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, when, Jesus, was born in Bethlehem of Judaea, in the days of Herod the king, lo! wise men from eastern parts, 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 that hath been born king of the Jews? for we saw his star in the east, and have come to bow down to 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].
But, when King Herod heard, he was troubled, 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, assembling all the high-priests and scribes of the people, he was enquiring of them—Where is, the Christ, 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]:
And, they, said to him, In Bethlehem of Judaea, —for, so, is it written through 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, thou, Bethlehem, land of Judah, by no means least, art thou, among the governors of Judah, —For, out of thee, shall one come forth to govern, Who shall 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, privately, calling the wise men, ascertained from them the time of the appearing star;
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 sending them to Bethlehem, said—Go search out accurately concerning the child, —and, as soon as ye find it, bring report unto me, that, I also, may come and bow myself down to it.
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.
Now, they, hearing the king, went, and lo! the star which they had seen in the east, was going before them, until it went and stood over where the child was;
10 When they saw the star, they rejoiced greatly [and followed it].
and, seeing the star, they rejoiced with exceeding 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 child, with Mary its mother, —and, falling down, prostrated themselves unto it, and, opening their treasures, offered unto it gifts—gold and 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.
and, being instructed by dream, not to return unto Herod, by another way, retired they unto their own country.
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 retired, lo! a messenger of the Lord, appeareth by dream unto Joseph, saying, Arise, take unto thee the child and its mother, and flee into Egypt, and be there, until I tell thee, —for Herod is about to seek the child, to destroy it.
14 So Joseph got up, he took the child and his mother [that] night, and they fled to Egypt.
And, he, arising, took unto him the child and its mother, by night, and retired into 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 was there, until the death of Herod, —that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying, Out of Egypt, called I 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, seeing that he had been mocked by the wise men, was exceedingly enraged, —and sent and slew all the male children that were in Bethlehem, and in all its bounds, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had ascertained 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 was fulfilled, that which was spoken through Jeremiah the prophet, saying:
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, in Ramah, was heard, weeping and great mourning, —Rachel weeping for her children, and would not be comforted, —because they are not.
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.
But, when Herod was, dead, lo! a messenger of the Lord, appeareth by dream unto 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—Arise! and take unto thee the child and its mother, and be journeying into the land of Israel, —for they are dead, who were seeking the life of the child.
21 So Joseph took the child and his mother, and they went back to Israel.
And, he, arising, took unto him the child and its mother, and entered 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]
Hearing, however, that, Archelaus, was reigning over Judaea instead of his father Herod, he was afraid, thither, to go, —and so, being instructed by dream, he retired into the parts 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 came and fixed his dwelling in a city called Nazareth, —that it might be fulfilled which was spoken through the prophets—A Nazarene, shall he be called.
