Matthew 2
1 After the birth of Jesus, which took place at Bethlehem in Judea, during the reign of King Herod, lo! certain Magi arrived in Jerusalem, saying.
Jesus was born in Bethlehem [town] in Judea [province] during the time [MTY] that King Herod [the Great ruled there. Some time] after Jesus was born, some men who studied the stars and who lived in a [country] east [of Judea] came to Jerusalem.
2 "Where is the new-born King of the Jews? For we have seen his star in the East, and are come to worship him."
They asked [people], “Where is the one who has been born [in order that he might be] the king of [you] Jews? [We believe that your new king] has been born, because we have seen the star [that we believe indicated that] he has been [born]. [We saw it while we were in our country] east [of here]. So we have come to worship him.”
3 When King Herod heard this he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him.
When King Herod heard [what those men were asking], he became worried [that someone else might be proclaimed] {[people might proclaim someone else]} [king of the Jews to replace him]. Many [of the people] of Jerusalem [MTY, HYP] [also] became worried [because they were afraid of what King Herod might do].
4 So when he had gathered together all the chief priests and rabbis of the people, he began to inquire of them where the Christ was to be born.
Then Herod gathered together all the ruling priests and men who taught the people the [Jewish] laws and he asked them where [the prophets had predicted that] the Messiah was to be born.
5 And they told him. "At Bethlehem in Judea, as it is written in the prophet.
They said to him, “[He will be born] in Bethlehem, [here] in Judea [province], because it was written by the prophet [Micah] {the prophet [Micah] wrote} [long ago what God said]:
6 "And thou Bethlehem in the land of Judah, Thou are not least among the princes of Judah, For out of thee shall come a ruler Who shall shepherd my people, Israel."
‘You [who live in] Bethlehem [APO], in Judea [province], your town is certainly very important [LIT], because a man from your [town] will become a ruler. He will guide my people [who live in] Israel.’”
7 Thereupon Herod sent secretly for the Magi, and found out from them the time when the star appeared.
Then [King] Herod secretly summoned those men who studied the stars. He asked them exactly when the star [first] appeared. [By what they told him, he was able to know the approximate age of the baby].
8 Then he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, "Go and make careful inquiry about the child, and as soon as you have found him bring me word, that I, too, may go and worship him."
Then he [concealed what he really planned to do and] said to them, “Go to Bethlehem and inquire thoroughly [where] the infant is. When you have found him, [come back and] report to me so that I, myself, can go [there and] worship him, too.”
9 The Magi listened to the king, and went on their way, and lo! the star which they had seen in the east led them until it came and stood over the place where the young child was.
After the men heard what the king [told them], they went [toward Bethlehem]. To their surprise, the star that they had seen while they were in the eastern [country] went ahead of them [again] until it stood above [the house] where the child was.
10 And when they saw the star, they rejoiced with great gladness.
When they saw the star, they rejoiced greatly [and followed it].
11 When they had entered the house, they saw the child with Mary, his mother, and opening their treasure-chests they gave him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh.
They [found] the house and entered it and saw the child and his mother, Mary. They bowed down and worshipped him. Then they opened their treasure [boxes] [MTY] and they gave gold, [costly] frankincense, and myrrh to him.
12 But because they were forbidden by God in a dream to go back to Herod, they returned to their own country by another route.
[Because] God [knew that King Herod planned to kill Jesus], in a dream the men who studied the stars were warned {he warned the men who studied the stars} that they should not return to [King] Herod. So they returned to their country, [but instead of traveling back on the same road, they] went on a different road.
13 When they were gone an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, saying; "Rise! Take the young child and his mother and flee into Egypt, and there remain until I bring you word; for Herod intends to make a search for the child, in order to put him to death."
After the men who studied the stars left [Bethlehem], an angel [from] the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. He said, “Get up, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you [(sg) that you should leave], because [King] Herod is about [to send soldiers] to look for the child so that they can kill him.”
14 So Joseph arose, took the child and his mother, by night, and departed to Egypt.
So Joseph got up, he took the child and his mother [that] night, and they fled to Egypt.
15 There he remained until the death of Herod, in order that the word of the Lord through the prophet might be fulfilled, which says, Out of Egypt I called my son.
They stayed there until [King] Herod died, [and then they left Egypt]. By doing that, it was {they} fulfilled what the prophet [Hosea] wrote, which had been said by the Lord {which the Lord had said}, I have told my son to come out of Egypt.
16 As soon as Herod saw that he had been mocked by the Magi, he was furious. He sent and put to death all the boys in Bethlehem and all the neighborhood who were two years old or under, in accordance with the date which he had ascertained from the Magi.
[While King] Herod [was still living], because he realized that he had been tricked by the men who studied the stars {the men who studied the stars had tricked him}, he became furious. Then, [assuming that Jesus was still in Bethlehem or the surrounding regions], Herod sent [soldiers there] to kill all the boy babies two years old and younger. [Herod calculated how old the baby was], according to what the men who studied the stars told him [about when the star first appeared].
17 Then were fulfilled the words spoken through Jeremiah, the prophet, saying,
[Because Bethlehem and Ramah towns were in the area where the descendants of Jacob’s wife Rachel lived, when soldiers killed the infant boys], they fulfilled what Jeremiah the prophet wrote,
18 A voice was heard in Ramah, Weeping and lamentation- Rachel weeping for her children, Inconsolable, because they were no more!
[Women] in Ramah were weeping and wailing loudly. [Women who were the descendants] of Rachel, [the ancestor of the women there] [SYN], were grieving for [what happened to] their children. [Even though people tried to comfort them], they would not be comforted {stop mourning}, because their children were dead.
19 But after Herod’s death an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt,
After Herod died [and while Joseph and his family were still in Egypt], an angel that the Lord [had sent] appeared to Joseph in Egypt in a dream.
20 saying, "Rise! Take the child and his mother, and came into the land of Israel, for those who were seeking the life of the child are dead."
He said to Joseph, “Take the child and his mother and go back to Israel [to live], because the people who were looking for the child [in order to kill him] have died.”
21 So he rose and took the child and his mother, and came into the land of Israel.
So Joseph took the child and his mother, and they went back to Israel.
22 But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning in Judea in place of his father, Herod, he was afraid to go there; and being warned of God in a dream, he withdrew into Galilee and settled in a town called Nazareth,
When Joseph heard that Archaelaus now ruled in Judea [district] instead of his father, [King] Herod [the Great], he was afraid to go there. Because he was warned {[God] warned Joseph} in a dream [that it was still dangerous for them to live in Judea], he [and Mary and Jesus] went to Galilee [District]
23 in fulfillment of the word spoken through the Prophets, He shall be called a Nazarene.
to Nazareth [to live there]. The result was that what had been said by the ancient prophets {what the ancient prophets had said} [about the Messiah], that he would be called {people would call him} a Nazareth-man, was fulfilled {came true}.
