Matthew 2

Wise Men Visit the King

¹After Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of King Herod, wise men from the east arrived in Jerusalem,²³saying, “Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star at its rising and have come to worship him.”⁴

⁵When King Herod heard this, he was deeply disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him.⁶⁷So he assembled all the chief priests and scribes of the people and asked them where the Messiah would be born.⁸

⁹“In Bethlehem of Judea,” they told him, “because this is what was written by the prophet:¹⁰

¹¹And you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah: Because out of you will come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel.”¹²

¹³Then Herod secretly summoned the wise men and asked them the exact time the star appeared.¹⁴¹⁵He sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the child. When you find him, report back to me so that I too can go and worship him.”¹⁶

¹⁷After hearing the king, they went on their way. And there it was — the star they had seen at its rising. It led them until it came and stopped above the place where the child was.¹⁸¹⁹When they saw the star, they were overwhelmed with joy.²⁰²¹Entering the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother, and falling to their knees, they worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts: gold, frankincense, and myrrh.²²²³And being warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their own country by another route.²⁴

The Flight into Egypt

²⁵After they were gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, saying, “Get up! Take the child and his mother, flee to Egypt, and stay there until I tell you. For Herod is about to search for the child to kill him.”²⁶²⁷So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night, and escaped to Egypt.²⁸²⁹He stayed there until Herod’s death, so that what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet might be fulfilled: Out of Egypt I called my Son.³⁰

The Massacre of the Innocents

³¹Then Herod, when he realized that he had been outwitted by the wise men, flew into a rage. He gave orders to massacre all the boys in and around Bethlehem who were two years old and under, in keeping with the time he had learned from the wise men.³²³³Then what was spoken through Jeremiah the prophet was fulfilled:³⁴

³⁵A voice was heard in Ramah, weeping, and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children; and she refused to be consoled, because they are no more.³⁶

The Return to Nazareth

³⁷After Herod died, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt,³⁸³⁹saying, “Get up, take the child and his mother, and go to the land of Israel, because those who intended to kill the child are dead.”⁴⁰⁴¹So he got up, took the child and his mother, and entered the land of Israel.⁴²⁴³But when he heard that Archelaus was ruling over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. And being warned in a dream, he withdrew to the region of Galilee.⁴⁴⁴⁵Then he went and settled in a town called Nazareth to fulfill what was spoken through the prophets, that he would be called a Nazarene.⁴⁶