Read the Gospels in 40 Days
The Family History of Jesus
1 This is the family history of Jesus Christ. He came from the family of David. David came from the family of Abraham.
2 Abraham was the father[a] of Isaac.
Isaac was the father of Jacob.
Jacob was the father of Judah and his brothers.
3 Judah was the father of Perez and Zerah.
(Their mother was Tamar.)
Perez was the father of Hezron.
Hezron was the father of Ram.
4 Ram was the father of Amminadab.
Amminadab was the father of Nahshon.
Nahshon was the father of Salmon.
5 Salmon was the father of Boaz.
(Boaz’s mother was Rahab.)
Boaz was the father of Obed.
(Obed’s mother was Ruth.)
Obed was the father of Jesse.
6 Jesse was the father of King David.
David was the father of Solomon.
(Solomon’s mother had been Uriah’s wife.)
7 Solomon was the father of Rehoboam.
Rehoboam was the father of Abijah.
Abijah was the father of Asa.[b]
8 Asa was the father of Jehoshaphat.
Jehoshaphat was the father of Jehoram.
Jehoram was the ancestor of Uzziah.
9 Uzziah was the father of Jotham.
Jotham was the father of Ahaz.
Ahaz was the father of Hezekiah.
10 Hezekiah was the father of Manasseh.
Manasseh was the father of Amon.
Amon was the father of Josiah.
11 Josiah was the grandfather of Jehoiachin[c] and his brothers.
(This was at the time that the people were taken to Babylon.)
12 After they were taken to Babylon:
Jehoiachin was the father of Shealtiel.
Shealtiel was the grandfather of Zerubbabel.
13 Zerubbabel was the father of Abiud.
Abiud was the father of Eliakim.
Eliakim was the father of Azor.
14 Azor was the father of Zadok.
Zadok was the father of Akim.
Akim was the father of Eliud.
15 Eliud was the father of Eleazar.
Eleazar was the father of Matthan.
Matthan was the father of Jacob.
16 Jacob was the father of Joseph.
Joseph was the husband of Mary,
and Mary was the mother of Jesus.
Jesus is called the Christ.
17 So there were 14 generations from Abraham to David. And there were 14 generations from David until the time when the people were taken to Babylon. And there were 14 generations from the time when the people were taken to Babylon until Christ was born.
The Birth of Jesus Christ
18 The mother of Jesus Christ was Mary. And this is how the birth of Jesus came about. Mary was engaged to marry Joseph. But before they married, she learned that she was going to have a baby. She was pregnant by the power of the Holy Spirit. 19 Mary’s husband, Joseph, was a good man. He did not want to disgrace her in public, so he planned to divorce her secretly.
20 While Joseph thought about this, an angel of the Lord came to him in a dream. The angel said, “Joseph, descendant of David, don’t be afraid to take Mary as your wife. The baby in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will give birth to a son. You will name the son Jesus.[d] Give him that name because he will save his people from their sins.”
22 All this happened to make clear the full meaning of what the Lord had said through the prophet: 23 “The virgin will be pregnant. She will have a son, and they will name him Immanuel.”[e] This name means “God is with us.”
24 When Joseph woke up, he did what the Lord’s angel had told him to do. Joseph married Mary. 25 But he did not have intimate relations with her until she gave birth to the son. And Joseph named the son Jesus.
Wise Men Come to Visit Jesus
2 Jesus was born in the town of Bethlehem in Judea during the time when Herod was king. After Jesus was born, some wise men from the east came to Jerusalem. 2 They asked, “Where is the baby who was born to be the king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east. We came to worship him.”
3 When King Herod heard about this new king of the Jews, he was troubled. And all the people in Jerusalem were worried too. 4 Herod called a meeting of all the leading priests and teachers of the law. He asked them where the Christ would be born. 5 They answered, “In the town of Bethlehem in Judea. The prophet wrote about this in the Scriptures:
6 ‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
you are important among the rulers of Judah.
A ruler will come from you.
