Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the reign of
King Herod. About that time some wise men from eastern lands arrived in
Jerusalem, asking, “Where is the newborn king of the
Jews? We saw his star as it rose, and we have come to worship him.”
King Herod was deeply disturbed when
he heard this, as was everyone in Jerusalem. He called a meeting of the
leading priests and teachers of religious law and asked, “Where is the Messiah
supposed to be born?”
“In Bethlehem in Judea,” they said,
“for this is what the prophet wrote:
‘And you, O Bethlehem in the land of
Judah,
are
not least among the ruling cities of Judah,
for a
ruler will come from you
who
will be the shepherd for my people Israel.’ ”
Then Herod called for a private meeting with the wise men, and
he learned from them the time when the star first appeared. Then he told
them, “Go to Bethlehem and search carefully for the child. And when you find
him, come back and tell me so that I can go and worship him, too!”
After this interview the wise men
went their way. And the star they had seen in the east guided them to
Bethlehem. It went ahead of them and stopped over the place where the child
was. When they saw the star, they were filled with joy! They entered
the house and saw the child with his mother, Mary, and they bowed down and
worshiped him. Then they opened their treasure chests and gave him gifts of
gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
When it was time to leave, they
returned to their own country by another route, for God had warned them in a
dream not to return to Herod.
After the wise men were gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to
Joseph in a dream. “Get up! Flee to Egypt with the child and his mother,” the
angel said. “Stay there until I tell you to return, because Herod is going to
search for the child to kill him.”
That night Joseph left for Egypt with
the child and Mary, his mother, and
they stayed there until Herod’s death. This fulfilled what the Lord had spoken
through the prophet: “I called my Son out of Egypt.”
Herod was furious when he realized
that the wise men had outwitted him. He sent soldiers to kill all the boys in
and around Bethlehem who were two years old and under, based on the wise men’s
report of the star’s first appearance. Herod’s brutal action fulfilled
what God had spoken through the prophet Jeremiah:
“A cry was heard in Ramah—
weeping
and great mourning.
Rachel
weeps for her children,
refusing
to be comforted,
for
they are dead.”
When Herod died, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream
to Joseph in Egypt. “Get up!” the angel said. “Take the
child and his mother back to the land of Israel, because those who were trying
to kill the child are dead.”
So Joseph got up and returned to the
land of Israel with Jesus and his mother. But when he learned that the new
ruler of Judea was Herod’s son Archelaus, he was afraid to go there. Then,
after being warned in a dream, he left for the region of Galilee. So the
family went and lived in a town called Nazareth. This fulfilled what the
prophets had said: “He will be called a Nazarene.”
~ Source : Matthew 2:1-23 [Holy Bible -NLT]
taken from https://www.biblegateway.com
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