Matthew 2:12-23

Modern English Version

¹² But being warned in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they returned to their own country by another route.

The Escape to Egypt

¹³ Now when they departed, the angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, saying, “Arise, take the young Child and His mother, and escape to Egypt, and stay there until I bring you word. For Herod will seek the young Child to kill Him.”

¹⁴ When he rose, he took the young Child and His mother by night, and departed into Egypt, ¹⁵ and remained there until the death of Herod, to fulfill what the Lord had spoken through the prophet, “Out of Egypt I have called My Son.”^[a]

The Killing of the Infants

¹⁶ Then Herod, when he saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, was utterly furious and sent forth and killed all the male children who were in Bethlehem and the surrounding region, from two years old and under, based on the time which he had diligently inquired of the wise men. ¹⁷ Then was fulfilled what was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet:

The Return From Egypt

¹⁹ But when Herod was dead, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, ²⁰ saying, “Arise, take the young Child and His mother, and go into the land of Israel, for those who sought the young Child’s life are dead.”

²¹ And he rose, took the young Child and His mother, and came into the land of Israel. ²² But when he heard that Archelaus reigned in Judea instead of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. Nevertheless, being warned by God in a dream, he withdrew to the region of Galilee. ²³ And he went and lived in a city called Nazareth, that what was spoken by the prophets might be fulfilled, “He shall be called a Nazarene.”