| [an error occurred while processing this directive] | New Living Translation |
| 1[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 1Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the reign of King Herod. About that time some wise men from eastern lands arrived in Jerusalem, asking, |
| 2[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 2“Where is the newborn king of the Jews? We saw his star as it rose, and we have come to worship him.” |
| 3[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 3King Herod was deeply disturbed when he heard this, as was everyone in Jerusalem. |
| 4[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 4He called a meeting of the leading priests and teachers of religious law and asked, “Where is the Messiah supposed to be born?” |
| 5[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 5“In Bethlehem in Judea,” they said, “for this is what the prophet wrote: |
| 6[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 6‘And you, O Bethlehem in the land of Judah, are not least among the ruling cities of Judah, for a ruler will come from you who will be the shepherd for my people Israel.’ ” |
| 7[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 7Then Herod called for a private meeting with the wise men, and he learned from them the time when the star first appeared. |
| 8[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 8Then he told them, “Go to Bethlehem and search carefully for the child. And when you find him, come back and tell me so that I can go and worship him, too!” |
| 9[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 9After this interview the wise men went their way. And the star they had seen in the east guided them to Bethlehem. It went ahead of them and stopped over the place where the child was. |
| 10[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 10When they saw the star, they were filled with joy! |
| 11[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 11They entered the house and saw the child with his mother, Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasure chests and gave him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. |
| 12[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 12When it was time to leave, they returned to their own country by another route, for God had warned them in a dream not to return to Herod. The Escape to Egypt |
| 13[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 13After the wise men were gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. “Get up! Flee to Egypt with the child and his mother,” the angel said. “Stay there until I tell you to return, because Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.” |
| 14[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 14That night Joseph left for Egypt with the child and Mary, his mother, |
| 15[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 15and they stayed there until Herod’s death. This fulfilled what the Lord had spoken through the prophet: “I called my Son out of Egypt.” |
| 16[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 16Herod was furious when he realized that the wise men had outwitted him. He sent soldiers to kill all the boys in and around Bethlehem who were two years old and under, based on the wise men’s report of the star’s first appearance. |
| 17[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 17Herod’s brutal action fulfilled what God had spoken through the prophet Jeremiah: |
| 18[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 18“A cry was heard in Ramah— weeping and great mourning. Rachel weeps for her children, refusing to be comforted, for they are dead.” The Return to Nazareth |
| 19[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 19When Herod died, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt. |
| 20[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 20“Get up!” the angel said. “Take the child and his mother back to the land of Israel, because those who were trying to kill the child are dead.” |
| 21[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 21So Joseph got up and returned to the land of Israel with Jesus and his mother. |
| 22[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 22But when he learned that the new ruler of Judea was Herod’s son Archelaus, he was afraid to go there. Then, after being warned in a dream, he left for the region of Galilee. |
| 23[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 23So the family went and lived in a town called Nazareth. This fulfilled what the prophets had said: “He will be called a Nazarene.” |
| [an error occurred while processing this directive] | Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved. |
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