马太福音 2
Chinese Union Version Modern Punctuation (Simplified)
耶稣降生博士来拜
2 当希律王的时候，耶稣生在犹太的伯利恒。有几个博士从东方来到耶路撒冷，说： 2 “那生下来做犹太人之王的在哪里？我们在东方看见他的星，特来拜他。” 3 希律王听见了，就心里不安，耶路撒冷合城的人也都不安。 4 他就召齐了祭司长和民间的文士，问他们说：“基督当生在何处？” 5 他们回答说：“在犹太的伯利恒。因为有先知记着说： 6 ‘犹大地的伯利恒啊，你在犹大诸城中并不是最小的，因为将来有一位君王要从你那里出来，牧养我以色列民。’” 7 当下，希律暗暗地召了博士来，细问那星是什么时候出现的， 8 就差他们往伯利恒去，说：“你们去仔细寻访那小孩子，寻到了就来报信，我也好去拜他。” 9 他们听见王的话就去了。在东方所看见的那星忽然在他们前头行，直行到小孩子的地方，就在上头停住了。 10 他们看见那星，就大大地欢喜。 11 进了房子，看见小孩子和他母亲马利亚，就俯伏拜那小孩子，揭开宝盒，拿黄金、乳香、没药为礼物献给他。 12 博士因为在梦中被主指示不要回去见希律，就从别的路回本地去了。
逃到埃及
13 他们去后，有主的使者向约瑟梦中显现，说：“起来！带着小孩子同他母亲逃往埃及，住在那里，等我吩咐你，因为希律必寻找小孩子，要除灭他。” 14 约瑟就起来，夜间带着小孩子和他母亲往埃及去， 15 住在那里，直到希律死了。这是要应验主借先知所说的话说：“我从埃及召出我的儿子来。”
屠杀男孩
16 希律见自己被博士愚弄，就大大发怒，差人将伯利恒城里并四境所有的男孩，照着他向博士仔细查问的时候，凡两岁以里的都杀尽了。 17 这就应了先知耶利米的话说： 18 “在拉玛听见号啕大哭的声音，是拉结哭她儿女，不肯受安慰，因为他们都不在了。”
回国到拿撒勒
19 希律死了以后，有主的使者在埃及向约瑟梦中显现，说： 20 “起来！带着小孩子和他母亲往以色列地去，因为要害小孩子性命的人已经死了。” 21 约瑟就起来，把小孩子和他母亲带到以色列地去。 22 只因听见亚基老接着他父亲希律做了犹太王，就怕往那里去。又在梦中被主指示，便往加利利境内去了， 23 到了一座城，名叫拿撒勒，就住在那里。这是要应验先知所说“他将称为拿撒勒人”的话了。
Matthew 2
The Voice
Mary and Joseph name their baby Jesus, but sometimes He is referred to as Immanuel, because by coming to dwell with us, living and dying among us, He would be able to save us from our sin.
2 Jesus was born in the town of Bethlehem, in the province of Judea, at the time when King Herod reigned. Not long after Jesus was born, magi, wise men or seers from the East, made their way from the East to Jerusalem. These wise men made inquiries.
These men from the East come looking for the One who has been born who will save His people from sin.
Wise Men: 2 Where is this newborn, who is the King of the Jews? When we were far away in the East we saw His star, and we have followed its glisten and gleam all this way to worship Him.
3 King Herod began to hear rumors of the wise men’s quest, and he, and all of his followers in Jerusalem, were worried. 4 So Herod called all of the leading Jewish teachers, the chief priests and head scribes, and he asked them where Hebrew tradition claimed the long-awaited Anointed One would be born.
Scribes and Priests: 5 An ancient Hebrew prophet, Micah, said this:
6 But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
are no poor relation—
For from your people will come a Ruler
who will be the shepherd of My people Israel.[a]
From that prophecy we learn that the Savior would be born in the town of Bethlehem, in the province of Judea. This information in hand, Herod orders the wise men to come to his chambers in secret; and when they arrive, Herod quizzes them.
7 Herod called the wise men to him, demanding to know the exact time the special star had appeared to them. 8 Then Herod sent them to Bethlehem.
Herod: Go to Bethlehem and search high and low for this Savior child; and as soon as you know where He is, report it to me so that I may go and worship Him.
9-10 The wise men left Herod’s chambers and went on their way. The star they had first seen in the East reappeared—a miracle that, of course, overjoyed and enraptured the wise men. The star led them to the house where Jesus lay; 11 and as soon as the wise men arrived, they saw Him with His mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped Him. They unpacked their satchels and gave Jesus gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
These are exceptionally good gifts, for gold is what is given a king, and Jesus is the King of kings; incense is what you expect to be given a priest, and Jesus is the High Priest of all high priests; myrrh ointment is used to heal, and Jesus is a healer. But myrrh is also used to embalm corpses—and Jesus was born to die.
12 And then, just as Joseph did a few months before, the wise men had a dream warning them not to go back to Herod. The wise men heeded the dream. Ignoring Herod’s instructions, they returned to their homes in the East by a different route.
13 After the wise men left, a messenger of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream.
Messenger of the Lord (to Joseph): Get up, take the child and His mother, and head to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you it is safe to leave. For Herod understands that Jesus threatens him and all he stands for. He is planning to search for the child and kill Him. But you will be safe in Egypt.
14 So Joseph got up in the middle of the night; he bundled up Mary and Jesus, and they left for Egypt.[b]
16 After a few months had passed, Herod realized he’d been tricked. The wise men were not coming back. Herod, of course, was furious. He simply ordered that all boys who lived in or near Bethlehem and were two years of age and younger be killed. He knew the baby King was this age because of what the wise men told him.
Herod knows ordinary babies will die in this purge, but he doesn’t care—Herod is not so much cold-blooded as pragmatic, willing to do whatever is necessary to kill this new supposed King. And so all those other baby boys die. But, of course, Herod’s plan ultimately fails. He doesn’t know the baby Savior has been whisked to safety in Egypt.
17 This sad event had long been foretold by the prophet Jeremiah:
18 A voice will be heard in Ramah,
weeping and wailing and mourning out loud all day and night.
The voice is Rachel’s, weeping for her children,
her children who have been killed;
she weeps, and she will not be comforted.[c]
15 Joseph, Mary, and Jesus stayed in Egypt until Herod died. This fulfilled yet another prophecy. The prophet Hosea once wrote, “Out of Egypt I called My Son.”
19 And after Herod died, a messenger of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt:
Messenger of the Lord: 20 You may go home now. Take the child and His mother and go back to the land of Israel, for the people who were trying to take the child’s life are now dead.
21 So Joseph got up and took Mary and Jesus and returned to the land of Israel. 22 Soon he learned that Archelaus, Herod’s oldest and notoriously brutal son, was ruling Judea. Archelaus might not be any friendlier than Herod had been. Joseph was simply afraid. He had another dream, and in this dream, he was warned away from Judea; so Joseph decided to settle up north in a district called Galilee, 23 in a town called Nazareth. And this, too, fulfilled what the prophets have taught, “The Savior will be a Nazarene.”
Copyright © 2011 by Global Bible Initiative
The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.