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<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" /><meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1" /><title>Matthew 2 NLT</title><link rel="stylesheet" href="/chapnew2.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="../spec.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="/print.css" type="text/css" media="Print" /></head><body><div id="fx"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx2"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="30" scrolling="no" src="../cmenus/matthew/2.htm" align="left" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div><div id="blnk"></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable"><tr><td><div id="fx5"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx6"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="245" scrolling="no" src="../topmenuchap/matthew/2-1.htm" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable3"><tr><td><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center" id="announce"><tr><td><div id="l1"><div id="breadcrumbs"><a href="http://biblehub.com">Bible</a> > <a href="../">NLT</a> > Matthew 2</div><div id="anc"><iframe src="/anc.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></div><div id="anc2"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><iframe src="/anc2.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></div></td></tr></table><div id="movebox2"><table border="0" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td><div id="topheading"><a href="../matthew/1.htm" title="Matthew 1">◄</a> Matthew 2 <a href="../matthew/3.htm" title="Matthew 3">►</a></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center" class="maintable2"><table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><div id="leftbox"><div class="padleft"><div class="vheading"><table width="100%"><tr><td width="99%" valign="top">New Living Translation</td><td width="1%" valign="top"><a href="/p/nlt/esv/matthew/2.shtml" style="color:#001320" title="Parallel Chapters"> Par ▾ </a></td></tr></table></div><div class="chap"><p class="hdg">Visitors from the East</p><p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/matthew/2-1.htm"><b>1</b></a></span>Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the reign of King Herod. About that time some wise men<a href="#footnotes"><span class="fn">a</span></a> from eastern lands arrived in Jerusalem, asking, <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/matthew/2-2.htm"><b>2</b></a></span>“Where is the newborn king of the Jews? We saw his star as it rose,<a href="#footnotes"><span class="fn">b</span></a> and we have come to worship him.”</p><p class="reg"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/matthew/2-3.htm"><b>3</b></a></span>King Herod was deeply disturbed when he heard this, as was everyone in Jerusalem. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/matthew/2-4.htm"><b>4</b></a></span>He called a meeting of the leading priests and teachers of religious law and asked, “Where is the Messiah supposed to be born?”</p><p class="reg"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/matthew/2-5.htm"><b>5</b></a></span>“In Bethlehem in Judea,” they said, “for this is what the prophet wrote:</p><p class="b"/><p class="line1"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/matthew/2-6.htm"><b>6</b></a></span>‘And you, O Bethlehem in the land of Judah,</p><p class="line2">are not least among the ruling cities<a href="#footnotes"><span class="fn">c</span></a> of Judah,</p><p class="line1">for a ruler will come from you</p><p class="line2">who will be the shepherd for my people Israel.’<a href="#footnotes"><span class="fn">d</span></a>”</p><p class="b"/><p class="reg"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/matthew/2-7.htm"><b>7</b></a></span>Then Herod called for a private meeting with the wise men, and he learned from them the time when the star first appeared. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/matthew/2-8.htm"><b>8</b></a></span>Then he told them, “Go to Bethlehem and search carefully for the child. And when you find him, come back and tell me so that I can go and worship him, too!”</p><p class="reg"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/matthew/2-9.htm"><b>9</b></a></span>After this interview the wise men went their way. And the star they had seen in the east guided them to Bethlehem. It went ahead of them and stopped over the place where the child was. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/matthew/2-10.htm"><b>10</b></a></span>When they saw the star, they were filled with joy! <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/matthew/2-11.htm"><b>11</b></a></span>They entered the house and saw the child with his mother, Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasure chests and gave him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.</p><p class="reg"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/matthew/2-12.htm"><b>12</b></a></span>When it was time to leave, they returned to their own country by another route, for God had warned them in a dream not to return to Herod.</p><p class="hdg">The Escape to Egypt</p><p class="reg"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/matthew/2-13.htm"><b>13</b></a></span>After the wise men were gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. “Get up! Flee to Egypt with the child and his mother,” the angel said. “Stay there until I tell you to return, because Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.”