< Matthew 1 >

1 A book of a genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.
[This is] the record of the ancestors of Jesus the Messiah, the descendant of [King] David and of Abraham, [from whom all we Jews have descended].
2 Abraham begot Isaac, and Isaac begot Jacob, and Jacob begot Judah and his brothers,
Abraham was the father of Isaac. Isaac was the father of Jacob. Jacob was the father of Judah and Judah’s [older and younger] brothers.
3 and Judah begot Perez and Zerah from Tamar, and Perez begot Hezron, and Hezron begot Ram,
Judah was the father of Perez and Zerah, [and their mother] was Tamar. Perez was the father of Hezron. Hezron was the father of Ram.
4 and Ram begot Amminadab, and Amminadab begot Nahshon, and Nahshon begot Salmon,
Ram was the father of Amminadab. Amminadab was the father of Nahshon. Nahshon was the father of Salmon.
5 and Salmon begot Boaz from Rahab, and Boaz begot Obed from Ruth, and Obed begot Jesse,
Salmon and his wife Rahab, [a non-Jewish woman], were the parents of Boaz. Boaz was the father of Obed. [Obed’s mother was] Ruth, [another non-Jewish woman]. Obed was the father of Jesse.
6 and Jesse begot David the king. And David begot Solomon from the widow of Uriah,
Jesse was the father of King David. David was the father of Solomon. [Solomon’s mother was previously married to] Uriah.
7 and Solomon begot Rehoboam, and Rehoboam begot Abijah, and Abijah begot Asa,
Solomon was the father of Rehoboam. Rehoboam was the father of Abijah. Abijah was the father of Asaph.
8 and Asa begot Jehoshaphat, and Jehoshaphat begot Joram, and Joram begot Uzziah,
Asaph was the father of Jehoshaphat. Jehoshaphat was the father of Jehoram. Jehoram was an ancestor of Uzziah.
9 and Uzziah begot Jotham, and Jotham begot Ahaz, and Ahaz begot Hezekiah,
Uzziah was the father of Jotham. Jotham was the father of Ahaz. Ahaz was the father of Hezekiah.
10 and Hezekiah begot Manasseh, and Manasseh begot Amon, and Amon begot Josiah,
Hezekiah was the father of Manasseh. Manasseh was the father of Amon. Amon was the father of Josiah.
11 and Josiah begot Jechoniah and his brothers during the Babylonian exile.
Josiah was the grandfather of Jeconiah and Jeconiah’s brothers. [They lived] at the time when the [Babylonian army] took the Israelites as captives to the [country of] Babylon.
12 And after the Babylonian exile, Jechoniah begot Shealtiel, and Shealtiel begot Zerubbabel,
After the Babylonians took the Israelites to Babylon, Jeconiah became the father of Shealtiel. Shealtiel was the grandfather of Zerubbabel.
13 and Zerubbabel begot Abiud, and Abiud begot Eliakim, and Eliakim begot Azor,
Zerubbabel was the father of Abiud. Abiud was the father of Eliakim.
14 and Azor begot Zadoc, and Zadoc begot Achim, and Achim begot Eliud,
Eliakim was the father of Azor. Azor was the father of Zadok. Zadok was the father of Akim.
15 and Eliud begot Eleazar, and Eleazar begot Matthan, and Matthan begot Jacob,
Akim was the father of Eliud. Eliud was the father of Eleazar. Eleazar was the father of Matthan. Matthan was the father of Jacob.
16 and Jacob begot Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ.
Jacob was the father of Joseph. Joseph was Mary’s husband, and Mary was Jesus’ mother. Jesus is the one who is called {whom we call} the Messiah.
17 So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations, and from David to the Babylonian exile fourteen generations, and from the Babylonian exile to the Christ fourteen generations.
[As you can calculate, I have grouped Jesus’] ancestors [as follows: ] There was [a succession of] 14 of them from [the time when] Abraham [lived] to [the time when King] David [lived]. There was [a succession of] 14 of them from [the time when] David [lived] to [the time when] the [Israelites were taken] {[the Babylonian army took the Israelites]} away to Babylon. There was [a succession of] 14 of them from [the time when the Israelites were taken] {[the Babylonian army took the Israelites]} away to Babylon until [the time when] the Messiah [was born].
18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ was this way. For his mother Mary, who was betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found having in her womb from the Holy Spirit.
This is [the account of what happened just before] Jesus Christ was born. Mary, his mother, {had publicly promised Joseph that she would marry him} had been publicly promised to marry Joseph. Before they began to sleep together, [Mary] realized that she was pregnant. [It was the power of] the Holy Spirit that had caused her to become pregnant.
19 But Joseph her husband, being a righteous man, and not wanting to expose her to public disgrace, intended to dismiss her privately.
Joseph, her [future] husband, was a man who obeyed God’s commands. [One of those commands was that men must divorce women who had acted immorally. So when Joseph learned that Mary was pregnant, he assumed that she was pregnant as a result of her acting immorally]. So he decided to break the engagement. But because he did not want to shame her publicly, he decided to do it privately.
20 But while he considered these things, behold, an agent of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take Mary to be thy wife, for that which was begotten in her is from the Holy Spirit.
While he was seriously considering this, much to his surprise, in a dream he saw an angel whom the Lord [had sent]. The angel said, “Joseph, descendant of [King] David, do not be afraid that [you(sg) would be doing wrong if you(sg) would marry] Mary. Instead, [begin to treat her] as your wife, because the Holy Spirit, [not a man], has caused her to be pregnant.
21 And she will bring forth a son, and thou shall call his name JESUS, for he will save his people from their sins.
She will give birth to a son. Since it is he who will cause that his people will be saved from [the guilt of] their having sinned, name [the baby] Jesus, [which means ‘the Lord saves people’].”
22 Now all this has come to pass, so that what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet might be fulfilled, which says,
All this happened as a result of what the Lord told the prophet [Isaiah to write long ago about what was going to happen]. This is what Isaiah wrote:
23 Behold, the virgin will have in her womb, and will bring forth a son. And they will call his name Immanuel, which is, being interpreted, God with us.
“Listen, a virgin will become pregnant and will give birth to a son. They will call him Emmanuel.” Emmanuel means ‘God is with us’.
24 And Joseph, being roused from his sleep, did as the agent of the Lord ordered him. And he took his wife,
When Joseph got up from sleep, he did what the angel whom the Lord [had sent] commanded him to do. He took [Mary] home to be his wife.
25 and knew her not until she brought forth her son, the firstborn. And he called his name JESUS.
But he did not have sexual relations with her until she had given birth to a son. And [Joseph] named him Jesus.

< Matthew 1 >