and Jotham the father of Ahaz, and Ahaz the father of Hezekiah, ¹⁰ and Hezekiah the father of Manasseh, and Manasseh the father of Amos,^[f] and Amos^[g] the father of Josiah,^{(F) 11} and Josiah the father of Jechoniah and his brothers, at the time of the deportation to Babylon.^(G)

¹² And after the deportation to Babylon: Jechoniah was the father of Salathiel, and Salathiel the father of Zerubbabel,^{(H) 13} and Zerubbabel the father of Abiud, and Abiud the father of Eliakim, and Eliakim the father of Azor, ¹⁴ and Azor the father of Zadok, and Zadok the father of Achim, and Achim the father of Eliud, ¹⁵ and Eliud the father of Eleazar, and Eleazar the father of Matthan, and Matthan the father of Jacob, ¹⁶ and Jacob the father of Joseph the husband of Mary, who bore Jesus, who is called the Messiah.^[h](I)

¹⁷ So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations; and from David to the deportation to Babylon, fourteen generations; and from the deportation to Babylon to the Messiah,^[i] fourteen generations.

The Birth of Jesus the Messiah

¹⁸ Now the birth of Jesus the Messiah^[j] took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been engaged to Joseph, but before they lived together, she was found to be pregnant from the Holy Spirit.^{(J) 19} Her husband Joseph, being a righteous man and unwilling to expose her to public disgrace, planned to divorce her quietly.^{(K) 20} But just when he had resolved to do this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. ²¹ She will bear a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”^{(L) 22} All this took place to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet:

which means, “God is with us.”^{(M) 24} When Joseph awoke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him; he took her as his wife ²⁵ but had no marital relations with her until she had given birth to a son,^[k] and he named him Jesus.^(N)

The Visit of the Magi

2 In the time of King Herod, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, magi^[l] from the east came to Jerusalem,^{(O) 2} asking, “Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews? For we observed his star in the east^[m] and have come to pay him homage.”^{(P) 3} When King Herod heard this, he was frightened, and all Jerusalem with him, ⁴ and calling together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Messiah^[n] was to be born. ⁵ They told him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for so it has been written by the prophet:^(Q)

⁷ Then Herod secretly called for the magi^[p] and learned from them the exact time when the star had appeared. ⁸ Then he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, “Go and search diligently for the child, and when you have found him, bring me word so that I may also go and pay him homage.” ⁹ When they had heard the king, they set out, and there, ahead of them, went the star that they had seen in the east,^[q] until it stopped over the place where the child was. ¹⁰ When they saw that the star had stopped,^[r] they were overwhelmed with joy. ¹¹ On entering the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they knelt down and paid him homage. Then, opening their treasure chests, they offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.^{(S) 12} And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they left for their own country by another road.^(T)

The Escape to Egypt

¹³ Now after they had left, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Get up, 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.”^{(U) 14} Then Joseph^[s] got up, took the child and his mother by night, and went to Egypt^{(V) 15} and remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet, “Out of Egypt I have called my son.”

The Massacre of the Infants

¹⁶ When Herod saw that he had been tricked by the magi,^[t] he was infuriated, and he sent and killed all the children in and around Bethlehem who were two years old or under, according to the time that he had learned from the magi.^{[u] 17} Then what had been spoken through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled:

The Return from Egypt

¹⁹ When Herod died, an angel of the Lord suddenly appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt and said, ²⁰ “Get up, take the child and his mother, and go to the land of Israel, for those who were seeking the child’s life are dead.” ²¹ Then Joseph^[v] got up, took the child and his mother, and went to the land of Israel. ²² But when he heard that Archelaus was ruling Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. And after being warned in a dream, he went away to the district of Galilee.^{(X) 23} There he made his home in a town called Nazareth, so that what had been spoken through the prophets might be fulfilled, “He will be called a Nazarene.”^[w](Y)

The Proclamation of John the Baptist

3 In those days John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness of Judea, proclaiming, ² “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.”^{[x](Z) 3} This is the one of whom the prophet Isaiah spoke when he said,

⁴ Now John wore clothing of camel’s hair with a leather belt around his waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey.^{(AB) 5} Then Jerusalem and all Judea and all the region around the Jordan were going out to him, ⁶ and they were baptized by him in the River Jordan, confessing their sins.^(AC)

⁷ But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming for his^[y] baptism, he said to them, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?^{(AD) 8} Therefore, bear fruit worthy of repentance,^{(AE) 9} and do not presume to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our ancestor,’ for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham.^{(AF) 10} Even now the ax is lying at the root of the trees; therefore every tree that does not bear good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.^(AG)

¹¹ “I baptize you with^[z] water for repentance, but the one who is coming after me is more powerful than I, and I am not worthy to carry his sandals. He will baptize you with^[aa] the Holy Spirit and fire.^{(AH) 12} His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and will gather his wheat into the granary, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.”^(AI)

The Baptism of Jesus

¹³ Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan, to be baptized by him.^{(AJ) 14} John would have prevented him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” ¹⁵ But Jesus answered him, “Let it be so now, for it is proper for us in this way to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he consented. ¹⁶ And when Jesus had been baptized, just as he came up from the water, suddenly the heavens were opened to him and he saw God’s Spirit descending like a dove and alighting on him.^{(AK) 17} And a voice from the heavens said, “This is my Son, the Beloved,^[ab] with whom I am well pleased.”^(AL)

The Testing of Jesus

4 Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tested by the devil. ² He fasted forty days and forty nights, and afterward he was famished.^{(AM) 3} The tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.”^{(AN) 4} But he answered, “It is written,

⁵ Then the devil took him to the holy city and placed him on the pinnacle of the temple,^{(AP) 6} saying to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written,

⁷ Jesus said to him, “Again it is written, ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’ ”^(AR)

⁸ Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory, ⁹ and he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.” ¹⁰ Then Jesus said to him, “Away with you, Satan! for it is written,

¹¹ Then the devil left him, and suddenly angels came and waited on him.^(AT)

Jesus Begins His Ministry in Galilee

¹² Now when Jesus^[ac] heard that John had been arrested, he withdrew to Galilee. ¹³ He left Nazareth and made his home in Capernaum by the sea, in the territory of Zebulun and Naphtali, ¹⁴ so that what had been spoken through the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled:

¹⁷ From that time Jesus began to proclaim, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.”^[ad](AW)

Jesus Calls the First Disciples

¹⁸ As he walked by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea—for they were fishers.^{(AX) 19} And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of people.” ²⁰ Immediately they left their nets and followed him.^{(AY) 21} As he went from there, he saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John, in the boat with their father Zebedee, mending their nets, and he called them. ²² Immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.

Jesus Ministers to Crowds of People

²³ Jesus^[ae] went throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the good news^[af] of the kingdom and curing every disease and every sickness among the people.^{(AZ) 24} So his fame spread throughout all Syria, and they brought to him all the sick, those who were afflicted with various diseases and pains, people possessed by demons or having epilepsy or afflicted with paralysis, and he cured them.^{(BA) 25} And great crowds followed him from Galilee, the Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea, and from beyond the Jordan.^(BB)