Matthew 2  New American Standard Bible

The Visit of the Magi

2 Now after Jesus was ^(A)born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of ^(B)Herod the king, behold, ^[a]magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem, saying, ² “Where is He who has been born ^(C)King of the Jews? For we saw ^(D)His star in the east and have come to worship Him.” ³ When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. ⁴ And gathering together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the ^[b]Messiah was to be born. ⁵ They said to him, “^(E)In Bethlehem of Judea; for this is what has been written ^[c]by ^[d]the prophet:

⁷ Then Herod secretly called for the magi and determined from them the exact ^[e]time ^(H)the star appeared. ⁸ And he sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the Child; and when you have found Him, report to me, so that I too may come and worship Him.” ⁹ After hearing the king, they went on their way; and behold, the star, which they had seen in the east, went on ahead of them until it came to a stop over the place where the Child was to be found. ¹⁰ When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. ¹¹ And after they came into the house, they saw the Child with ^(I)His mother Mary; and they fell down and ^[f](J)worshiped Him. Then they opened their treasures and presented to Him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. ¹² And after being ^(K)warned by God ^(L)in a dream not to return to Herod, the magi left for their own country by another way.

The Escape to Egypt

¹³ Now when they had gone, behold, an ^(M)angel of the Lord *^(N)appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Get up! Take the Child and His mother and flee to Egypt, and stay there until I tell you; for Herod is going to search for the Child to kill Him.”

¹⁴ So ^[g]Joseph got up and took the Child and His mother while it was still night, and left for Egypt. ¹⁵ He ^[h]stayed there until the death of Herod; this happened so that what had been spoken by the Lord through ^[i]the prophet would be fulfilled: “^(O)Out of Egypt I called ^(P)My Son.”

Herod Slaughters Babies

¹⁶ Then when Herod saw that he had been tricked by ^(Q)the magi, he became very enraged, and sent men and ^(R)killed all the boys who were in Bethlehem and all its vicinity ^[j]who were two years old or under, according to the time which he had determined from the magi. ¹⁷ Then what had been spoken through Jeremiah the prophet was fulfilled:

¹⁹ But when Herod died, behold, an angel of the Lord *^(T)appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, and said, ²⁰ “Get up, take the Child and His mother, and go to the land of Israel; for those who sought the Child’s life are dead.” ²¹ So ^[k]Joseph got up, took the Child and His mother, and came into 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. Then after being ^(U)warned by God in a dream, he left for the regions of Galilee, ²³ and came and settled in a city called ^(V)Nazareth. This happened so that what was spoken through the prophets would be fulfilled: “He will be called a ^(W)Nazarene.”