MATTHEW 2:1-5
1After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, [so this was the first
Christmas] during the time of King Herod, Magi 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. 4When 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:MATTHEW 2:6-9
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.’” 7 Then Herod called the Magi secretly
and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. 8He
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.” 9After 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.
MATTHEW 2:10-13
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. 12 And
having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they
returned to their country by another route. 13When 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.”
MATTHEW 2:14-16
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.”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.