Matthew 1
1 A roll of the birth of Jesus Christ, son of David, son of Abraham.
[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].
2 Abraham begat Isaac, and Isaac begat Jacob, and Jacob begat Judah and his brethren,
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.
3 and Judah begat Pharez and Zarah of Tamar, and Pharez begat Hezron, and Hezron begat Ram,
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.
4 and Ram begat Amminadab, and Amminadab begat Nahshon, and Nahshon begat Salmon,
Ram was the father of Amminadab. Amminadab was the father of Nahshon. Nahshon was the father of Salmon.
5 and Salmon begat Boaz of Rahab, and Boaz begat Obed of Ruth, and Obed begat Jesse,
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.
6 and Jesse begat David the king. And David the king begat Solomon, of her [who had been] Uriah's,
Jesse was the father of King David. David was the father of Solomon. [Solomon’s mother was previously married to] Uriah.
7 and Solomon begat Rehoboam, and Rehoboam begat Abijah, and Abijah begat Asa,
Solomon was the father of Rehoboam. Rehoboam was the father of Abijah. Abijah was the father of Asaph.
8 and Asa begat Jehoshaphat, and Jehoshaphat begat Joram, and Joram begat Uzziah,
Asaph was the father of Jehoshaphat. Jehoshaphat was the father of Jehoram. Jehoram was an ancestor of Uzziah.
9 and Uzziah begat Jotham, and Jotham begat Ahaz, and Ahaz begat Hezekiah,
Uzziah was the father of Jotham. Jotham was the father of Ahaz. Ahaz was the father of Hezekiah.
10 and Hezekiah begat Manasseh, and Manasseh begat Amon, and Amon begat Josiah,
Hezekiah was the father of Manasseh. Manasseh was the father of Amon. Amon was the father of Josiah.
11 and Josiah begat Jeconiah and his brethren, at the Babylonian removal.
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.
12 And after the Babylonian removal, Jeconiah begat Shealtiel, and Shealtiel begat Zerubbabel,
After the Babylonians took the Israelites to Babylon, Jeconiah became the father of Shealtiel. Shealtiel was the grandfather of Zerubbabel.
13 and Zerubbabel begat Abiud, and Abiud begat Eliakim, and Eliakim begat Azor,
Zerubbabel was the father of Abiud. Abiud was the father of Eliakim.
14 and Azor begat Sadok, and Sadok begat Achim, and Achim begat Eliud,
Eliakim was the father of Azor. Azor was the father of Zadok. Zadok was the father of Akim.
15 and Eliud begat Eleazar, and Eleazar begat Matthan, and Matthan begat Jacob,
Akim was the father of Eliud. Eliud was the father of Eleazar. Eleazar was the father of Matthan. Matthan was the father of Jacob.
16 and Jacob begat Joseph, the husband of Mary, of whom was begotten Jesus, who is named Christ.
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.
17 All the generations, therefore, from Abraham unto David [are] fourteen generations, and from David unto the Babylonian removal fourteen generations, and from the Babylonian removal unto the Christ, fourteen generations.
[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].
18 And of Jesus Christ, the birth was thus: For his mother Mary having been betrothed to Joseph, before their coming together she was found to have conceived from the Holy Spirit,
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.
19 and Joseph her husband being righteous, and not willing to make her an example, did wish privately to send her away.
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.
20 And on his thinking of these things, lo, a messenger of the Lord in a dream appeared to him, saying, 'Joseph, son of David, thou mayest not fear to receive Mary thy wife, for that which in her was begotten [is] of the Holy Spirit,
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.
21 and she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins.'
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’].”
22 And all this hath come to pass, that it may be fulfilled that was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying,
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:
23 'Lo, the virgin shall conceive, and she shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel,' which is, being interpreted 'With us [he is] God.'
“Listen, a virgin will become pregnant and will give birth to a son. They will call him Emmanuel.” Emmanuel means ‘God is with us’.
24 And Joseph, having risen from the sleep, did as the messenger of the Lord directed him, and received his wife,
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.
25 and did not know her till she brought forth her son — the first-born, and he called his name Jesus.
But he did not have sexual relations with her until she had given birth to a son. And [Joseph] named him Jesus.
