1 Now Joshua was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of King Herod. Look! Wise men from the east came to Jerusalem, 2 saying, “Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we saw His star in the east, and have come to worship Him.” 3 When King Herod heard it, he was stirred up, and all Jerusalem with him. 4 And gathering together all the chief priests and scholars of the people, he asked them where the Anointed would be born. 5 So they said to him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, because this is written through the prophet,
6 ‘And you Bethlehem in the land of Judah,
are not at all unimportant among the rulers of Judah,
because a Ruler will come from you,
who will shepherd My people Israel.’”
7 Then Herod secretly called the wise men, and asked them exactly what time the star appeared. 8 And he sent them to Bethlehem, and said, “Go and carefully search for the little Child, and when you have found Him, tell me, so I can go and worship Him too.”
9 When they heard the king, they went on their way. And look, the star which they saw in the east led the way ahead of them until it came and was placed above where the little Child was. 10 When they saw the star they were extremely happy. 11 And they came into the house and saw the little Child with His mother Miriam, and they bowed down and worshiped Him. And opening their treasures, they presented gifts to Him: gold, frankincense, and myrrh. 12 And being divinely instructed in a dream not to return to Herod, they departed to their own country by a different way.
13 Now when they had departed, look, a messenger of the Master appeared to Joseph in a dream, saying, “Get up and take the little Child and His mother, and escape to Egypt, and stay there until I tell you, for Herod will search for the little Child to destroy Him.”
14 So he got up and took the little Child and His mother that night, and departed to Egypt, 15 and was there until the death of Herod, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Master through the prophet, saying, “Out of Egypt I called my son.”
16 Then Herod, when he saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, was extremely angry. And he sent out and killed all the boys who were in Bethlehem and in all the surrounding countryside, from two years old and under, according to the exact time which he had learned from the wise men. 17 Then what was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet was fulfilled, saying,
18 “A voice was heard in Ramah,
wailing, crying, and great mourning;
Rachel crying for her children
and refusing to be comforted,
because they are no more.”
19 But when Herod was dead, look, a messenger of the Master appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, saying, 20 “Get up and take the little Child and his mother, and go into the land of Israel, for those who tried to take the little Child’s life are dead.”
21 Then he arose and took the little Child and His mother, and came into the land of Israel. 22 But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning over Judea in the place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. And being divinely instructed in a dream, he departed to the region of Galilee. 23 And he came and lived in a city called Natzrat, so that what was spoken through the prophets would be fulfilled, that He would be called a Natzerean.*