The Magi Visit the Messiah

After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea,(A) during the time of King Herod,(B) Magi[a] from the east came to Jerusalem 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.”

When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. 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. “In Bethlehem(E) in Judea,” they replied, “for this is what the prophet has written:

“‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
    are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;
for out of you will come a ruler
    who will shepherd my people Israel.’[b](F)

Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. 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.”

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)

18 “A voice is heard in Ramah,
    weeping and great mourning,
Rachel(Q) weeping for her children
    and refusing to be comforted,
    because they are no more.”[d](R)

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)

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Footnotes

  1. Matthew 2:1 Traditionally wise men
  2. Matthew 2:6 Micah 5:2,4
  3. Matthew 2:15 Hosea 11:1
  4. Matthew 2:18 Jer. 31:15

Restoration of Israel

This is what the Lord says:

“In the time of my favor(A) I will answer you,
    and in the day of salvation I will help you;(B)
I will keep(C) you and will make you
    to be a covenant for the people,(D)
to restore the land(E)
    and to reassign its desolate inheritances,(F)
to say to the captives,(G) ‘Come out,’
    and to those in darkness,(H) ‘Be free!’

“They will feed beside the roads
    and find pasture on every barren hill.(I)
10 They will neither hunger nor thirst,(J)
    nor will the desert heat or the sun beat down on them.(K)
He who has compassion(L) on them will guide(M) them
    and lead them beside springs(N) of water.
11 I will turn all my mountains into roads,
    and my highways(O) will be raised up.(P)
12 See, they will come from afar(Q)
    some from the north, some from the west,(R)
    some from the region of Aswan.[a]

13 Shout for joy,(S) you heavens;
    rejoice, you earth;(T)
    burst into song, you mountains!(U)
For the Lord comforts(V) his people
    and will have compassion(W) on his afflicted ones.(X)

14 But Zion(Y) said, “The Lord has forsaken(Z) me,
    the Lord has forgotten me.”

15 “Can a mother forget the baby at her breast
    and have no compassion on the child(AA) she has borne?
Though she may forget,
    I will not forget you!(AB)
16 See, I have engraved(AC) you on the palms of my hands;
    your walls(AD) are ever before me.

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Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 49:12 Dead Sea Scrolls; Masoretic Text Sinim

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