The Genealogy of Jesus Christ
1 The abook of the genealogy of Jesus bChrist, the cson of David, the dson of Abraham.
2 eAbraham was the father of Isaac, and fIsaac the father of Jacob, and gJacob the father of Judah and his brothers, 3 and hJudah the father of Perez and Zerah by Tamar, and Perez the father of Hezron, and Hezron the father of Ram,1 4 and Ram the father of Amminadab, and Amminadab the father of Nahshon, and Nahshon the father of Salmon, 5 and Salmon the father of Boaz by iRahab, and Boaz the father of Obed by Ruth, and Obed the father of Jesse, 6 and jJesse the father of David the king.
And kDavid was the father of Solomon by the lwife of Uriah, 7 and Solomon the father of Rehoboam, and Rehoboam the father of Abijah, and Abijah the father of Asaph,2 8 and Asaph the father of Jehoshaphat, and Jehoshaphat the father of Joram, and Joram the father of Uzziah, 9 and Uzziah the father of Jotham, and Jotham the father of Ahaz, and Ahaz the father of Hezekiah, 10 and Hezekiah the father of Manasseh, and Manasseh the father of Amos,3 and Amos the father of Josiah, 11 and Josiah the father of Jechoniah and his brothers, at the time of the mdeportation to Babylon.
12 And after the deportation to Babylon: Jechoniah was the father of Shealtiel,4 and Shealtiel the father of Zerubbabel, 13 and Zerubbabel the father of Abiud, and Abiud the father of Eliakim, and Eliakim the father of Azor, 14 and Azor the father of Zadok, and Zadok the father of Achim, and Achim the father of Eliud, 15 and Eliud the father of Eleazar, and Eleazar the father of Matthan, and Matthan the father of Jacob, 16 and Jacob the father of nJoseph the husband of Mary, oof whom Jesus was born, who is pcalled Christ.
17 So all the generations from Abraham to David were fourteen generations, and from David to the deportation to Babylon fourteen generations, and from the deportation to Babylon to the Christ fourteen generations.
The Birth of Jesus Christ
18 qNow the birth of Jesus Christ5 took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been rbetrothed6 to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child sfrom the Holy Spirit. 19 And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to tdivorce her quietly. 20 But as he considered these things, behold, an uangel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will bear a son, and you shall vcall his name Jesus, for he will wsave his people from their sins.” 22 All this took place xto fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet:
23 y“Behold, the zvirgin ashall conceive and bear a son,
and they shall call his name bImmanuel”
(which means, cGod dwith us). 24 When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him: he took his wife, 25 but eknew her not until she had given birth to a son. And he called his name Jesus.
The Visit of the Wise Men
1 Now after Jesus was fborn in Bethlehem of Judea gin the days of Herod the king, behold, hwise men7 ifrom the east came to Jerusalem, 2 saying, “Where is he who has been born jking of the Jews? For we saw his kstar when it rose8 and have come to worship him.” 3 When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him; 4 and assembling all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the lChrist was to be born. 5 They told him, m“In Bethlehem of Judea, for so it is written by the prophet:
6 n“‘And you, O Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;
for from you shall come a ruler
who will oshepherd my people Israel.’”
7 Then Herod summoned the wise men secretly and ascertained from them what time the star had appeared. 8 And he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, “Go and search diligently for the child, and when you have found him, bring me word, that I too may come and worship him.” 9 After listening to the king, they went on their way. And behold, the star that they had seen when it rose went before them until it came to rest over the place where the child was. 10 When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. 11 And going into the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him. Then, opening their treasures, they offered him gifts, pgold and frankincense and myrrh. 12 And being warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they departed to their own country by another way.
The Flight to Egypt
13 Now when they had departed, behold, an qangel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Rise, take the child and his mother, and rflee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you, for Herod is about to search for the child, sto destroy him.” 14 And he rose and took the child and his mother by night and departed to Egypt 15 and remained there until the death of Herod. This was tto fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet, u“Out of Egypt I called vmy son.”
Herod Kills the Children
16 Then Herod, when he saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, became furious, and he sent and killed all the wmale children in Bethlehem and in all that region who were two years old or under, according to the time that he had ascertained from the wise men. 17 Then was fulfilled what was spoken by the prophet Jeremiah:
18 x“A voice was heard in Ramah,
weeping and loud lamentation,
Rachel weeping for her children;
she refused to be comforted, because they are no more.”
The Return to Nazareth
19 But when Herod died, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, 20 saying, “Rise, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, for ythose who sought the child’s life are dead.” 21 And he rose and took the child and his mother and went to the land of Israel. 22 But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there, and being warned in a dream he withdrew to the district of Galilee. 23 And he went and lived in a city called Nazareth, so that what was spoken by the prophets might be fulfilled, that he would be called a zNazarene.
Oh, That My People Would Listen to Me
To the choirmaster: according to The jGittith.1 Of Asaph.
1 Sing aloud to God our strength;
kshout for joy to the God of Jacob!
2 Raise a song; sound the tambourine,
the sweet lyre with the harp.
3 lBlow the trumpet at the mnew moon,
at the full moon, on our feast day.
4 For it is a statute for Israel,
a rule2 of the God of Jacob.
5 He made it a decree in Joseph
when he went out over3 the land of Egypt.
I hear a language I had not known:
6 “I relieved your4 shoulder of the nburden;
your hands were freed from the basket.
7 oIn distress you pcalled, and I delivered you;
I answered you in the secret place of thunder;
I tested you qat the waters of Meribah. Selah
8 Hear, O my people, while I admonish you!
O Israel, if you would but listen to me!
9 rThere shall be no strange god among you;
you shall not bow down to a foreign god.
10 I am the Lord your God,
swho brought you up out of the land of Egypt.
Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it.
11 t“But my people did not listen to my voice;
Israel would not submit to me.
12 So I ugave them over to their vstubborn hearts,
to follow wtheir own counsels.
13 xOh, that my people would listen to me,
that Israel would ywalk in my ways!
14 I would soon subdue their enemies
and turn my hand against their foes.
15 Those who hate the Lord would cringe toward him,
and their fate would last forever.
16 But he would feed you5 with the zfinest of the wheat,
and with ahoney from the rock I would satisfy you.”