He will be like a shepherd for my people, the Israelites.’” Micah 5:2
7 Then Herod had a secret meeting with the wise men from the east. He learned from them the exact time they first saw the star. 8 Then Herod sent the wise men to Bethlehem. He said to them, “Go and look carefully to find the child. When you find him, come tell me. Then I can go worship him too.”
9 The wise men heard the king and then left. They saw the same star they had seen in the east. It went before them until it stopped above the place where the child was. 10 When the wise men saw the star, they were filled with joy. 11 They went to the house where the child was and saw him with his mother, Mary. They bowed down and worshiped the child. They opened the gifts they brought for him. They gave him treasures of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. 12 But God warned the wise men in a dream not to go back to Herod. So they went home to their own country by a different way.
Jesus’ Parents Take Him to Egypt
13 After they left, an angel of the Lord came to Joseph in a dream. The angel said, “Get up! Take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Herod will start looking for the child to kill him. Stay in Egypt until I tell you to return.”
14 So Joseph got up and left for Egypt during the night with the child and his mother. 15 Joseph stayed in Egypt until Herod died. This was to make clear the full meaning of what the Lord had said through the prophet. The Lord said, “I called my son out of Egypt.”[f]
Herod Kills the Baby Boys
16 When Herod saw that the wise men had tricked him, he was very angry. So he gave an order to kill all the baby boys in Bethlehem and in all the area around Bethlehem who were two years old or younger. This was in keeping with the time he learned from the wise men. 17 So what God had said through the prophet Jeremiah came true:
18 “A sound was heard in Ramah.
It was painful crying and much sadness.
Rachel cries for her children,
and she cannot be comforted,
because her children are dead.” Jeremiah 31:15
Joseph and Mary Return
19 After Herod died, an angel of the Lord came to Joseph in a dream. This happened while Joseph was in Egypt. 20 The angel said, “Get up! Take the child and his mother and go to Israel. The people who were trying to kill the child are now dead.”
21 So Joseph took the child and his mother and went to Israel. 22 But he heard that Archelaus was now king in Judea. Archelaus became king when his father Herod died. So Joseph was afraid to go there. After being warned in a dream, he went to the area of Galilee. 23 He went to a town called Nazareth and lived there. And so what God had said through the prophets came true: “He will be called a Nazarene.”[g]
The Work of John the Baptist
3 About that time John the Baptist came and began preaching in the desert area of Judea. 2 John said, “Change your hearts and lives because the kingdom of heaven is coming soon.” 3 John the Baptist is the one Isaiah the prophet was talking about. Isaiah said:
“This is a voice of a man
who calls out in the desert:
‘Prepare the way for the Lord.
Make the road straight for him.’” Isaiah 40:3
4 John’s clothes were made from camel’s hair. He wore a leather belt around his waist. For food, he ate locusts and wild honey. 5 Many people went to hear John preach. They came from Jerusalem and all Judea and all the area around the Jordan River. 6 They told of the sins they had done, and John baptized them in the Jordan River.
7 Many of the Pharisees and Sadducees came to the place where John was baptizing people. When John saw them, he said: “You are snakes! Who warned you to run away from God’s anger that is coming? 8 You must do the things that show that you have really changed your hearts and lives. 9 And don’t think that you can say to yourselves, ‘Abraham is our father.’ I tell you that God could make children for Abraham from these rocks. 10 The ax is now ready to cut down the trees. Every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.[h]
11 “I baptize you with water to show that your hearts and lives have changed. But there is one coming later who is greater than I am. I am not good enough to carry his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. 12 He will come ready to clean the grain. He will separate the good grain from the chaff. He will put the good part of the grain into his barn. And he will burn the chaff with a fire that cannot be put out.”[i]
Jesus Is Baptized by John
13 At that time Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan River. He came to John and wanted John to baptize him. 14 But John tried to stop him. John said, “Why do you come to me to be baptized? I should be baptized by you!”
15 Jesus answered, “Let it be this way for now. We should do all things that are right.” So John agreed to baptize Jesus.
16 Jesus was baptized and came up out of the water. Heaven opened, and he saw God’s Spirit coming down on him like a dove. 17 And a voice spoke from heaven. The voice said, “This is my Son and I love him. I am very pleased with him.”
The Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.