Matthew Translation
Matthew
The Lineage of Jesus
The written record of the lineage of Jesus, the Messiah, son of David, son of Abraham:
Abraham fathered Isaac. Isaac fathered Jacob. Jacob fathered Judah and his brothers. Judah fathered Perez and Zerah through Tamar. Perez fathered Hezron. Hezron fathered Ram. Ram fathered Amminadab. Amminadab fathered Nashon. Nashon fathered Salma. Salma fathered Boaz through Rahab. Boaz fathered Obed through Ruth. Obed fathered Jesse. And Jesse fathered King David.
David fathered Solomon through Uriah’s wife. Solomon fathered Rehoboam. Rehoboam fathered Abijah. Abijah fathered Asa. Asa fathered Jehoshaphat. Jehoshaphat fathered Jehoram. Jehoram fathered Uzziah Uzziah fathered Jotham. Jotham fathered Ahaz. Ahaz fathered Hezekiah. Hezekiah fathered Manasseh. Manasseh fathered Amon. Amon fathered Josiah. And Josiah fathered Jehoiachin and his relatives before the deportation to Babylon.
After the deportation to Babylon, Jehoiachin fathered Shealtiel. Shealtiel fathered Zerubbabel. Zerubbabel fathered Abiud. Abiud fathered Eliakim. Eliakim fathered Azor. Azor fathered Zadok. Zadok fathered Achim. Achim fathered Eliud. Eliud fathered Eleazar. Eleazar fathered Matthan. Matthan fathered Jacob. And Jacob fathered Joseph, the husband of Mary, who gave birth to Jesus, called the Messiah.
So from Abraham to David, there were fourteen generations. From David to the deportation to Babylon, there were fourteen generations. And from the deportation to the Messiah, there were fourteen generations.
This is how the birth of Jesus, the Messiah, took place: His mother, Mary, was betrothed to Joseph. But before they lived together, it was discovered she was pregnant by the power of the Holy Spirit. Now Joseph, her husband, was a righteous man, yet he had no desire to publicly disgrace her. So he planned to divorce her privately.
As he thought about this, one of the Lord’s angels appeared to him in a dream. “Joseph, son of David, don’t be afraid to take home Mary, your wife. The child she bears was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit. She’ll give birth to a son. You must name him Jesus because he’ll save his people from their sins.” All this happened to fulfill what the Lord said through the prophet: “Look! The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son. They’ll name him Immanuel.” That means “God is with us.”
Then Joseph woke up and did what the Lord’s angel commanded him. He took home Mary, his wife. But he didn’t make love to her until she’d given birth to a son. Then he named him Jesus.
Jesus in Egypt
Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea during the reign of King Herod. Then diviners from the east arrived in Jerusalem. “Where’s the one born King of the Jews? We saw his star rise, so we’ve come to worship him.”
Hearing this alarmed King Herod, and all of Jerusalem with him. So he summoned all the chief priests and teachers of the law to question them about where the Messiah would be born. “In Bethlehem of Judea,” they answered. “This is what is written through the prophet:
“‘You, Bethlehem of the land of Judah,
are by no means least among the rulers of Judah.
From you will come a ruler
who’ll shepherd my people, Israel.’”
Then Herod secretly summoned the diviners to determine from them the precise time the star appeared. He sent them to Bethlehem. “Go search thoroughly for the child. When you find him, let me know so I can go worship him too.”
After hearing what the king said, they left. The star they’d seen rise led them until it settled over the place where the child was. Seeing the star filled them with overwhelming joy! When they entered the house, they found the child with Mary, his mother. They bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their bags of valuables and offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
In a dream, they’d been instructed not to return to Herod, so they returned to their own land by a different road.
After they left, one of the Lord’s angels appeared to Joseph in a dream. “Wake up. Flee to Egypt with the child and his mother and stay there until I tell you. Herod will soon search for the child to kill him.”
So Joseph woke up and left for Egypt during the night with the child and his mother. He stayed there until Herod died to fulfill what the Lord said through the prophet: “Out from Egypt I called my son.”
Then Herod realized the diviners had fooled him. Furious, he had all the boys two years old and under killed in Bethlehem and the surrounding region. This agreed with the timing he’d learned from the diviners. Then what was said through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled:
“A voice in Ramah was heard.
Mourning and bitter weeping!
Rachel weeping over her children.
She refused to be comforted
because they are no more.”
After Herod died, one of the Lord’s angels appeared to Joseph in a dream while he was in Egypt. “Wake up. Go to the land of Israel with the child and his mother. Those who wanted to kill the child have died.”
So Joseph woke up and returned to the land of Israel with the child and his mother. But he heard Archelaus had succeeded his father, Herod, in reigning over Judea. So he was afraid to go there. Having been instructed in a dream, he departed to the region of Galilee instead. He went to live in a town called Nazareth to fulfill what was said through the prophets, that he’d be called a Nazarene.