Matthew 2
1 Now after the birth of Jesus, which took place at Bethlehem in Judaea in the reign of King Herod, excitement was produced in Jerusalem by the arrival of certain Magi from the east,
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 inquiring, "Where is the newly born king of the Jews? For we have seen his Star in the east, and have come here to do him homage."
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 Reports of this soon reached the king, and greatly agitated not only him but all the people of Jerusalem.
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 he assembled all the High Priests and Scribes of the people, and anxiously asked 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 "At Bethlehem in Judaea," they replied; "for so it stands written in the words of 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, by no means the least honorable art thou among princely places in Judah! For from thee shall come a prince--one who shall be the Shepherd of 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 privately for the Magi and ascertained from them the exact time of the star's appearing.
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 He then directed them to go to Bethlehem, adding, "Go and make careful inquiry about the child, and when you have found him, bring me word, that I too may come and do him homage."
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 After hearing what the king said, they went to Bethlehem, while, strange to say, the star they had seen in the east led them on until it came and stood over the place where the babe 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 When they saw the star, the sight filled them with intense joy.
When they saw the star, they rejoiced greatly [and followed it].
11 So they entered the house; and when they saw the babe with His mother Mary, they prostrated themselves and did Him homage, and opening their treasure-chests offered gifts to Him--gold, 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 being forbidden by God in a dream to return to Herod, they went back to their own country by a different 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, and angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, "Rise: take the babe and His mother and escape to Egypt, and remain there till I bring you word. For Herod is about to make search for the child in order to destroy Him."
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 roused himself and took the babe and His mother by night and departed into Egypt.
So Joseph got up, he took the child and his mother [that] night, and they fled to Egypt.
15 There he remained till Herod's death, that what the Lord had said through the Prophet might be fulfilled, "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 Then Herod, finding that the Magi had trifled with him, was furious, and sent and massacred all the boys under two years of age, in Bethlehem and all its neighbourhood, according to the date he had so carefully 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 these words, spoken by the Prophet Jeremiah, fulfilled,
[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, wailing and bitter lamentation: It was Rachel bewailing her children, and she refused to be comforted because there 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, and said to him,
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 "Rise from sleep, and take the child and His mother, and go into the land of Israel, for those who were seeking the child's life 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 roused himself 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 hearing that Archelaus had succeeded his father Herod on the throne of Judaea, he was afraid to go there; and being instructed by God in a dream he withdrew into Galilee,
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 and went and settled in a town called Nazareth, in order that these words spoken through the Prophets might be fulfilled, "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}.
