Matthew 1
1 [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].
THE book of the nativity of Jesus the Messiah, the son of David, son of Abraham.
2 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.
Abraham begat Isaac: Isaac begat Jacob: Jacob begat Judah and his brothers:
3 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.
Judah begat Pharez and Zara of Tamar: Pharez begat Hezron: Hezron begat Ram:
4 Ram was the father of Amminadab. Amminadab was the father of Nahshon. Nahshon was the father of Salmon.
Ram begat Aminadab: Aminadab begat Nahshon: Nahshon begat Salmon:
5 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.
Salmon begat Boaz of Rahab: Boaz begat Obed of Ruth: Obed begat Jesse:
6 Jesse was the father of King David. David was the father of Solomon. [Solomon’s mother was previously married to] Uriah.
Jesse begat David the king: David begat Solomon of the wife of Uriah:
7 Solomon was the father of Rehoboam. Rehoboam was the father of Abijah. Abijah was the father of Asaph.
Solomon begat Rehoboam: Rehoboam begat Abia: Abia begat Asa:
8 Asaph was the father of Jehoshaphat. Jehoshaphat was the father of Jehoram. Jehoram was an ancestor of Uzziah.
Asa begat Jehoshaphat: Jehoshaphat begat Joram: Joram begat Uzziah:
9 Uzziah was the father of Jotham. Jotham was the father of Ahaz. Ahaz was the father of Hezekiah.
Uzziah begat Jotham: Jotham begat Ahaz: Ahaz begat Hezekiah:
10 Hezekiah was the father of Manasseh. Manasseh was the father of Amon. Amon was the father of Josiah.
Hezekiah begat Manasseh: Manasseh begat Amon: Amon begat Josiah:
11 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.
Josiah begat Jeconiah and his brothers, in the captivity of Babylon.
12 After the Babylonians took the Israelites to Babylon, Jeconiah became the father of Shealtiel. Shealtiel was the grandfather of Zerubbabel.
And after the captivity of Babylon, Jeconiah begat Salathiel: Salathiel begat Zerubbabel:
13 Zerubbabel was the father of Abiud. Abiud was the father of Eliakim.
Zerubbabel begat Abiud: Abiud begat Eliakim: Eliakim begat Azor:
14 Eliakim was the father of Azor. Azor was the father of Zadok. Zadok was the father of Akim.
Azor begat Zadok: Zadok begat Achim: Achim begat Eliud:
15 Akim was the father of Eliud. Eliud was the father of Eleazar. Eleazar was the father of Matthan. Matthan was the father of Jacob.
Eliud begat Eleazar: Eleazar begat Matthan: Matthan begat Jacob:
16 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.
Jacob begat Joseph, the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus who is called the Messiah.
17 [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].
All the generations, therefore, are, from Abraham to David fourteen generations, and from David to the captivity of Babylon fourteen generations, and from the captivity of Babylon to the Messiah fourteen generations.
18 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.
And the birth of Jesus the Messiah was thus. While his mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, before they had cohabited, she was found to be with child by the Holy Spirit.
19 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.
And Joseph her husband was a righteous man, and unwilling to expose her: and he thought of putting her away privately.
20 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.
And while he contemplated these things, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, and said to him: Joseph, son of David, fear not to take Mary thy wife; for that which is conceived in her, is from the Holy Spirit:
21 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’].”
and she will bear a son; and thou shalt call his name Jesus, for he will resuscitate his people from their sins.
22 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:
Now all this that occurred, was to fulfill what was spoken of the Lord by the prophet:
23 “Listen, a virgin will become pregnant and will give birth to a son. They will call him Emmanuel.” Emmanuel means ‘God is with us’.
Behold, a virgin will conceive, and will bear a son, and thou shalt call his name Emmanuel, which is interpreted, Our God with us.
24 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.
And when Joseph rose from his sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him, and took his wife.
25 But he did not have sexual relations with her until she had given birth to a son. And [Joseph] named him Jesus.
And he knew her not, until she had borne her firstborn son, and called is name Jesus.
