Matthew 2
1 Jesus was born in Bethlehem [town] in Judea [province] during the time [MTY] that King Herod [the Great ruled there. Some time] after Jesus was born, some men who studied the stars and who lived in a [country] east [of Judea] came to Jerusalem.
Now Jesus having been born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem, saying,
2 They asked [people], “Where is the one who has been born [in order that he might be] the king of [you] Jews? [We believe that your new king] has been born, because we have seen the star [that we believe indicated that] he has been [born]. [We saw it while we were in our country] east [of here]. So we have come to worship him.”
Where is he who is born king of the Jews? For we saw his star in the east, and have come to worship him.
3 When King Herod heard [what those men were asking], he became worried [that someone else might be proclaimed] {[people might proclaim someone else]} [king of the Jews to replace him]. Many [of the people] of Jerusalem [MTY, HYP] [also] became worried [because they were afraid of what King Herod might do].
And Herod the king having heard it, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him.
4 Then Herod gathered together all the ruling priests and men who taught the people the [Jewish] laws and he asked them where [the prophets had predicted that] the Messiah was to be born.
And having gathered together all the chief priests and scholars of the people, he inquired of them where the Christ is born.
5 They said to him, “[He will be born] in Bethlehem, [here] in Judea [province], because it was written by the prophet [Micah] {the prophet [Micah] wrote} [long ago what God said]:
And they said to him, In Bethlehem of Judea. For thus it is written through the prophet,
6 ‘You [who live in] Bethlehem [APO], in Judea [province], your town is certainly very important [LIT], because a man from your [town] will become a ruler. He will guide my people [who live in] Israel.’”
And thou Bethlehem, land of Judah, are in no way least among the rulers of Judah, for out of thee will come forth a man who rules, who will tend my people Israel.
7 Then [King] Herod secretly summoned those men who studied the stars. He asked them exactly when the star [first] appeared. [By what they told him, he was able to know the approximate age of the baby].
Then Herod having called the wise men privately, ascertained from them what time the star appeared.
8 Then he [concealed what he really planned to do and] said to them, “Go to Bethlehem and inquire thoroughly [where] the infant is. When you have found him, [come back and] report to me so that I, myself, can go [there and] worship him, too.”
And having sent them to Bethlehem, he said, After going, search diligently about the child. And when ye find him, report to me, so that I also having come, may worship him.
9 After the men heard what the king [told them], they went [toward Bethlehem]. To their surprise, the star that they had seen while they were in the eastern [country] went ahead of them [again] until it stood above [the house] where the child was.
And when they heard the king, they departed. And lo, the star that they saw in the east went before them until, having come, it stood over where the child was.
10 When they saw the star, they rejoiced greatly [and followed it].
And when they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceedingly great joy.
11 They [found] the house and entered it and saw the child and his mother, Mary. They bowed down and worshipped him. Then they opened their treasure [boxes] [MTY] and they gave gold, [costly] frankincense, and myrrh to him.
And having come into the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother, and having fallen down, they worshiped him. And having opened their treasures, they brought to him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh.
12 [Because] God [knew that King Herod planned to kill Jesus], in a dream the men who studied the stars were warned {he warned the men who studied the stars} that they should not return to [King] Herod. So they returned to their country, [but instead of traveling back on the same road, they] went on a different road.
And divinely warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they departed into their own country by another way.
13 After the men who studied the stars left [Bethlehem], an angel [from] the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. He said, “Get up, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you [(sg) that you should leave], because [King] Herod is about [to send soldiers] to look for the child so that they can kill him.”
Now after they departed, behold, an agent of the Lord appears to Joseph in a dream, saying, After rising, take the child and his mother, and flee into Egypt, and thou be there until I tell thee, for Herod is going to seek the child to destroy it.
14 So Joseph got up, he took the child and his mother [that] night, and they fled to Egypt.
And having awakened, he took the child and his mother by night, and departed into Egypt.
15 They stayed there until [King] Herod died, [and then they left Egypt]. By doing that, it was {they} fulfilled what the prophet [Hosea] wrote, which had been said by the Lord {which the Lord had said}, I have told my son to come out of Egypt.
And he was there until the end of Herod, so that what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet might be fulfilled, which says, Out of Egypt I called my Son.
16 [While King] Herod [was still living], because he realized that he had been tricked by the men who studied the stars {the men who studied the stars had tricked him}, he became furious. Then, [assuming that Jesus was still in Bethlehem or the surrounding regions], Herod sent [soldiers there] to kill all the boy babies two years old and younger. [Herod calculated how old the baby was], according to what the men who studied the stars told him [about when the star first appeared].
Then Herod, when he saw that he was scorned by the wise men, was exceedingly angry, and having sent forth, he killed all the boys in Bethlehem, and in all the borders of it, from two years old and under, according to the time that he had ascertained from the wise men.
17 [Because Bethlehem and Ramah towns were in the area where the descendants of Jacob’s wife Rachel lived, when soldiers killed the infant boys], they fulfilled what Jeremiah the prophet wrote,
Then that which was spoken through Jeremiah the prophet was fulfilled, which says,
18 [Women] in Ramah were weeping and wailing loudly. [Women who were the descendants] of Rachel, [the ancestor of the women there] [SYN], were grieving for [what happened to] their children. [Even though people tried to comfort them], they would not be comforted {stop mourning}, because their children were dead.
A voice was heard in Ramah, lamentation, and weeping, and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children. And she did not want to be comforted, because they are not.
19 After Herod died [and while Joseph and his family were still in Egypt], an angel that the Lord [had sent] appeared to Joseph in Egypt in a dream.
But when Herod perished, behold, an agent of the Lord appears in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, saying,
20 He said to Joseph, “Take the child and his mother and go back to Israel [to live], because the people who were looking for the child [in order to kill him] have died.”
After rising, take the child and his mother, and go into the land of Israel, for those seeking the child's life have died.
21 So Joseph took the child and his mother, and they went back to Israel.
And having awaken, he took the child and his mother, and came into the land of Israel.
22 When Joseph heard that Archaelaus now ruled in Judea [district] instead of his father, [King] Herod [the Great], he was afraid to go there. Because he was warned {[God] warned Joseph} in a dream [that it was still dangerous for them to live in Judea], he [and Mary and Jesus] went to Galilee [District]
But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. And divinely warned in a dream, he withdrew into the parts of Galilee.
23 to Nazareth [to live there]. The result was that what had been said by the ancient prophets {what the ancient prophets had said} [about the Messiah], that he would be called {people would call him} a Nazareth-man, was fulfilled {came true}.
And having come, he dwelt in a city called Nazareth, so that what was spoken through the prophets might be fulfilled, that he will be called a Nazarene.
