1 Now after Jesus was ^fborn in Bethlehem of Judea ^gin the days of Herod the king, behold, ^hwise men^{1 i}from 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 rose² 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:

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.

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.”

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:

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.

1 ^aIn those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, 2 ^b“Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is ^cat hand.”³ 3 For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah when he said,

4 Now John wore a garment of ^ecamel’s hair and a leather belt around his waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey. 5 Then Jerusalem and all Judea and all the region about the Jordan were going out to him, 6 and they were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins.

7 But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, “You ^fbrood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the ^gwrath to come? 8 Bear fruit ^hin keeping with repentance. 9 And do not presume to say to yourselves, ‘We have ⁱAbraham as our father,’ for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham. 10 Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. ^jEvery tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.

11 “I baptize you ^kwith water for repentance, but ^lhe who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you ^mwith the Holy Spirit and ⁿfire. 12 His ^owinnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and ^pgather his wheat into the barn, but the chaff he will burn with ^qunquenchable fire.”

13 ^rThen Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to John, to be baptized by him. 14 John would have prevented him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” 15 But Jesus answered him, “Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all ^srighteousness.” Then he consented. 16 And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, ^tthe heavens were opened to him,⁵ and he saw the ^uSpirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him; 17 and behold, a voice from heaven said, ^v“This is my ^wbeloved Son,^{6 x}with whom I am well pleased.”