Wise Men Seek the King

2 After Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of King Herod, wise men from the east arrived unexpectedly in Jerusalem,^{(A) 2} saying, “Where is He who has been born King of the Jews?^(B) For we saw His star in the east^[a](C) and have come to worship Him.”^[b]

³ When King Herod heard this, he was deeply disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. ⁴ So he assembled all the chief priests and scribes^(D) of the people and asked them where the Messiah would be born.

⁵ “In Bethlehem of Judea,” they told him, “because this is what was written by the prophet:

⁷ Then Herod secretly summoned the wise men and asked them the exact time the star appeared. ⁸ He sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the child. When you find Him, report back to me so that I too can go and worship Him.”^[d](F)

⁹ After hearing the king, they went on their way. And there it was—the star they had seen in the east!^[e] It led them until it came and stopped above the place where the child was. ¹⁰ When they saw the star, they were overjoyed beyond measure. ¹¹ Entering the house, they saw the child with Mary His mother, and falling to their knees, they worshiped Him.^[f] Then they opened their treasures and presented Him with gifts: gold, frankincense, and myrrh.^{(G) 12} And being warned^(H) in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their own country by another route.

The Flight into Egypt

¹³ After they were gone, an angel of the Lord suddenly appeared to Joseph in a dream, saying, “Get up! Take the child and His mother, flee to Egypt, and stay there until I tell you. For Herod is about to search for the child to destroy Him.”^{(I) 14} So he got up, took the child and His mother during the night, and escaped to Egypt. ¹⁵ He stayed there until Herod’s death, so that what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet might be fulfilled: Out of Egypt I called My Son.^(J)[g]

The Massacre of the Innocents

¹⁶ Then Herod, when he saw that he had been outwitted by the wise men, flew into a rage. He gave orders to massacre all the male children in and around Bethlehem who were two years^[h] old and under, in keeping with the time he had learned from the wise men.^{(K) 17} Then what was spoken through Jeremiah the prophet was fulfilled:

The Holy Family in Nazareth

¹⁹ After Herod died, an angel of the Lord suddenly appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt,^{(M) 20} saying, “Get up! Take the child and His mother and go to the land of Israel, because those who sought the child’s life are dead.” ²¹ So he got up, took the child and His mother, and entered the land of Israel. ²² But when he heard that Archelaus^[k] was ruling over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. And being warned in a dream, he withdrew to the region of Galilee.^{(N) 23} Then he went and settled in a town called Nazareth to fulfill what was spoken through the prophets, that He will be called a Nazarene.^(O)