Matthew
Chapter 2
Overview
Matthew’s story continues in Bethlehem during the reign of King Herod. Astrologers from the east come looking for Jesus, the newborn king of the Jewish people. They honor him with costly gifts, but Herod sees the child as a threat—power can be frightened by a child. Warnings in dreams lead the visitors away from Herod and send Joseph, Mary, and Jesus to safety in Egypt. After Herod brings terrible grief to Bethlehem, the family eventually settles in Nazareth. Throughout the chapter, Matthew connects Jesus’ story with Israel’s ancient Scriptures.
1Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea during the reign of King Herod. After his birth, astrologers from the east came to Jerusalem.
2They asked, “Where is the child who has been born king of the Jewish people? We saw his star when it rose, and we have come to bow down and honor him.”
3When King Herod heard this, he was deeply disturbed, and all Jerusalem was disturbed with him.
4Herod gathered all the leading priests and the people’s experts in the sacred law. He asked them where the Messiah—God’s promised king—was to be born.
5They answered, “In Bethlehem in Judea, because this is what the prophet wrote:
6‘And you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are certainly not the least among the leaders of Judah. From you will come a ruler who will guide my people Israel like a shepherd.’”
7Then Herod secretly called the astrologers and learned from them exactly when the star had appeared.
8He sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the child. When you find him, report back to me so that I too can go and bow down before him.”
9After hearing the king’s instructions, they went on their way. The star they had seen when it rose went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was.
10When they saw the star, they were overjoyed.
11They entered the house and saw the child with Mary, his mother. They fell down and bowed before him. Then they opened their treasures and gave him gifts: gold and the fragrant resins called frankincense and myrrh.
12They were warned in a dream not to return to Herod, so they went back to their own country by another road.
13After they had left, an angel from God appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Get up. Take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you to leave, because Herod is about to search for the child and kill him.”
14Joseph got up during the night, took the child and his mother, and left for Egypt.
15He stayed there until Herod died. In this way, what God had said through the prophet came true: “I called my son out of Egypt.”
16When Herod realized that the astrologers had outwitted him, he became furious. He sent men to kill every boy in Bethlehem and the entire surrounding area who was two years old or younger. He chose this age based on the time he had learned from the astrologers.
17Then the words spoken through the prophet Jeremiah came true:
18“A voice was heard in Ramah—loud crying and deep grief. Rachel, one of Israel’s ancestral mothers, was weeping for her children. She refused to be comforted because they were gone.”
19After Herod died, an angel from God appeared to Joseph in a dream in Egypt
20and said, “Get up. Take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, because those who were trying to kill the child are dead.”
21Joseph got up, took the child and his mother, and entered the land of Israel.
22But Joseph heard that Archelaus was ruling Judea in place of his father, Herod, so he was afraid to go there. After he was warned in a dream, he went instead to the region of Galilee.
23There he settled in a town called Nazareth. In this way, what the prophets had said came true: “He will be called a Nazarene”—someone from Nazareth.