Matthew 1
1 Book of the generation of Jesus Christ, Son of David, 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 begat Isaac; and Isaac begat Jacob, and Jacob begat Juda and his brethren;
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 Juda begat Phares and Zara of Thamar; and Phares begat Esrom, and Esrom begat Aram,
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 Aram begat Aminadab, and Aminadab begat Naasson, and Naasson begat Salmon,
Ram was the father of Amminadab. Amminadab was the father of Nahshon. Nahshon was the father of Salmon.
5 and Salmon begat Booz of Rachab; and Booz begat Obed of Ruth; and Obed begat 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 begat David the king. And David begat Solomon, of her [that had been the wife] of Urias;
Jesse was the father of King David. David was the father of Solomon. [Solomon’s mother was previously married to] Uriah.
7 and Solomon begat Roboam, and Roboam begat Abia, and Abia begat Asa,
Solomon was the father of Rehoboam. Rehoboam was the father of Abijah. Abijah was the father of Asaph.
8 and Asa begat Josaphat, and Josaphat begat Joram, and Joram begat Ozias,
Asaph was the father of Jehoshaphat. Jehoshaphat was the father of Jehoram. Jehoram was an ancestor of Uzziah.
9 and Ozias begat Joatham, and Joatham begat Achaz, and Achaz begat Ezekias,
Uzziah was the father of Jotham. Jotham was the father of Ahaz. Ahaz was the father of Hezekiah.
10 and Ezekias begat Manasses, and Manasses begat Amon, and Amon begat Josias,
Hezekiah was the father of Manasseh. Manasseh was the father of Amon. Amon was the father of Josiah.
11 and Josias begat Jechonias and his brethren, at the time of the carrying away of Babylon.
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 carrying away of Babylon, Jechonias begat Salathiel, and Salathiel begat Zorobabel,
After the Babylonians took the Israelites to Babylon, Jeconiah became the father of Shealtiel. Shealtiel was the grandfather of Zerubbabel.
13 and Zorobabel begat Abiud, and Abiud begat Eliakim, and Eliakim begat Azor,
Zerubbabel was the father of Abiud. Abiud was the father of Eliakim.
14 and Azor begat Sadoc, and Sadoc begat Achim, and Achim begat Eliud,
Eliakim was the father of Azor. Azor was the father of Zadok. Zadok was the father of Akim.
15 and Eliud begat Eliazar, and Eliazar begat Matthan, and Matthan begat 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 begat 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 All the generations, therefore, from Abraham to David [were] fourteen generations; and from David until the carrying away of Babylon, fourteen generations; and from the carrying away of Babylon unto 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 thus: His mother, Mary, that is, having been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, she was found to be with child of [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 unwilling to expose her publicly, purposed to have put her away secretly;
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 pondered on these things, behold, an angel of [the] Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, Joseph, son of David, fear not to take to [thee] Mary, thy wife, for that which is begotten in her is of [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 shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name Jesus, for he shall 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 came to pass that that might be fulfilled which was spoken by [the] Lord, through the prophet, saying,
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 shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, 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 But Joseph, having awoke up from his sleep, did as the angel of [the] Lord had enjoined him, and took to [him] 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 had brought forth her firstborn son: 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.
