Matthew 2
1 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.
Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men [magi] from the East came into Jerusalem,
2 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.”
saying: “Where is he who has been born King of the Jews? For we saw his star in the East and have come to worship him.”
3 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].
When Herod the king heard it he became agitated, and all Jerusalem with him.
4 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.
And gathering all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born.
5 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]:
So they said to him: “In Bethlehem of Judea, for thus it stands written by the prophet:
6 ‘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.’”
‘And you, Bethlehem, land of Judah, are not at all the least among the rulers of Judah, for out of you will come a Ruler who will shepherd my people Israel.’”
7 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].
Then Herod, calling the wise men secretly, determined from them the time when the star appeared.
8 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.”
And directing them to Bethlehem he said, “When you get there, search carefully for the young child; and should you find him, bring back word to me, so that I also may go and worship him.”
9 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.
So having heard the king they departed, and there was the star that they had seen in the East! It went before them until it arrived and stopped above where the young Child was.
10 When they saw the star, they rejoiced greatly [and followed it].
Now when they saw the star they rejoiced with exceedingly great joy!
11 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.
And coming into the house they saw the young Child with Mary His mother, and falling down they worshiped Him; and opening their treasures they presented gifts to Him: gold, frankincense and myrrh.
12 [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.
Then, having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they departed for their own country by a different road.
13 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.”
Now when they had departed, again, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream saying: “Get up, take the young Child and His mother, flee to Egypt and stay there until I tell you; because Herod is about to seek the young Child to destroy Him!”
14 So Joseph got up, he took the child and his mother [that] night, and they fled to Egypt.
So he got up and took the young Child and His mother by night and departed for Egypt.
15 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.
And he was there until the death of Herod, so that what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet should be fulfilled, namely: “Out of Egypt I called my Son.”
16 [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].
Then Herod, when he saw that he had been deceived by the wise men, became very angry, and he sent out and killed all the boys who were in Bethlehem and in all its districts, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had determined from the wise men.
17 [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,
Then what was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet was fulfilled, namely:
18 [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.
“A voice was heard in Ramah, lamentation, weeping and great mourning; Rachel weeping for her children and not wanting to be comforted, because they are no more.”
19 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.
Now Herod having died, there, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt
20 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.”
saying: “Get up, take the young Child and His mother and go into the land of Israel, for those seeking the life of the young Child have died.”
21 So Joseph took the child and his mother, and they went back to Israel.
So he got up and took the young Child and His mother and went into the land of Israel.
22 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]
But hearing that Archelaus was reigning over Judea instead of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. And being warned in a dream he proceeded into the region of Galilee.
23 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}.
And upon arriving he settled in a city called Natsareth [Branch-town], so that what was spoken through the prophets should be fulfilled, that He would be called a Natsorean [Branch-man].
