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16 The Slaughter of the Innocents at Bethlehem. When Herod realized that the wise men had deceived him, he flew into a rage and issued an order to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and the surrounding area who were two years old or less, in accordance with the information that he had obtained from the wise men. 17 [a]Thus were fulfilled the words that had been spoken through the prophet Jeremiah:

18 “A voice was heard in Ramah,
    lamenting and sobbing bitterly:
Rachel weeping for her children,
    and refusing to be consoled,
    because they were no more.”

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Footnotes

  1. Matthew 2:17 The citation of Jer 31:15 originally referred to Rachel, the wife of Jacob, weeping for her children taken into exile in 721 B.C. Matthew applies it to the mourning for the Holy Innocents.