Matthew 2 — NETB

2Verse 1After Jesus was born in Bethlehem^{Verse 2}saying, “Where is the one who is born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.”^{Verse 3}When King Herod heard this he was alarmed, and all Jerusalem with him.^{Verse 4}After assembling all the chief priests and experts in the law, he asked them where the Christ was to be born.^{Verse 5}“In Bethlehem of Judea,” they said, “for it is written this way by the prophet:^{Verse 6}‘And you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
are in no way least among the rulers of Judah,
for out of you will come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel.’”^{Verse 7}Then Herod privately summoned the wise men and determined from them when the star had appeared.^{Verse 8}He sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and look carefully for the child. When you find him, inform me so that I can go and worship him as well.”^{Verse 9}After listening to the king they left, and once again the star they saw when it rose led them until it stopped above the place where the child was.^{Verse 10}When they saw the star they shouted joyfully.^{Verse 11}As they came into the house and saw the child with Mary his mother, they bowed down and worshiped him. They opened their treasure boxes and gave him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.^{Verse 12}After being warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they went back by another route to their own country.

The Escape to Egypt

^{Verse 13}After they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Get up, take the child and his mother and flee to Egypt, and stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to look for the child to kill him.”^{Verse 14}Then he got up, took the child and his mother during the night, and went to Egypt.^{Verse 15}He stayed there until Herod died. In this way what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet was fulfilled: “I called my Son out of Egypt.”^{Verse 16}When Herod saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, he became enraged. He sent men to kill all the children in Bethlehem and throughout the surrounding region from the age of two and under, according to the time he had learned from the wise men.^{Verse 17}Then what was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet was fulfilled:^{Verse 18}“A voice was heard in Ramah,
weeping and loud wailing,
Rachel weeping for her children,
and she did not want to be comforted, because they were gone.”

The Return to Nazareth

^{Verse 19}After Herod had died, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt^{Verse 20}saying, “Get up, take the child and his mother, and go to the land of Israel, for those who were seeking the child’s life are dead.”^{Verse 21}So he got up and took the child and his mother and returned to the land of Israel.^{Verse 22}But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. After being warned in a dream, he went to the regions of Galilee.^{Verse 23}He came to a town called Nazareth and lived there. Then what had been spoken by the prophets was fulfilled, that Jesus would be called a Nazarene.