Matthew 2

¹After Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea during the days of King Herod, suddenly magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem, ²asking, "Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star at its rising and have come to pay him homage."

³When King Herod heard this, he was deeply disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. ⁴Gathering together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Messiah was to be born. ⁵They told him, "In Bethlehem of Judea, for so it stands written through the prophet:

⁶*And you, Bethlehem, land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for from you will come forth a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel.*"

⁷Then Herod secretly summoned the magi and determined from them precisely when the star had appeared. ⁸Sending them to Bethlehem, he said, "Go and search carefully for the child. When you find him, report back to me so that I too may come and pay him homage."

⁹After hearing the king, they went on their way, and suddenly the star they had seen at its rising went ahead of them until it came and stood over the place where the child was. ¹⁰When they saw the star, they were overwhelmed with joy. ¹¹Coming into the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother, and falling down they paid him homage. Then, opening their treasure chests, they presented him with gifts: gold, frankincense, and myrrh. ¹²And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they departed for their own country by another road.

¹³After they had departed, suddenly an angel of the Lord appears to Joseph in a dream, saying, "Rise, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt. Remain there until I tell you, for Herod is about to search for the child to destroy him." ¹⁴So he rose, took the child and his mother by night, and withdrew to Egypt. ¹⁵He remained there until the death of Herod, so that what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet might be fulfilled: *Out of Egypt I called my son.*

¹⁶Then Herod, seeing that he had been outwitted by the magi, flew into a violent rage. He sent and killed all the boys in Bethlehem and in all its surrounding region who were two years old and under, according to the time he had determined precisely from the magi. ¹⁷Then what was spoken through Jeremiah the prophet was fulfilled:

¹⁸*A voice was heard in Ramah, weeping and bitter lamentation—Rachel weeping for her children, and she would not be comforted, because they are no more.*

¹⁹After Herod died, suddenly an angel of the Lord appears in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, ²⁰saying, "Rise, take the child and his mother, and go to the land of Israel, for those who were seeking the child's life have died." ²¹So he rose, took the child and his mother, and entered the land of Israel. ²²But hearing that Archelaus was reigning over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. And having been warned in a dream, he withdrew to the region of Galilee. ²³He went and settled in a town called Nazareth, so that what was spoken through the prophets might be fulfilled: "He will be called a Nazorean."