Read the Gospels in 40 Days

The Families Jesus Came Through ^(A)

1 These are the families through which Jesus Christ came. He came through David and Abraham. ² Abraham was the father 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 Aram. ⁴ Aram was the father of Amminadab. Amminadab was the father of Nahshon. Nahshon was the father of Salmon. ⁵ Salmon was the father of Boaz. The mother of Boaz was Rahab. Boaz was the father of Obed. The mother of Obed was Ruth. Obed was the father of Jesse. ⁶ Jesse was the father of David the king.

King David was the father of Solomon. His mother had been the wife of Uriah. ⁷ Solomon was the father of Rehoboam. Rehoboam was the father of Abijah. Abijah was the father of Asa. ⁸ Asa was the father of Jehoshaphat. Jehoshaphat was the father of Joram. Joram was the father 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 father of Jeconiah and his brothers at the time the people were taken to Babylon.

¹² After they were taken to the city of Babylon, Jeconiah was the father of Shealtiel. Shealtiel was the father 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 Achim. Achim 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. She was the mother of Jesus Who is called the Christ. ¹⁷ So the number of families from Abraham to David was fourteen. The number of families from David to the time the people were taken to Babylon was fourteen. The number of families after they were taken to Babylon to the birth of Jesus Christ was fourteen.

The Birth of Jesus ^(B)

¹⁸ The birth of Jesus Christ was like this: Mary His mother had been promised in marriage to Joseph. Before they were married, it was learned that she was to have a baby by the Holy Spirit. ¹⁹ Joseph was her promised husband. He was a good man and did not want to make it hard for Mary in front of people. He thought it would be good to break the promised marriage without people knowing it. ²⁰ While he was thinking about this, an angel of the Lord came to him in a dream. The angel said, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife. She is to become a mother by the Holy Spirit. ²¹ A Son will be born to her. You will give Him the name Jesus because He will save His people from the punishment of their sins.”

²² This happened as the Lord said it would happen through the early preacher. ²³ He said, “The young woman, who has never had a man, will give birth to a Son. They will give Him the name Immanuel. This means God with us.” ^{(C) 24} Joseph awoke from his sleep. He did what the angel of the Lord told him to do. He took Mary as his wife. ²⁵ But he did not have her, as a husband has a wife, until she gave birth to a Son. Joseph gave Him the name Jesus.

Wise Men Visit the Young Child Jesus

2 Jesus was born in the town of Bethlehem in the country of Judea. It was the time when Herod was king of that part of the country. Soon after Jesus was born, some wise men who learned things from stars came to Jerusalem from the East. ² They asked, “Where is the King of the Jews Who has been born? We have seen His star in the East. We have come to worship Him.”

³ King Herod heard this. He and all the people of Jerusalem were worried. ⁴ He called together all the religious leaders of the Jews and the teachers of the Law. Herod asked them where Christ was to be born. ⁵ They said to him, “In Bethlehem of Judea. The early preacher wrote, ⁶ ‘You, Bethlehem of Judah, are not the least of the leaders of Judah. Out of you will come a King Who will lead My people the Jews.’” ^(D)

⁷ Then Herod had a secret meeting with the men who learned things from stars. He asked them about what time the star had been seen. ⁸ He sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and find the young Child. When you find Him, let me know. Then I can go and worship Him also.”

⁹ After the king had spoken, they went on their way. The star they had seen in the East went before them. It came and stopped over the place where the young Child was. ¹⁰ When they saw the star, they were filled with much joy.

¹¹ They went into the house and found the young Child with Mary, His mother. Then they got down before Him and worshiped Him. They opened their bags of riches and gave Him gifts of gold and perfume and spices. ¹² Then God spoke to them in a dream. He told them not to go back to Herod. So they went to their own country by another road.

Joseph Goes to Egypt

¹³ When they had gone, an angel of the Lord came to Joseph in a dream. He said, “Get up. Take the young Child and His mother to the country of Egypt. Go as fast as you can! Stay there until you hear from Me. Herod is going to look for the young Child to kill Him.” ¹⁴ During the night he got up and left with the young Child and His mother for Egypt. ¹⁵ He stayed there until Herod died. This happened as the Lord had said through an early preacher, “I called My Son out of Egypt.” ^(E)

Herod Had All the Young Boys Killed

¹⁶ Herod learned that the wise men had fooled him. He was very angry. He sent men to kill all the young boys two years old and under in Bethlehem and in all the country near by. He decided to do this from what he had heard from the wise men as to the time when the star was seen. ¹⁷ Then it happened as the early preacher Jeremiah said it would happen. ¹⁸ He said, “The sound of crying and much sorrow was heard in Ramah. Rachel was crying for her children. She would not be comforted because they were dead.” ^(F)

Joseph Goes from Egypt to Nazareth ^(G)

¹⁹ After Herod died, an angel of the Lord came to Joseph in a dream while he was in Egypt. ²⁰ He said, “Get up. Take the young Child and His mother and go into the land of the Jews. Those who tried to kill the young Child are dead.” ²¹ Joseph got up. He took the young Child and His mother and came into the land of the Jews. ²² Joseph heard that Archelaus was the king of the country of Judea. Herod, the father of Archelaus, had died. Joseph was afraid to go there. God told him in a dream to go to the country of Galilee and he went. ²³ Joseph stayed in a town called Nazareth. It happened as the early preachers said it would happen. They said, “Jesus will be called a Nazarene.”

John the Baptist Makes the Way Ready for Jesus ^(H)

3 In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the desert in the country of Judea. ² He said, “Be sorry for your sins and turn from them! The holy nation of heaven is near.” ³ The early preacher Isaiah spoke of this man. He said, “Listen! His voice calls out in the desert! ‘Make the way ready for the Lord. Make the road straight for Him!’” ^(I)

⁴ John wore clothes made of hair from camels. He had a leather belt around him. His food was locusts and wild honey.

⁵ Then the people of Jerusalem and of all the country of Judea and those from near the Jordan River went to him. ⁶ Those who told of their sins were baptized by him in the Jordan River. ⁷ He saw many proud religious law-keepers and other people of the religious group who believe no one will be raised from the dead. They were coming to him to be baptized. He said to them, “You family of snakes! Who told you how to keep from God’s anger that is coming? ⁸ Do something to show me that your hearts are changed. ⁹ Do not think you can say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you, God can make children for Abraham out of these stones.

¹⁰ “Even now the ax is on the root of the trees. Every tree that does not give good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. ¹¹ For sure, I baptize with water those who are sorry for their sins and turn from them. The One Who comes after me will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. He is greater than I. I am not good enough to take off His shoes. ¹² He comes ready to clean the grain. He will gather the grain in and clean it all. The clean grain He will put into a building. He will burn that which is no good with a fire that cannot be put out.”

The Baptism of Jesus ^(J)

¹³ Jesus came from Galilee. He went to John at the Jordan River to be baptized by him. ¹⁴ John tried to stop Him. He said, “I need to be baptized by You. Do You come to me?” ¹⁵ Jesus said to him, “Let it be done now. We should do what is right.” John agreed and baptized Jesus. ¹⁶ When Jesus came up out of the water, the heavens opened. He saw the Spirit of God coming down and resting on Jesus like a dove. ¹⁷ A voice was heard from heaven. It said, “This is My much-loved Son. I am very happy with Him.”