For Unto Us a Child is Born

 

Luke 2

 ¹And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be taxed.

 ²(And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.)

 ³And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city.

 ⁴And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judaea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; (because he was of the house and lineage of David:)

 ⁵To be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child.

 ⁶And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered.

 ⁷And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.

 ⁸And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.

 ⁹And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.

 ¹⁰And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.

 ¹¹For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.

 ¹²And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.

 ¹³And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,

 ¹⁴Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.

 ¹⁵And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us.

 ¹⁶And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger.

 ¹⁷And when they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child.

 ¹⁸And all they that heard it wondered at those things which were told them by the shepherds.

 ¹⁹But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart.

 ²⁰And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told unto them.

 

Matthew 1

Matthew 1

The Genealogy of Jesus the Messiah

 ¹ This is the genealogy^a] of Jesus the Messiah^b] the son of David, the son of Abraham:

 ² Abraham was the father of Isaac, 
   Isaac the father of Jacob, 
   Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers, 
 ³ Judah the father of Perez and Zerah, whose mother was Tamar, 
   Perez the father of Hezron, 
   Hezron the father of Ram, 
 ⁴ Ram the father of Amminadab, 
   Amminadab the father of Nahshon, 
   Nahshon the father of Salmon, 
 ⁵ Salmon the father of Boaz, whose mother was Rahab, 
   Boaz the father of Obed, whose mother was Ruth, 
   Obed the father of Jesse, 
 ⁶ and Jesse the father of King David.

   David was the father of Solomon, whose mother had been Uriah’s wife, 
 ⁷ Solomon the father of Rehoboam, 
   Rehoboam the father of Abijah, 
   Abijah the father of Asa, 
 ⁸ Asa the father of Jehoshaphat, 
   Jehoshaphat the father of Jehoram, 
   Jehoram the father of Uzziah, 
 ⁹ Uzziah the father of Jotham, 
   Jotham the father of Ahaz, 
   Ahaz the father of Hezekiah, 
 ¹⁰ Hezekiah the father of Manasseh, 
   Manasseh the father of Amon, 
   Amon the father of Josiah, 
 ¹¹ and Josiah the father of Jeconiah^c] and his brothers at the time of the exile to Babylon.

 ¹² After the exile to Babylon: 
   Jeconiah was the father of Shealtiel, 
   Shealtiel the father of Zerubbabel, 
 ¹³ Zerubbabel the father of Abihud, 
   Abihud the father of Eliakim, 
   Eliakim the father of Azor, 
 ¹⁴ Azor the father of Zadok, 
   Zadok the father of Akim, 
   Akim the father of Elihud, 
 ¹⁵ Elihud the father of Eleazar, 
   Eleazar the father of Matthan, 
   Matthan the father of Jacob, 
 ¹⁶ and Jacob the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary, and Mary was the mother of Jesus who is called the Messiah.

 ¹⁷ Thus there were fourteen generations in all from Abraham to David, fourteen from David to the exile to Babylon, and fourteen from the exile to the Messiah.

Joseph Accepts Jesus as His Son

 ¹⁸ This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about^d]: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit. ¹⁹ Because Joseph her husband was faithful to the law, and yet^e] did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.

 ²⁰ But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. ²¹ She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus,^f] because he will save his people from their sins.”

 ²² All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: ²³ “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel”^g] (which means “God with us”).

 ²⁴ When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. ²⁵ But he did not consummate their marriage until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.

Matthew 2

The Magi Visit the Messiah

 ¹ After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi^a] from the east came to Jerusalem ² and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.”

 ³ When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. ⁴ When he had called together all the people’s chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Messiah was to be born. ⁵ “In Bethlehem in Judea,” they replied, “for this is what the prophet has written:

 ⁶ “‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, 
   are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; 
for out of you will come a ruler 
   who will shepherd my people Israel.’^b]”

 ⁷ Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. ⁸ He sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him.”

 ⁹ After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen when it rose went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. ¹⁰ When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. ¹¹ On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. ¹²And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.

The Escape to Egypt

 ¹³ When they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. “Get up,” he said, “take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.”

 ¹⁴ So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt, ¹⁵ where he stayed until the death of Herod. And so was fulfilled what the Lord had said through the prophet: “Out of Egypt I called my son.”^c]

 ¹⁶ When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi. ¹⁷Then what was said through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled:

 ¹⁸ “A voice is heard in Ramah, 
   weeping and great mourning, 
Rachel weeping for her children 
   and refusing to be comforted, 
   because they are no more.”^d]

The Return to Nazareth

 ¹⁹ After Herod died, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt ²⁰ and said, “Get up, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who were trying to take the child’s life are dead.”

 ²¹ So he got up, took the child and his mother and went to the land of Israel. ²² But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning in Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. Having been warned in a dream, he withdrew to the district of Galilee, ²³ and he went and lived in a town called Nazareth. So was fulfilled what was said through the prophets, that he would be called a Nazarene.