The Genealogy of Jesus Christ

1 The book of the genealogy of ^[a]Jesus ^[b]Christ, ^(A)the son of David, ^(B)the son of Abraham:

⁵ And they said to him, “^(A)In Bethlehem of Judea; for this is what has been written ^[a]by the prophet:

⁷ Then Herod secretly called the magi and carefully determined from them ^[b]the time ^(D)the star appeared. ⁸ And he sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the Child; and when you have found Him, report to me, so that I too may come and worship Him.” ⁹ Now after hearing the king, they went their way; and behold, the star, which they had seen in the east, was going on before them until it came and stood over the place where the Child was. ¹⁰ And when they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. ¹¹ And after coming into the house they saw the Child with ^(E)Mary His mother; and they ^[c]fell to the ground and ^(F)worshiped Him. Then, opening their treasures, they presented to Him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. ¹² And having been ^(G)warned ^(H)in a dream not to return to Herod, the magi departed for their own country by another way.

The Flight to Egypt

¹³ Now when they had departed, behold, an ^(I)angel of the ^[d]Lord *^(J)appeared to Joseph in a dream, saying, “Get up! Take the Child and His mother and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you; for Herod is going to search for the Child to destroy Him.”

¹⁴ So ^[e]Joseph got up and took the Child and His mother while it was still night, and departed for Egypt. ¹⁵ And he ^[f]remained there until the death of Herod, in order that what had been spoken by the ^[g]Lord through the prophet would be fulfilled, saying, “^(K)Out of Egypt I called ^(L)My Son.”

Herod Slaughters Children

¹⁶ Then when Herod saw that he had been tricked by ^(M)the magi, he became very enraged, and sent and ^(N)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 carefully determined from the magi. ¹⁷ Then what had been spoken through Jeremiah the prophet was fulfilled, saying,

¹⁹ But when Herod died, behold, an angel of the ^[h]Lord *^(P)appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, saying, 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 ^[i]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 ^(Q)warned by God in a dream, he departed for the district of Galilee, ²³ and came and lived in a city called ^(R)Nazareth, so that what was spoken through the prophets would be fulfilled: “He shall be called a ^(S)Nazarene.”

⁴ And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the city of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because ^(A)he was of the house and family of David, ⁵ in order to register along with Mary, who was betrothed to him, and was with child. ⁶ Now it happened that while they were there, the days were fulfilled for her to give birth. ⁷ And she ^(B)gave birth to her firstborn son; and she wrapped Him in cloths, and laid Him in a ^[a]manger, because there was no place for them in the ^[b]guest room.

⁸ In the same region there were some shepherds staying out in the fields and keeping watch over their flock by night. ⁹ And ^(C)an angel of the ^[c]Lord ^(D)stood before them, and the glory of the ^[d]Lord shone around them; and they were terribly frightened. ¹⁰ But the angel said to them, “^(E)Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the people. ¹¹ For today in the city of David there has been born for you a ^(F)Savior, who is ^[e](G)Christ ^(H)the Lord. ^12 (I)And this will be the sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a ^[f]manger.” ¹³ And suddenly there appeared with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying,

¹⁵ And it happened that when the angels had gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds began saying to one another, “Let us go to Bethlehem then, and see this thing that has happened which the Lord has made known to us.” ¹⁶ So they went in a hurry and found their way to Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in the ^[h]manger. ¹⁷ And when they had seen this, they made known the statement which had been told them about this Child. ¹⁸ And all who heard it marveled at the things which were told them by the shepherds. ¹⁹ But Mary ^(L)was treasuring all these things, pondering them in her heart. ²⁰ And the shepherds went back, ^(M)glorifying and praising God for all that they had heard and seen, just as was told them.

Jesus Presented at the Temple

²¹ And when ^(N)eight days were fulfilled so that they could circumcise Him, ^(O)His name was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before He was conceived in the womb.

^22 (P)And when the days for their cleansing according to the Law of Moses were fulfilled, they brought Him up to Jerusalem to present Him to the ^[i]Lord ²³ (as it is written in the Law of the ^[j]Lord, “^(Q)Every firstborn male that opens the womb shall be called holy to the ^[k]Lord”), ²⁴ and to offer a sacrifice according to what was said in the Law of the ^[l]Lord, “^(R)A pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons.”

²⁵ And behold, there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon, and this man was ^(S)righteous and devout, ^(T)waiting for the ^[m](U)comfort of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. ²⁶ And ^(V)it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not ^(W)see death before he had seen the ^[n]Lord’s ^[o]Christ. ²⁷ And he came in the Spirit into the temple, and when the parents brought in the child Jesus ^[p](X)to carry out for Him the custom of the Law, ²⁸ then he took Him into his arms and blessed God, and said,

³³ And His father and ^(AB)mother were marveling at the things which were being said about Him. ³⁴ And Simeon blessed them and said to Mary ^(AC)His mother, “Behold, this Child is appointed for ^(AD)the fall and ^[q]rise of many in Israel, and for a sign to be opposed— ³⁵ and a sword will pierce through your own soul as well—that the thoughts from many hearts may be revealed.”

³⁶ And there was a ^(AE)prophetess, ^[r]Anna the daughter of Phanuel, of ^(AF)the tribe of Asher. She was advanced in ^[s]years ^(AG)having lived with her husband seven years from when she was a virgin, ³⁷ and then as a widow to the age of eighty-four. She never left the temple, serving night and day with ^(AH)fastings and prayers. ³⁸ And at that very ^[t]moment she came up and began giving thanks to God, and continued to speak of Him to all those who were ^(AI)waiting for the redemption of Jerusalem.

The Return to Nazareth

³⁹ And when they had finished everything according to the Law of the ^[u]Lord, they returned to Galilee, to ^(AJ)their own city of Nazareth. ^40 (AK)Now the Child continued to grow and become strong, being filled with wisdom; and the grace of God was upon Him.

The Boy Jesus in the Temple

⁴¹ And His parents would go to Jerusalem every year at ^(AL)the Feast of the Passover. ⁴² And when He became twelve years old, they went up there according to the custom of the Feast; ⁴³ and as they were returning, after finishing the ^(AM)days of the Feast, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem. But His parents did not know. ⁴⁴ But supposing Him to be in the caravan, they went a day’s journey, and they began searching for Him among their relatives and acquaintances. ⁴⁵ When they did not find Him, they returned to Jerusalem searching for Him. ⁴⁶ And it happened that after three days they found Him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the teachers, both listening to them and asking them questions. ⁴⁷ And all who heard Him ^(AN)were astounded at His understanding and His answers. ⁴⁸ When they saw Him, they were astonished, and ^(AO)His mother said to Him, “Child, why have You treated us this way? Behold, ^(AP)Your father and I ^[v]have been anxiously searching for You.” ⁴⁹ And He said to them, “Why is it that you were searching for Me? Did you not know that ^(AQ)I had to be in My Father’s ^[w]house?” ⁵⁰ But ^(AR)they did not understand the statement which He had spoken to them. ⁵¹ And He went down with them and came to ^(AS)Nazareth, and He continued in subjection to them, and ^(AT)His mother ^(AU)was treasuring all these ^[x]things in her heart.

⁵² And Jesus was advancing in wisdom and ^[y]stature, and in ^(AV)favor with God and men.