Matthew 2:16-3:17

New American Standard Bible 1995

Herod Slaughters Babies

¹⁶ Then when Herod saw that he had been tricked by ^(A)the magi, he became very enraged, and sent and ^(B)slew all the male children who were in Bethlehem and all its vicinity, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had determined from the magi. ¹⁷ Then what had been spoken through Jeremiah the prophet was fulfilled:

¹⁹ But when Herod died, behold, an angel of the Lord *^(D)appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, and said, ²⁰ “Get up, take the Child and His mother, and go into the land of Israel; for those who sought the Child’s life are dead.” ²¹ So ^[a]Joseph got up, took the Child and His mother, and came into the land of Israel. ²² But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. Then after being ^(E)warned by God in a dream, he left for the regions of Galilee, ²³ and came and lived in a city called ^(F)Nazareth. This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophets: “He shall be called a ^(G)Nazarene.”

The Preaching of John the Baptist

3 Now ^(H)in those days ^(I)John the Baptist *^[b]came, ^[c]preaching in the ^(J)wilderness of Judea, saying, ² “^(K)Repent, for ^(L)the kingdom of heaven ^[d]is at hand.” ³ For this is the ^(M)one referred to ^[e]by Isaiah the prophet when he said,

⁴ Now John himself had ^[g](P)a garment of camel’s hair and a leather belt around his waist; and his food was ^(Q)locusts and wild honey. ⁵ Then Jerusalem ^(R)was going out to him, and all Judea and all ^(S)the district around the Jordan; ⁶ and they were being ^(T)baptized by him in the Jordan River, as they confessed their sins.

⁷ But when he saw many of the ^(U)Pharisees and ^(V)Sadducees coming for baptism, he said to them, “You ^(W)brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from ^(X)the wrath to come? ^8 (Y)Therefore bear fruit ^(Z)in keeping with repentance; ⁹ and do not suppose that you can say to yourselves, ‘^(AA)We have Abraham for our father’; for I say to you that from these stones God is able to raise up children to Abraham. ¹⁰ The ^(AB)axe is already laid at the root of the trees; therefore ^(AC)every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.

¹¹ “As for me, ^(AD)I baptize you ^[h]with water for repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, and I am not fit to remove His sandals; ^(AE)He will baptize you ^[i]with the Holy Spirit and fire. ¹² His ^(AF)winnowing fork is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clear His threshing floor; and He will ^(AG)gather His wheat into the barn, but He will burn up the ^(AH)chaff with ^(AI)unquenchable fire.”

The Baptism of Jesus

^13 (AJ)Then Jesus *arrived ^(AK)from Galilee at the Jordan coming to John, to be baptized by him. ¹⁴ But John tried to prevent Him, saying, “I have need to be baptized by You, and do You come to me?” ¹⁵ But Jesus answering said to him, “Permit it at this time; for in this way it is fitting for us ^(AL)to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he *permitted Him. ¹⁶ After being baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened, and ^[j](AM)he saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove and ^[k]lighting on Him, ¹⁷ and behold, a voice out of the heavens said, “^(AN)This is ^[l]My beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased.”