The Magi Visit the Messiah

2 After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea,^(A) during the time of King Herod,^(B) Magi^[a] from the east came to Jerusalem ² and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews?^(C) We saw his star^(D) when it rose and have come to worship him.”

³ When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. ⁴ When he had called together all the people’s chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Messiah was to be born. ⁵ “In Bethlehem^(E) in Judea,” they replied, “for this is what the prophet has written:

⁷ Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. ⁸ He sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him.”

⁹ After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen when it rose went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. ¹⁰ When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. ¹¹ On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him.^(G) Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts^(H) of gold, frankincense and myrrh. ¹² And having been warned^(I) in a dream^(J) not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.

The Escape to Egypt

¹³ When they had gone, an angel^(K) of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream.^(L) “Get up,” he said, “take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.”^(M)

¹⁴ So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt, ¹⁵ where he stayed until the death of Herod. And so was fulfilled^(N) what the Lord had said through the prophet: “Out of Egypt I called my son.”^[c](O)

¹⁶ When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi. ¹⁷ Then what was said through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled:^(P)

The Return to Nazareth

¹⁹ After Herod died, an angel^(S) of the Lord appeared in a dream^(T) to Joseph in Egypt ²⁰ and said, “Get up, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who were trying to take the child’s life are dead.”^(U)

²¹ So he got up, took the child and his mother and went to the land of Israel. ²² But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning in Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. Having been warned in a dream,^(V) he withdrew to the district of Galilee,^{(W) 23} and he went and lived in a town called Nazareth.^(X) So was fulfilled^(Y) what was said through the prophets, that he would be called a Nazarene.^(Z)

Jacob Blesses His Sons^(A)

49 Then Jacob called for his sons and said: “Gather around so I can tell you what will happen to you in days to come.^(B)

²⁸ All these are the twelve tribes of Israel,^(BY) and this is what their father said to them when he blessed them, giving each the blessing^(BZ) appropriate to him.

The Death of Jacob

²⁹ Then he gave them these instructions:^(CA) “I am about to be gathered to my people.^(CB) Bury me with my fathers^(CC) in the cave in the field of Ephron the Hittite,^{(CD) 30} the cave in the field of Machpelah,^(CE) near Mamre^(CF) in Canaan, which Abraham bought along with the field^(CG) as a burial place^(CH) from Ephron the Hittite. ³¹ There Abraham^(CI) and his wife Sarah^(CJ) were buried, there Isaac and his wife Rebekah^(CK) were buried, and there I buried Leah.^{(CL) 32} The field and the cave in it were bought from the Hittites.^[p](CM)”

³³ When Jacob had finished giving instructions to his sons, he drew his feet up into the bed, breathed his last and was gathered to his people.^(CN)

50 Joseph threw himself on his father and wept over him and kissed him.^{(CO) 2} Then Joseph directed the physicians in his service to embalm his father Israel. So the physicians embalmed him,^{(CP) 3} taking a full forty days, for that was the time required for embalming. And the Egyptians mourned for him seventy days.^(CQ)

⁴ When the days of mourning^(CR) had passed, Joseph said to Pharaoh’s court,^(CS) “If I have found favor in your eyes,^(CT) speak to Pharaoh for me. Tell him, ⁵ ‘My father made me swear an oath^(CU) and said, “I am about to die;^(CV) bury me in the tomb I dug for myself^(CW) in the land of Canaan.”^(CX) Now let me go up and bury my father;^(CY) then I will return.’”

⁶ Pharaoh said, “Go up and bury your father, as he made you swear to do.”

⁷ So Joseph went up to bury his father. All Pharaoh’s officials^(CZ) accompanied him—the dignitaries of his court^(DA) and all the dignitaries of Egypt— ⁸ besides all the members of Joseph’s household and his brothers and those belonging to his father’s household.^(DB) Only their children and their flocks and herds were left in Goshen.^{(DC) 9} Chariots^(DD) and horsemen^[q] also went up with him. It was a very large company.

