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, there came Magi from the east unto 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 the king of the Jews that is born? For we have seen 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].
And Herod the king heard, and he was disturbed; 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 he assembled all the chiefs of the priests and the scribes of the people, and inquired of them, Where is the birthplace of the Messiah?
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: In Bethlehem of Judaea; for thus it is written in 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.’”
Thou also, Bethlehem of Judaea, art not the little among the kings of Judaea, for a king shall come from thee who shall rule 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 called the Magi, and learned from them at what time the star appeared to them.
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 he sent them to Bethlehem, and said to them, Go, search diligently for the child; and when ye have found him, come and tell me, 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.
And they, when they had heard from the king, went forward: and lo, the star they had seen in the east went before them, until it came and stood over where the child was.
10 When they saw the star, they rejoiced greatly [and followed it].
And when they saw the star, they rejoiced much, with 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 they entered the house; and they saw the child, with Mary his mother; and they fell down and worshipped him: and they opened their treasures, and presented to him gifts, gold, and myrrh, and frankincense.
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 it was shown them in a dream, that they should not return to Herod. And by another way, they returned to their 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.”
And when they were gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, and said to him, Arise, take the child and his mother, and flee into Egypt; and be thou there, until I tell thee: for Herod will seek for the child, to destroy it.
14 So Joseph got up, he took the child and his mother [that] night, and they fled to Egypt.
Then Joseph arose, took the child and his mother, by night, and fled to 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; that so might be fulfilled that which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, From Egypt have 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 deluded by the Magi, was very angry. And he sent and slew all the children in Bethlehem, and in all its confines, from a child of two years and under, according to the time that he had carefully learned from the Magi.
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 that fulfilled, which was spoken by 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 was heard in Rama, weeping and great lamentation; Rachel bemoaning her children, and unwilling 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.
But when king Herod was dead, 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.”
and said to him: Arise, take the child and his mother, and go into the land of Israel; for they are dead who sought the life of the child.
21 So Joseph took the child and his mother, and they went back to Israel.
And Joseph arose, and took the child and his mother, and went to 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 when he heard that Archelaus was king in Judaea, instead of his father Herod, he feared to go thither. And it was revealed to him in a dream, that he should go into the land 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 he came and dwelt in a city that is called Nazareth: that so might be fulfilled that which was said by the prophet, that he should be called a Nazarene.
