Matthew 1-4

New King James Version

The Genealogy of Jesus Christ^(A)

1 The book of the ^(B)genealogy^[a] of Jesus Christ, ^(C)the Son of David, ^(D)the Son of Abraham:

^2 (E)Abraham begot Isaac, ^(F)Isaac begot Jacob, and Jacob begot ^(G)Judah and his brothers. ^3 (H)Judah begot Perez and Zerah by Tamar, ^(I)Perez begot Hezron, and Hezron begot Ram. ⁴ Ram begot Amminadab, Amminadab begot Nahshon, and Nahshon begot Salmon. ⁵ Salmon begot ^(J)Boaz by Rahab, Boaz begot Obed by Ruth, Obed begot Jesse, ⁶ and ^(K)Jesse begot David the king.

^(L)David the king begot Solomon by her ^[b]who had been the wife of Uriah. ^7 (M)Solomon begot Rehoboam, Rehoboam begot ^(N)Abijah, and Abijah begot ^[c]Asa. ⁸ Asa begot ^(O)Jehoshaphat, Jehoshaphat begot Joram, and Joram begot ^(P)Uzziah. ⁹ Uzziah begot Jotham, Jotham begot ^(Q)Ahaz, and Ahaz begot Hezekiah. ^10 (R)Hezekiah begot Manasseh, Manasseh begot ^[d]Amon, and Amon begot ^(S)Josiah. ^11 (T)Josiah begot ^[e]Jeconiah and his brothers about the time they were ^(U)carried away to Babylon.

¹² And after they were brought to Babylon, ^(V)Jeconiah begot Shealtiel, and Shealtiel begot ^(W)Zerubbabel. ¹³ Zerubbabel begot Abiud, Abiud begot Eliakim, and Eliakim begot Azor. ¹⁴ Azor begot Zadok, Zadok begot Achim, and Achim begot Eliud. ¹⁵ Eliud begot Eleazar, Eleazar begot Matthan, and Matthan begot Jacob. ¹⁶ And Jacob begot Joseph the husband of ^(X)Mary, of whom was born Jesus who is called Christ.

¹⁷ So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations, from David until the captivity in Babylon are fourteen generations, and from the captivity in Babylon until the Christ are fourteen generations.

Christ Born of Mary^(Y)

¹⁸ Now the ^(Z)birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: After His mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child ^(AA)of the Holy Spirit. ¹⁹ Then Joseph her husband, being ^[f]a just man, and not wanting ^(AB)to make her a public example, was minded to put her away secretly. ²⁰ But while he thought about these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to you Mary your wife, ^(AC)for that which is ^[g]conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. ^21 (AD)And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name ^[h]Jesus, ^(AE)for He will save His people from their sins.”

²² So all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying: ^23 (AF)“Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,” which is translated, “God with us.”

²⁴ Then Joseph, being aroused from sleep, did as the angel of the Lord commanded him and took to him his wife, ²⁵ and ^[i]did not know her till she had brought forth ^(AG)her^[j] firstborn Son. And he called His name Jesus.

Wise Men from the East

2 Now after ^(AH)Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, ^[k]wise men ^(AI)from the East came to Jerusalem, ² saying, ^(AJ)“Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we have seen ^(AK)His star in the East and have come to worship Him.”

³ When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. ⁴ And when he had gathered all ^(AL)the chief priests and ^(AM)scribes of the people together, ^(AN)he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born.

⁵ So they said to him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for thus it is written by the prophet:

⁷ Then Herod, when he had secretly called the ^[l]wise men, determined from them what time the ^(AQ)star appeared. ⁸ And he sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the young Child, and when you have found Him, bring back word to me, that I may come and worship Him also.”

⁹ When they heard the king, they departed; and behold, the star which they had seen in the East went before them, till it came and stood over where the young Child was. ¹⁰ When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceedingly great joy. ¹¹ And when they had come into the house, they saw the young Child with Mary His mother, and fell down and worshiped Him. And when they had opened their treasures, ^(AR)they presented gifts to Him: gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

¹² Then, being divinely warned ^(AS)in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed for their own country another way.

The Flight into Egypt

¹³ Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, saying, “Arise, take the young Child and His mother, flee to Egypt, and stay there until I bring you word; for Herod will seek the young Child to destroy Him.”

¹⁴ When he arose, he took the young Child and His mother by night and departed for Egypt, ¹⁵ and was there until the death of Herod, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying, ^(AT)“Out of Egypt I called My Son.”

