Wise Men Come to Visit Jesus

2 ·When [After] Jesus was born in the town of Bethlehem in Judea during the time when Herod was king, some ·wise men [astrologers; magi; ^Ca class of wise men and priests who practiced astrology] from the east came to Jerusalem. ² They asked, “Where is the ·baby who was born to be the king [or newborn king] of the Jews? We saw his star ·in the east [or when it rose] and have come to ·worship him [pay him homage].”

³ When King Herod heard this, he was ·troubled [very disturbed; frightened], as were all the people in Jerusalem. ⁴ Herod ·called a meeting of [assembled] all the ·leading [^Tchief] priests and ·teachers of the law [scribes] and ·asked [inquired of] them where the ·Christ [Messiah] would be born. ⁵ They answered, “In the town of Bethlehem in Judea. ·The prophet wrote about this in the Scriptures [^LFor so it has been written by the prophet]:

⁷ Then Herod ·had a secret meeting with [privately summoned] the ·wise men [astrologers; magi; v. 1] and ·learned [inquired] from them the exact time ·they first saw the star [the star appeared]. ⁸ He sent the ·wise men [astrologers; magi] to Bethlehem, saying, “·Look [Go and search] carefully for the child. When you find him, ·come tell [report to] me so I can [^Lgo and] ·worship [pay homage to] him too.”

⁹ After the ·wise men [astrologers; magi] ·heard [listened to; had their interview with] the king, they ·left [went on their way; set out]. [^LAnd look] The star that they had seen ·in the east [or when it rose] went ·before [ahead of] them until it ·stopped [stood] above the place where the child was. ¹⁰ When the ·wise men [astologers; magi] saw the star, they ·were filled with joy [were overjoyed; ^Lrejoiced with exceedingly great joy]. ¹¹ They ·came to [entered] the house where the child was and saw him with his mother, Mary, and they ·bowed down [knelt; ^Lfell] and ·worshiped [paid homage to] him. They opened their ·gifts [treasure chests; treasures] and gave him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. ¹² ·But God warned the wise men [^LBeing warned; ^Cthe passive verb implies God as subject] in a dream not to go back to Herod, so they returned to their own country by a different way.

Jesus’ Parents Take Him to Egypt

¹³ After they left, an angel of the Lord ·came [appeared] to Joseph in a dream and said, “Get up! Take the child and his mother and ·escape [flee] to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you to return, because Herod is ·starting [intending; going] to ·look [search] for the child so he can kill him.”

¹⁴ So Joseph got up and left for Egypt during the night with the child and his mother. ¹⁵ And Joseph stayed in Egypt until Herod died. This happened to ·bring about [fulfill] what the Lord had said through the prophet: “I called my son out of Egypt [Hos. 11:1; ^CJesus fulfills the role of Israel by leading a spiritual Exodus].”

Herod Kills the Baby Boys

¹⁶ When Herod saw that the ·wise men [astologers; magi] had ·tricked [outwitted; outsmarted] him, he was furious. So he ·gave an order [or sent soldiers] to kill all the baby boys in Bethlehem and in the surrounding area who were two years old or younger. This was ·in keeping with [based on] the time he learned from the ·wise men [astologers; magi]. ¹⁷ ·So [Then] what ·God had said [^Lwas spoken; ^Cthe passive verb implies God as subject] through the prophet Jeremiah ·came true [was fulfilled]:

Joseph and Mary Return

¹⁹ After Herod died, an angel of the Lord ·spoke [appeared] to Joseph in a dream while he was in Egypt. ²⁰ The angel said, “Get up! Take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, because the people who were ·trying to kill [^Lseeking the life of] the child are now dead.”

²¹ So Joseph [^Lgot up,] took the child and his mother and ·went [returned] to Israel. ²² But he heard that Archelaus [^Creigned from 4 bc to ad 6] was now ·king [reigning] in Judea ·since his father Herod had died [^Lin place of his father Herod]. So Joseph was afraid to go there. After being warned in a dream, he ·went [withdrew] to the ·area [region; district] of Galilee, ²³ to a town called Nazareth, and lived there. And so what ·God had said [was spoken; ^Cthe passive verb implies God as subject] through the prophets ·came true [was fulfilled]: “He will be called a Nazarene [^Ca person from the town of Nazareth; perhaps a reference to Is. 11:1, where the Hebrew word translated “branch” sounds like “Nazarene”].”