</p><p class="reg"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/matthew/2-14.htm"><b>14</b></a></span>That night Joseph left for Egypt with the child and Mary, his mother, <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/matthew/2-15.htm"><b>15</b></a></span>and they stayed there until Herod’s death. This fulfilled what the Lord had spoken through the prophet: “I called my Son out of Egypt.”<a href="#footnotes"><span class="fn">e</span></a></p><p class="reg"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/matthew/2-16.htm"><b>16</b></a></span>Herod was furious when he realized that the wise men had outwitted him. He sent soldiers to kill all the boys in and around Bethlehem who were two years old and under, based on the wise men’s report of the star’s first appearance. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/matthew/2-17.htm"><b>17</b></a></span>Herod’s brutal action fulfilled what God had spoken through the prophet Jeremiah:</p><p class="b"/><p class="line1"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/matthew/2-18.htm"><b>18</b></a></span>“A cry was heard in Ramah—</p><p class="line2">weeping and great mourning.</p><p class="line1">Rachel weeps for her children,</p><p class="line2">refusing to be comforted,</p><p class="line2">for they are dead.”<a href="#footnotes"><span class="fn">f</span></a></p><p class="hdg">The Return to Nazareth</p><p class="reg"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/matthew/2-19.htm"><b>19</b></a></span>When Herod died, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/matthew/2-20.htm"><b>20</b></a></span>“Get up!” the angel said. “Take the child and his mother back to the land of Israel, because those who were trying to kill the child are dead.”</p><p class="reg"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/matthew/2-21.htm"><b>21</b></a></span>So Joseph got up and returned to the land of Israel with Jesus and his mother. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/matthew/2-22.htm"><b>22</b></a></span>But when he learned that the new ruler of Judea was Herod’s son Archelaus, he was afraid to go there. Then, after being warned in a dream, he left for the region of Galilee. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/matthew/2-23.htm"><b>23</b></a></span>So the family went and lived in a town called Nazareth. This fulfilled what the prophets had said: “He will be called a Nazarene.”</p><A name="footnotes"></a><hr size="1" color="DDEEFF"><span class="mainfootnotes"><span class="mainfootnoteshdg">Footnotes:</span><br><span class="fn">a</span><note caller="+" style="f"><span class="fr">2:1 </span><span class="ft">Or </span><span class="it">royal astrologers;</span><span class="ft"> Greek reads </span><span class="it">magi;</span><span class="ft"> also in 2:7, 16.</span><br><span class="fn">b</span><note caller="+" style="f"><span class="fr">2:2 </span><span class="ft">Or </span><span class="it">star in the east.</span><br><span class="fn">c</span><note caller="+" style="f"><span class="fr">2:6a </span><span class="ft">Greek </span><span class="it">the rulers.</span><br><span class="fn">d</span><note caller="+" style="f"><span class="fr">2:6b </span><span class="ft">Mic 5:2; 2 Sam 5:2.</span><br><span class="fn">e</span><note caller="+" style="f"><span class="fr">2:15 </span><span class="ft">Hos 11:1.</span><br><span class="fn">f</span><note caller="+" style="f"><span class="fr">2:18 </span><span class="ft">Jer 31:15.</span><br></span></div></div><div id="botbox"><div class="padbot"><div align="center"><em>Holy Bible</em>, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of <a href="http://www.tyndale.com">Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.</a>, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><a href="/">Bible Hub</a></div></div></div></div></td></tr></table></div><div id="left"><a href="../matthew/1.htm" onmouseover='lft.src="/leftgif.png"' onmouseout='lft.src="/left.png"' title="Matthew 1"><img src="/left.png" name="lft" border="0" alt="Matthew 1" /></a></div><div id="right"><a href="../matthew/3.htm" onmouseover='rght.src="/rightgif.png"' onmouseout='rght.src="/right.png"' title="Matthew 3"><img src="/right.png" name="rght" border="0" alt="Matthew 3" /></a></div><div id="botleft"><a href="#" onmouseover='botleft.src="/botleftgif.png"' onmouseout='botleft.src="/botleft.png"' title="Top of Page"><img src="/botleft.png" name="botleft" border="0" alt="Top of Page" /></a></div><div id="botright"><a href="#" onmouseover='botright.src="/botrightgif.png"' onmouseout='botright.src="/botright.png"' title="Top of Page"><img src="/botright.png" name="botright" border="0" alt="Top of Page" /></a></div><div id="rightbox"><div class="padright"><div id="pic"><iframe width="100%" height="860" scrolling="no" src="//biblescan.com/mpc/matthew/2-1.htm" frameborder="0"></iframe></div></div></div><div id="rightbox4"><div class="padright2"><div id="spons1"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"><tr><td class="sp1"><iframe width="122" height="860" scrolling="no" src="../sidemenu.htm" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></div></div><div id="bot"><iframe width="100%" height="1500" scrolling="no" src="/botmenubhchap.htm" frameborder="0"></iframe></div></td></tr></table></div></body></html>