Matthew 2
2
The Visit of the Magi
1 Now, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, magi* from the East came to Jerusalem, 2 saying, “Where is the One who has been born King of the Jews? For we saw His star at its emergence and have come to worship Him.”
3 Now, when King Herod heard it, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him; 4 and having gathered together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he began inquiring from them where the Christ was to be born. 5 And they said to him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for thus it is written by the prophet:
6 ‘And you, Bethlehem, land of Judah,
are by no means least among the rulers of Judah,
for from you will emerge a ruler
who will shepherd My people Israel.’ ”*
7 Then, Herod secretly called the magi and ascertained from them the time when the star had appeared. 8 And he sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go, search carefully for the Child, and when you have found Him, bring a report to me, that I also may come and worship Him.” 9 And listening to the king, they went out; and behold, the star which they had seen at its emergence led them until it came and stood over the place where the Child was.
10 Now, when they saw the star, they rejoiced profoundly with great joy. 11 And coming into the house, they saw the Child with Mary His mother, and they fell down and worshiped Him. And when they opened their treasures, they offered Him gifts: gold and frankincense and myrrh. 12 And having been divinely warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they departed to their own country by another route.
The Flight to Egypt
13 Now, after they had departed,* behold, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph, saying, “Rise, take the Child and His mother, and flee to Egypt, and stay there until I speak to you. For Herod is about to seek the Child to destroy Him.” 14 So he got up, and took the Child and His mother by night, and departed to Egypt. 15 And he was there until the death of Herod. This was* to fulfil what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying, “Out of Egypt I have called My Son.”*
Herod's Murderous Action
16 Then Herod, when he saw that he had been mocked by the magi, was intensely enraged; and he sent soldiers and put to death all the boys in Bethlehem and in all its regions from two years old and under, according to the time which he had ascertained from the magi. 17 Then was fulfilled what was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet, saying,
18 “A voice was heard in Ramah,*
weeping and loud lamentation,
Rachel weeping for her children;
and she would not be consoled,
because they are no more.”*
The Return to Israel and Nazareth
19 Now, when Herod died, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, 20 saying, “When you get up, take the Child and His mother, and go to the land of Israel, for those who were seeking the life of the Child are dead.” 21 So, when he got up, he took the Child and His mother, and came into the land of Israel. 22 But having heard that Archelaus was reigning over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there; and having been divinely warned in a dream, he took refuge in the district* of Galilee. 23 And he came and lived in a city called Nazareth. This was* to fulfil what was spoken by the prophets: “He will be called a Nazarene.”
Notes
1 Or wise men. So also vv. 7,16
6 Quoted from Mic. 5:2
13 One ancient Greek manuscript inserts the prepositional phrase to their country at this point, likely as an effort to harmonise the reading with a parallel in v. 12
15 The expression This was is contextually supplied for purpose of clarification
15 Quoted from Hos. 11:1
18 Some ancient manuscripts insert the expression wailing and at this point, likely as an effort to harmonise the text with a parallel construction in the Septuagint of Jer. 31:15
18 Quoted from Jer. 31:15
22 Greek parts
23 The expression This was is contextually supplied for the purpose of clarification
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Copyright © 2026 Michael Adeyemi Adegbola. This Scripture text is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License (CC BY-SA 4.0).