¹⁰ When they reached the threshing floor^(DE) of Atad, near the Jordan, they lamented loudly and bitterly;^(DF) and there Joseph observed a seven-day period^(DG) of mourning^(DH) for his father.^{(DI) 11} When the Canaanites^(DJ) who lived there saw the mourning at the threshing floor of Atad, they said, “The Egyptians are holding a solemn ceremony of mourning.”^(DK) That is why that place near the Jordan is called Abel Mizraim.^[r]

¹² So Jacob’s sons did as he had commanded them:^{(DL) 13} They carried him to the land of Canaan and buried him in the cave in the field of Machpelah,^(DM) near Mamre,^(DN) which Abraham had bought along with the field^(DO) as a burial place from Ephron the Hittite.^{(DP) 14} After burying his father, Joseph returned to Egypt, together with his brothers and all the others who had gone with him to bury his father.^(DQ)

Joseph Reassures His Brothers

¹⁵ When Joseph’s brothers saw that their father was dead, they said, “What if Joseph holds a grudge^(DR) against us and pays us back for all the wrongs we did to him?”^{(DS) 16} So they sent word to Joseph, saying, “Your father left these instructions^(DT) before he died: ¹⁷ ‘This is what you are to say to Joseph: I ask you to forgive your brothers the sins^(DU) and the wrongs they committed in treating you so badly.’^(DV) Now please forgive the sins of the servants of the God of your father.^(DW)” When their message came to him, Joseph wept.^(DX)

¹⁸ His brothers then came and threw themselves down before him.^(DY) “We are your slaves,”^(DZ) they said.

¹⁹ But Joseph said to them, “Don’t be afraid. Am I in the place of God?^{(EA) 20} You intended to harm me,^(EB) but God intended^(EC) it for good^(ED) to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.^{(EE) 21} So then, don’t be afraid. I will provide for you and your children.^(EF)” And he reassured them and spoke kindly^(EG) to them.

The Death of Joseph

²² Joseph stayed in Egypt, along with all his father’s family. He lived a hundred and ten years^{(EH) 23} and saw the third generation^(EI) of Ephraim’s^(EJ) children.^(EK) Also the children of Makir^(EL) son of Manasseh^(EM) were placed at birth on Joseph’s knees.^[s](EN)

²⁴ Then Joseph said to his brothers, “I am about to die.^(EO) But God will surely come to your aid^(EP) and take you up out of this land to the land^(EQ) he promised on oath to Abraham,^(ER) Isaac^(ES) and Jacob.”^{(ET) 25} And Joseph made the Israelites swear an oath^(EU) and said, “God will surely come to your aid, and then you must carry my bones^(EV) up from this place.”^(EW)

²⁶ So Joseph died^(EX) at the age of a hundred and ten.^(EY) And after they embalmed him,^(EZ) he was placed in a coffin in Egypt.

The Israelites Oppressed

1 These are the names of the sons of Israel^(A) who went to Egypt with Jacob, each with his family: ² Reuben, Simeon, Levi and Judah; ³ Issachar, Zebulun and Benjamin; ⁴ Dan and Naphtali; Gad and Asher.^{(B) 5} The descendants of Jacob numbered seventy^[a] in all;^(C) Joseph was already in Egypt.

⁶ Now Joseph and all his brothers and all that generation died,^{(D) 7} but the Israelites were exceedingly fruitful; they multiplied greatly, increased in numbers^(E) and became so numerous that the land was filled with them.

⁸ Then a new king, to whom Joseph meant nothing, came to power in Egypt.^{(F) 9} “Look,” he said to his people, “the Israelites have become far too numerous^(G) for us.^{(H) 10} Come, we must deal shrewdly^(I) with them or they will become even more numerous and, if war breaks out, will join our enemies, fight against us and leave the country.”^(J)

¹¹ So they put slave masters^(K) over them to oppress them with forced labor,^(L) and they built Pithom and Rameses^(M) as store cities^(N) for Pharaoh. ¹² But the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and spread; so the Egyptians came to dread the Israelites ¹³ and worked them ruthlessly.^{(O) 14} They made their lives bitter with harsh labor^(P) in brick^(Q) and mortar and with all kinds of work in the fields; in all their harsh labor the Egyptians worked them ruthlessly.^(R)

¹⁵ The king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives,^(S) whose names were Shiphrah and Puah, ¹⁶ “When you are helping the Hebrew women during childbirth on the delivery stool, if you see that the baby is a boy, kill him; but if it is a girl, let her live.”^{(T) 17} The midwives, however, feared^(U) God and did not do what the king of Egypt had told them to do;^(V) they let the boys live. ¹⁸ Then the king of Egypt summoned the midwives and asked them, “Why have you done this? Why have you let the boys live?”

¹⁹ The midwives answered Pharaoh, “Hebrew women are not like Egyptian women; they are vigorous and give birth before the midwives arrive.”^(W)

²⁰ So God was kind to the midwives^(X) and the people increased and became even more numerous. ²¹ And because the midwives feared^(Y) God, he gave them families^(Z) of their own.

²² Then Pharaoh gave this order to all his people: “Every Hebrew boy that is born you must throw into the Nile,^(AA) but let every girl live.”^(AB)