Massacre of the Innocents

¹⁶ Then Herod, when he saw that he was deceived by the wise men, was exceedingly angry; and he sent forth and put to death all the male children who were in Bethlehem and in all its districts, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had determined from the wise men. ¹⁷ Then was fulfilled what was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet, saying:

The Home in Nazareth^(AV)

¹⁹ Now when Herod was dead, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, ^20 (AW)saying, “Arise, take the young Child and His mother, and go to the land of Israel, for those who ^(AX)sought the young Child’s life are dead.” ²¹ Then he arose, took the young Child and His mother, and came into the land of Israel.

²² But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning over Judea instead of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. And being warned by God in a ^(AY)dream, he turned aside ^(AZ)into the region of Galilee. ²³ And he came and dwelt in a city called ^(BA)Nazareth, that it might be fulfilled ^(BB)which was spoken by the prophets, “He shall be called a Nazarene.”

John the Baptist Prepares the Way^(BC)

3 In those days ^(BD)John the Baptist came preaching ^(BE)in the wilderness of Judea, ² and saying, “Repent, for ^(BF)the kingdom of heaven is at hand!” ³ For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah, saying:

⁴ Now ^(BI)John himself was clothed in camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist; and his food was ^(BJ)locusts and ^(BK)wild honey. ^5 (BL)Then Jerusalem, all Judea, and all the region around the Jordan went out to him ^6 (BM)and were baptized by him in the Jordan, confessing their sins.

⁷ But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, ^(BN)“Brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from ^(BO)the wrath to come? ⁸ Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance, ⁹ and do not think to say to yourselves, ^(BP)‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I say to you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones. ¹⁰ And even now the ax is laid to the root of the trees. ^(BQ)Therefore every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. ^11 (BR)I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. ^(BS)He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit ^[m]and fire. ^12 (BT)His winnowing fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clean out His threshing floor, and gather His wheat into the barn; but He will ^(BU)burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”

John Baptizes Jesus^(BV)

^13 (BW)Then Jesus came ^(BX)from Galilee to John at the Jordan to be baptized by him. ¹⁴ And John tried to prevent Him, saying, “I need to be baptized by You, and are You coming to me?”

¹⁵ But Jesus answered and said to him, “Permit it to be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he allowed Him.

^16 (BY)When He had been baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and ^[n]He saw ^(BZ)the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon Him. ^17 (CA)And suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, ^(CB)“This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”

Satan Tempts Jesus^(CC)

4 Then ^(CD)Jesus was led up by ^(CE)the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. ² And when He had fasted forty days and forty nights, afterward He was hungry. ³ Now when the tempter came to Him, he said, “If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.”

⁴ But He answered and said, “It is written, ^(CF)‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’ ”

⁵ Then the devil took Him up ^(CG)into the holy city, set Him on the pinnacle of the temple, ⁶ and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down. For it is written:

and,

⁷ Jesus said to him, “It is written again, ^(CJ)‘You shall not ^[o]tempt the Lord your God.’ ”

⁸ Again, the devil took Him up on an exceedingly high mountain, and ^(CK)showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. ⁹ And he said to Him, “All these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship me.”

¹⁰ Then Jesus said to him, ^[p]“Away with you, Satan! For it is written, ^(CL)‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve.’ ”

¹¹ Then the devil ^(CM)left Him, and behold, ^(CN)angels came and ministered to Him.

Jesus Begins His Galilean Ministry^(CO)

^12 (CP)Now when Jesus heard that John had been put in prison, He departed to Galilee. ¹³ And leaving Nazareth, He came and dwelt in Capernaum, which is by the sea, in the regions of Zebulun and Naphtali, ¹⁴ that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying:

^17 (CS)From that time Jesus began to preach and to say, ^(CT)“Repent, for the kingdom of heaven ^[q]is at hand.”

Four Fishermen Called as Disciples^(CU)

^18 (CV)And Jesus, walking by the Sea of Galilee, saw two brothers, Simon ^(CW)called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen. ¹⁹ Then He said to them, “Follow Me, and ^(CX)I will make you fishers of men.” ^20 (CY)They immediately left their nets and followed Him.

^21 (CZ)Going on from there, He saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets. He called them, ²² and immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed Him.

Jesus Heals a Great Multitude^(DA)

²³ And Jesus went about all Galilee, ^(DB)teaching in their synagogues, preaching ^(DC)the gospel of the kingdom, ^(DD)and healing all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease among the people. ²⁴ Then ^[r]His fame went throughout all Syria; and they ^(DE)brought to Him all sick people who were afflicted with various diseases and torments, and those who were demon-possessed, epileptics, and paralytics; and He healed them. ^25 (DF)Great multitudes followed Him—from Galilee, and from ^[s]Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea, and beyond the Jordan.