MATTHEW - CHAPTER 2.
Wise men from East worship new-born Jesus
2. 1 After Jesus was born in Betlehem in the land of Judea during the time when Herod was king, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem,
2 and asked, "Where is the new born King of the Jews? For we saw his star in the east and have come to worship him."
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| Wise men following the star. |
3 When King Herod heard of this he became very agitated, and so did everyone else in Jerusalem.
4 He called together all the head priests and Torah–teachers of the people and asked them, "
Where will the Messiah be born?"
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| Herod called together all the head priests and Torah–teachers. |
5 "
In Bethlehem of Judea" they replied, "
because the prophet wrote:
6 'And you, Bethlehem in the land of Judea,
are by no means the least among the rulers of Judea;
for from you will come a Ruler
who will shepherd my people Israel."'
[Micah 5:1,2]
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| As the profet wrote... |
7 Herod called in the wise men to meet with him
(them)privately and asked them exactly when the star had appeared.
8 Then he sent them to Bethlehem with these instructions: "
Search carefully for the child; and when you find him, let me know, so that I too may go and worship him."
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| Herod called in the wise men to meet with him privately. |
9 After they had listened to the king, they went away; and the star which they had seen in the east went in front of them until it came and stopped over the place where the child was.
10 When they saw the place over where the star stopped, they were overjoyed.
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| When they saw the place over where the star stopped, they were overjoyed. |
11 Upon entering the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary; and they bowed down and worshipped him. Then they opened their bags and gave him gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.
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| Then they opened their bags and gave him gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. |
12 But they had been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, so they took another route back to their own country.
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| ...they took another route back to their own country. |
The Escape to Egypt
13 After they had gone, an angel of LORD appeared to Joseph in his dream and said, "
Get up, take the child and his mother, and escape to Egypt, and stay there until I tell you to leave. For Herod is going to look for the child in order to kill him."
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| An angel of LORD appeared to Joseph in his dream... |
14 So he got up took the child and his mother, and left during the night for Egypt,
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| ...left during the night for Egypt. |
15 where they stayed until Herod died. This happened in order to fulfill what LORD had said through the prophet,
"Out of Egypt I called my son." [Hosea 11:1]
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| ...where they stayed until Herod died. |
Herod killing the children around Bethlehem
16 Meanwhile, when Herod realized that the wise men had tricked him, he was furious, and gave orders to kill all the boys in and around Bethlehem who were two years old or less, calculating from the time the wise men had told him.
17 In this way were fulfilled the words spoken through the prophet Jeremiah,
18 "A voice was heard in Ramah,
sobbing and lamenting loudly.
It was Rachel sobbing for her children
and refusing to be comforted,
because they are no longer alive.”
[Jeremiah 31:14,15]
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| Herod gave orders to kill all the boys around Bethlehem who were two years old or less. |
The Return to Nazareth
19 After Herod's death, an angel of LORD appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt
20 and said, "
Get up, take the child and his mother, and go to Israel, for those who wanted to kill the child are dead."
21 So he got up, took the child and his mother, and went back to Israel.
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| Joseph took the child and his mother, and went back to Israel... |
22 However, when he heard that Archelaus had succeeded his father Herod as king of Judea, he was afraid to go there. Warned in a dream he withdrew to the Gelilee
23 and settled in a town called Nazareth, so that what had been spoken by the prophets might be fulfilled, that he will be called a Nazarene
(*).
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| ...and settled in a town called Nazareth. |
