Matthew 2:1 Jesus was born in the town of Bethlehem in the land of Judea. He was born at the time when Herod was king. After Jesus was born, there were some wise men who came to Jerusalem. They were from a land in the east.
Matthew 2:2 The wise men was asking the people: Where is the Child who was born to be king of the Jews? We saw the star that shows he was born. We saw it rise in the sky in the east and have come to worship him
Matthew 2:3 When they told King Herod about this, he and all the people in Jerusalem were upset and very worried.
Matthew 2:4 King Herod called the chief priests and the teachers of the Laws. They had a meeting and King Herod asked them: Where will the Christ be born?
Matthew 2:5 The chief priests and the teachers of the Laws said to Herod: The Christ will be born in the town of Bethlehem in the land of Judea. That is what the prophet wrote:
Matthew 2:6 God said: Bethlehem, in the land of Judea, you a small place but a leader will come from you. He will be born in you and that ruler will lead Israel, my people.
Matthew 2:7 Then King Herod called the wise privately. Herod asked the wise men when they had first seen the star.
Matthew 2:8 Then King Herod said to the wise men: Go to Bethlehem and find the Child. And when you find Him, you must come back and tell me. I also want to go and worship Him.
Matthew 2:9 After the king said this to the wise men, they went away. The star that they saw in the east went in front of them and they followed the star until it came to the place where the Child was and then the star stopped.
Matthew 2:10 When the wise men saw the star there, they were very happy.
Matthew 2:11 Then the wise men went into the house, and they saw the Child with his mother Mary. The wise bowed down and worshiped him. The wise men opened their bags, and they gave their gifts to the Child: They were gold, incense and myrrh.
Matthew 2:12 God came to the wise men in a dream, and He warned them and said they must not go back to King Herod. That is why they went home on another road.
Matthew 2:13 After the wise men went away, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and he said: Get up, take the Child and his mother and flee to Egypt. You must stay there until I tell you to come back home, because King Herod wants to kill the Child.
Matthew 2:14 That night Joseph went away to Egypt. He took the Child and his mother with him.
Matthew 2:15 They stayed in Egypt until King Herod died. This happened as the prophet had written: The Lord said, I, God, have called my son out of Egypt.
Matthew 2:16 King Herod found out that the wise men from the east had deceived him. King Herod was very angry. He sent soldiers to kill all the boys in the town of Bethlehem who were 2 years old and younger than 2 years. They also killed the boys who lived near Bethlehem. King Herod told the soldiers to kill all the boys that were 2 years old and younger, because that was the time that the wise men told King Herod that they had seen the star.
Matthew 2:17 All of this happened as the prophet Jeremiah wrote:
Matthew 2:18 A sound was heard in Rama, crying and great sadness. Rachel cries for her children, and she cannot be comforted, because her children are dead.
Matthew 2:19 After King Herod died, the angel of the Lord came to Joseph. He appeared to him in a dream in the land of Egypt. The angel said to Joseph:
Matthew 2:20 Get up, take the Child and his mother and go back to the land of Israel, because the people who wanted to kill the Child have died.
Matthew 2:21 Joseph took the Child and his mother, and he went back to Israel.
Matthew 2:22 But Joseph heard that Archelaus was now king in Judea. Archelaus became king when his father Herod died. So, Joseph was afraid to go to Bethlehem. Then, after being warned in a dream, he went away to the area of Galilee
Matthew 2:23 Then Joseph went to stay in the town of Nazareth. This happened because the prophet wrote, the people will say Jesus is a man from Nazareth.