The Wise Men
1 When Jesus was born in the village of Bethlehem in Judea, Herod was king. During this time some wise men from the east came to Jerusalem 2 and said, “Where is the child born to be king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him.”
3 When King Herod heard about this, he was worried, and so was everyone else in Jerusalem. 4 Herod brought together the chief priests and the teachers of the Law of Moses and asked them, “Where will the Messiah be born?”
5 They told him, “He will be born in Bethlehem, just as the prophet wrote,
6 ‘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.’ ”
7 Herod secretly called in the wise men and asked them when they had first seen the star. 8 He 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.”
9 The 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. 10 They were thrilled and excited to see the star.
11 When 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 and gave them to him. 12 Later they were warned in a dream not to return to Herod, and they went back home by another road.
The Escape to Egypt
13 After the wise men had gone, an angel from the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Get up! Hurry and take the child and his mother to Egypt! Stay there until I tell you to return, because Herod is looking for the child and wants to kill him.”
14 That night, Joseph got up and took his wife and the child to Egypt, 15 where they stayed until Herod died. So the Lord's promise came true, just as the prophet had said, “I called my son out of Egypt.”
The Killing of the Children
16 When Herod found out that the wise men from the east had tricked him, he was very angry. He gave orders for his men to kill all the boys who lived in or near Bethlehem and were two years old and younger. This was based on what he had learned from the wise men.
17 So the Lord's promise came true, just as the prophet Jeremiah had said,
18 “In Ramah a voice was heard
crying and weeping loudly.
Rachel was mourning
for her children,
and she refused
to be comforted,
because they were dead.”
The Return from Egypt
19 After King Herod died, an angel from the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph while he was still in Egypt. 20 The angel said, “Get up and take the child and his mother back to Israel. The people who wanted to kill him are now dead.”
21 Joseph got up and left with them for Israel. 22 But when he heard that Herod's son Archelaus was now ruler of Judea, he was afraid to go there. Then in a dream he was told to go to Galilee, 23 and they went to live there in the town of Nazareth. So the Lord's promise came true, just as the prophet had said, “He will be called a Nazarene.”
1 When Jesus then was borne at Bethleem in Iudea, in the dayes of Herod the King, beholde, there came Wisemen from the East to Hierusalem, 2 Saying, Where is that King of the Iewes that is borne? for wee haue seene his starre in the East, and are come to worship him. 3 When King Herod heard this, he was troubled, and all Hierusalem with him. 4 And gathering together all the chiefe Priestes and Scribes of the people, hee asked of them, where Christ should be borne. 5 And they saide vnto him, At Beth-leem in Iudea: for so it is written by the Prophet, 6 And thou Beth-leem in the lande of Iuda, art not the least among the Princes of Iuda: For out of thee shall come the gouernour that shall feede that my people Israel. 7 Then Herod priuily called the Wisemen, and diligently inquired of them the time of the starre that appeared, 8 And sent them to Beth-leem, saying, Goe, and searche diligently for the babe: and when ye haue founde him, bring mee worde againe, that I may come also, and worship him. 9 So when they had heard the King, they departed: and loe, the starre which they had seene in the East, went before them, till it came and stoode ouer the place where the babe was. 10 And when they sawe the starre, they reioyced with an exceeding great ioy, 11 And went into the house, and founde the babe with Mary his mother, and fell downe, and worshipped him, and opened their treasures, and presented vnto him giftes, euen golde, and frankincense, and myrrhe. 12 And after they were warned of God in a dreame, that they should not go againe to Herod, they returned into their countrey another way. 13 After their departure, behold, the Angel of the Lord appeareth to Ioseph in a dreame, saying, Arise, and take the babe and his mother, and flee into Egypt, and be there til I bring thee word: for Herod will seeke the babe, to destroy him. 14 So he arose and tooke the babe and his mother by night, and departed into Egypt, 15 And was there vnto the death of Herod, that that might be fulfilled, which is spoken of the Lord by the Prophet, saying, Out of Egypt haue I called my sonne. 16 Then Herod, seeing that he was mocked of the Wisemen, was exceeding wroth, and sent foorth, and slew all the male children that were in Beth-leem, and in all the coasts thereof, from two yeere old and vnder, according to the time which he had diligently searched out of the Wisemen. 17 Then was that fulfilled which is spoken by the Prophet Ieremias, saying, 18 In Rhama was a voyce heard, mourning, and weeping, and great howling: Rachel weeping for her children, and would not be comforted, because they were not. 19 And whe Herod was dead, behold, an Angel of the Lord appeareth in a dreame to Ioseph in Egypt, 20 Saying, Arise, and take the babe and his mother, and goe into the land of Israel: for they are dead which sought the babes life. 21 Then he arose vp and tooke the babe and his mother, and came into the land of Israel. 22 But whe he heard that Archelaus did reigne in Iudea in stead of his father Herod, he was afraide to go thither: yet after he was warned of God in a dreame, he turned aside into the parts of Galile, 23 And went and dwelt in a citie called Nazareth, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Prophets, which was, That hee should be called a Nazarite.