Matthew 1:18-2:12

Contemporary English Version

The Birth of Jesus

(Luke 2.1-7)

¹⁸^(A) This is how Jesus Christ was born. A young woman named Mary was engaged to Joseph from King David's family. But before they were married, she learned that she was going to have a baby by God's Holy Spirit. ¹⁹Joseph was a good man^[a] and did not want to embarrass Mary in front of everyone. So he decided to quietly call off the wedding.

²⁰While Joseph was thinking about this, an angel from the Lord appeared to him in a dream. The angel said, “Joseph, the baby that Mary will have is from the Holy Spirit. Go ahead and marry her. ²¹^(B) Then after her baby is born, name him Jesus,^[b] because he will save his people from their sins.”

²²So the Lord's promise came true, just as the prophet had said, ²³^(C) “A virgin will have a baby boy, and he will be called Immanuel,” which means “God is with us.”

²⁴After Joseph woke up, he and Mary were soon married, just as the Lord's angel had told him to do. ²⁵^(D) But they did not sleep together before her baby was born. Then Joseph named him Jesus.

The Wise Men

2 When Jesus was born in the village of Bethlehem in Judea, Herod was king. During this time some wise men^[c] from the east came to Jerusalem ²and said, “Where is the child born to be king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east^[d] and have come to worship him.”

³When King Herod heard about this, he was worried, and so was everyone else in Jerusalem. ⁴Herod brought together the chief priests and the teachers of the Law of Moses and asked them, “Where will the Messiah be born?”

⁵They told him, “He will be born in Bethlehem, just as the prophet wrote,

⁶^(E) ‘Bethlehem in the land
    of Judea,
you are very important
    among the towns of Judea.
From your town
    will come a leader,
who will be like a shepherd
    for my people Israel.’ ”

⁷Herod secretly called in the wise men and asked them when they had first seen the star. ⁸He told them, “Go to Bethlehem and search carefully for the child. As soon as you find him, let me know. I also want to go and worship him.”

⁹The wise men listened to what the king said and then left. And the star they had seen in the east went on ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. ¹⁰They were thrilled and excited to see the star.

¹¹When the men went into the house and saw the child with Mary, his mother, they knelt down and worshiped him. They took out their gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh^[e] and gave them to him. ¹²Later they were warned in a dream not to return to Herod, and they went back home by another road.

Footnotes

1.19 good man: Or “kind man,” or “man who always did the right thing.”
1.21 name him Jesus: In Hebrew the name “Jesus” means “the Lord saves.”
2.1 wise men: People famous for studying the stars.
2.2 his star in the east: Or “his star rise.”
2.11 frankincense, and myrrh: Frankincense was a valuable powder that was burned to make a sweet smell. Myrrh was a valuable sweet-smelling powder often used in perfume.