Passage: Matthew 1, 2, 3, 4 (RSV)


Matthew 1


1The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.
2Abraham was the father of Isaac, and Isaac the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers,
3and Judah the father of Perez and Zerah by Tamar, and Perez the father of Hezron, and Hezron the father of Ram,
4and Ram the father of Ammin'adab, and Ammin'adab the father of Nahshon, and Nahshon the father of Salmon,
5and Salmon the father of Bo'az by Rahab, and Bo'az the father of Obed by Ruth, and Obed the father of Jesse,
6and Jesse the father of David the king. And David was the father of Solomon by the wife of Uri'ah,
7and Solomon the father of Rehobo'am, and Rehobo'am the father of Abi'jah, and Abi'jah the father of Asa,
8and Asa the father of Jehosh'aphat, and Jehosh'aphat the father of Joram, and Joram the father of Uzzi'ah,
9and Uzzi'ah the father of Jotham, and Jotham the father of Ahaz, and Ahaz the father of Hezeki'ah,
10and Hezeki'ah the father of Manas'seh, and Manas'seh the father of Amos, and Amos the father of Josi'ah,
11and Josi'ah the father of Jechoniah and his brothers, at the time of the deportation to Babylon.
12And after the deportation to Babylon: Jechoni'ah was the father of She-al'ti-el, and She-al'ti-el the father of Zerub'babel,
13and Zerub'babel the father of Abi'ud, and Abi'ud the father of Eli'akim, and Eli'akim the father of Azor,
14and Azor the father of Zadok, and Zadok the father of Achim, and Achim the father of Eli'ud,
15and Eli'ud the father of Elea'zar, and Elea'zar the father of Matthan, and Matthan the father of Jacob,
16and Jacob the father of Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom Jesus was born, who is called Christ.
17So all the generations from Abraham to David were fourteen generations, and from David to the deportation to Babylon fourteen generations, and from the deportation to Babylon to the Christ fourteen generations.
18Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child of the Holy Spirit;
19and her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly.
20But as he considered this, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, "Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit;
21she will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins."
22All this took place to fulfil what the Lord had spoken by the prophet:
23"Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and his name shall be called Emmanuel" (which means, God with us).
24When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him; he took his wife,
25but knew her not until she had borne a son; and he called his name Jesus.

Matthew 2


1Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, saying,
2"Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we have seen his star in the East, and have come to worship him."
3When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him;
4and assembling all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born.
5They told him, "In Bethlehem of Judea; for so it is written by the prophet:
6`And you, O Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for from you shall come a ruler who will govern my people Israel.'"
7Then Herod summoned the wise men secretly and ascertained from them what time the star appeared;
8and he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, "Go and search diligently for the child, and when you have found him bring me word, that I too may come and worship him."
9When they had heard the king they went their way; and lo, the star which they had seen in the East went before them, till it came to rest over the place where the child was.
10When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy;
11and going into the house they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him. Then, opening their treasures, they offered him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh.
12And being warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they departed to their own country by another way.
13Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, "Rise, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there till I tell you; for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him."
14And he rose and took the child and his mother by night, and departed to Egypt,
15and remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfil what the Lord had spoken by the prophet, "Out of Egypt have I called my son."
16Then Herod, when he saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, was in a furious rage, and he sent and killed all the male children in Bethlehem and in all that region who were two years old or under, according to the time which he had ascertained from the wise men.
17Then was fulfilled what was spoken by the prophet Jeremiah:
18"A voice was heard in Ramah, wailing and loud lamentation, Rachel weeping for her children; she refused to be consoled, because they were no more."
19But when Herod died, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, saying,
20"Rise, take the child and his mother, and go to the land of Israel, for those who sought the child's life are dead."
21And he rose and took the child and his mother, and went to the land of Israel.
22But when he heard that Archelaus reigned over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there, and being warned in a dream he withdrew to the district of Galilee.
23And he went and dwelt in a city called Nazareth, that what was spoken by the prophets might be fulfilled, "He shall be called a Nazarene."

Matthew 3


1In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judea,
2"Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand."
3For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah when he said, "The voice of one crying in the wilderness: Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight."
4Now John wore a garment of camel's hair, and a leather girdle around his waist; and his food was locusts and wild honey.
5Then went out to him Jerusalem and all Judea and all the region about the Jordan,
6and they were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins.
7But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sad'ducees coming for baptism, he said to them, "You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?
8Bear fruit that befits repentance,
9and do not presume to say to yourselves, `We have Abraham as our father'; for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham.
10Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees; every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.
11"I baptize you with water for repentance, but he who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry; he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.
12His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and gather his wheat into the granary, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire."
13Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to John, to be baptized by him.
14John would have prevented him, saying, "I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?"
15But Jesus answered him, "Let it be so now; for thus it is fitting for us to fulfil all righteousness." Then he consented.
16And when Jesus was baptized, he went up immediately from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and alighting on him;
17and lo, a voice from heaven, saying, "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased."

Matthew 4


1Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.
2And he fasted forty days and forty nights, and afterward he was hungry.
3And the tempter came and said to him, "If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread."
4But he answered, "It is written, `Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.'"
5Then the devil took him to the holy city, and set him on the pinnacle of the temple,
6and said to him, "If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down; for it is written, `He will give his angels charge of you,' and `On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.'"
7Jesus said to him, "Again it is written, `You shall not tempt the Lord your God.'"
8Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain, and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and the glory of them;
9and he said to him, "All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me."
10Then Jesus said to him, "Begone, Satan! for it is written, `You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.'"
11Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and ministered to him.
12Now when he heard that John had been arrested, he withdrew into Galilee;
13and leaving Nazareth he went and dwelt in Caper'na-um by the sea, in the territory of Zeb'ulun and Naph'tali,
14that what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled:
15"The land of Zeb'ulun and the land of Naph'tali, toward the sea, across the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles --
16the people who sat in darkness have seen a great light, and for those who sat in the region and shadow of death light has dawned."
17From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand."
18As he walked by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon who is called Peter and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen.
19And he said to them, "Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men."
20Immediately they left their nets and followed him.
21And going on from there he saw two other brothers, James the son of Zeb'edee and John his brother, in the boat with Zeb'edee their father, mending their nets, and he called them.
22Immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed him.
23And he went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and preaching the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every infirmity among the people.
24So his fame spread throughout all Syria, and they brought him all the sick, those afflicted with various diseases and pains, demoniacs, epileptics, and paralytics, and he healed them.
25And great crowds followed him from Galilee and the Decap'olis and Jerusalem and Judea and from beyond the Jordan.



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