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<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "//www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="//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 CEV</title><link rel="stylesheet" href="/chapnew2.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="../spec.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /></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="//biblehub.com">Bible</a> > <a href="../">CEV</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">Contemporary English Version</div><div class="chap"><h3 class="s1">The Wise Men</h3><p class="par"><span class="v40_2_1"><span class="reftext" id="Matt.2.1" class="v40_2_1">1</span>When Jesus was born in the village of Bethlehem in Judea, Herod was king. During this time some wise men<a href="#fn" id="link_Matt.2.1!f.1" class="notelink f-link"><span>+</span></a> from the east came to Jerusalem </span><span class="v40_2_2"><span class="reftext" id="Matt.2.2" class="v40_2_2">2</span>and said, “Where is the child born to be king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east<a href="#fn" id="link_Matt.2.2!f.1" class="notelink f-link"><span>+</span></a> and have come to worship him.”</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v40_2_3"><span class="reftext" id="Matt.2.3" class="v40_2_3">3</span>When King Herod heard about this, he was worried, and so was everyone else in Jerusalem. </span><span class="v40_2_4"><span class="reftext" id="Matt.2.4" class="v40_2_4">4</span>Herod brought together the chief priests and the teachers of the Law of Moses and asked them, “Where will the Messiah be born?”</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v40_2_5"><span class="reftext" id="Matt.2.5" class="v40_2_5">5</span>They told him, “He will be born in Bethlehem, just as the prophet wrote,</span></p><p class="b"></p><p class="q1"><span class="v40_2_6"><span class="reftext" id="Matt.2.6" class="v40_2_6">6</span><a href="#fn" id="link_Matt.2.6!x.1" class="notelink x-link"><span></span></a> ‘Bethlehem in the land</span></p><p class="q2"><span class="v40_2_6">of Judea,</span></p><p class="q1"><span class="v40_2_6">you are very important</span></p><p class="q2"><span class="v40_2_6">among the towns of Judea.</span></p><p class="q1"><span class="v40_2_6">From your town</span></p><p class="q2"><span class="v40_2_6">will come a leader,</span></p><p class="q1"><span class="v40_2_6">who will be like a shepherd</span></p><p class="q2"><span class="v40_2_6">for my people Israel.’ ”</span></p><p class="b"></p><p class="par"><span class="v40_2_7"><span class="reftext" id="Matt.2.7" class="v40_2_7">7</span>Herod secretly called in the wise men and asked them when they had first seen the star. </span><span class="v40_2_8"><span class="reftext" id="Matt.2.8" class="v40_2_8">8</span>He told them, “Go to Bethlehem and search carefully for the child. As soon as you find him, let me know. I also want to go and worship him.”</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v40_2_9"><span class="reftext" id="Matt.2.9" class="v40_2_9">9</span>The wise men listened to what the king said and then left. And the star they had seen in the east went on ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. </span><span class="v40_2_10"><span class="reftext" id="Matt.2.10" class="v40_2_10">10</span>They were thrilled and excited to see the star.</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v40_2_11"><span class="reftext" id="Matt.2.11" class="v40_2_11">11</span>When the men went into the house and saw the child with Mary, his mother, they knelt down and worshiped him. They took out their gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh<a href="#fn" id="link_Matt.2.11!f.1" class="notelink f-link"><span>+</span></a> and gave them to him. </span><span class="v40_2_12"><span class="reftext" id="Matt.2.12" class="v40_2_12">12</span>Later they were warned in a dream not to return to Herod, and they went back home by another road.</span></p><h3 class="s1">The Escape to Egypt</h3><p class="par"><span class="v40_2_13"><span class="reftext" id="Matt.2.13" class="v40_2_13">13</span>After the wise men had gone, an angel from the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Get up! Hurry and take the child and his mother to Egypt! Stay there until I tell you to return, because Herod is looking for the child and wants to kill him.”</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v40_2_14"><span class="reftext" id="Matt.2.14" class="v40_2_14">14</span>That night, Joseph got up and took his wife and the child to Egypt, </span><span class="v40_2_15"><span class="reftext" id="Matt.2.15" class="v40_2_15">15</span><a href="#fn" id="link_Matt.2.15!x.1" class="notelink x-link"><span></span></a> where they stayed until Herod died. So the Lord's promise came true, just as the prophet had said, “I called my son out of Egypt.”</span></p><h3 class="s1">The Killing of the Children</h3><p class="par"><span class="v40_2_16"><span class="reftext" id="Matt.2.16" class="v40_2_16">16</span>When Herod found out that the wise men from the east had tricked him, he was very angry. He gave orders for his men to kill all the boys who lived in or near Bethlehem and were two years old and younger. This was based on what he had learned from the wise men.</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v40_2_17"><span class="reftext" id="Matt.2.17" class="v40_2_17">17</span>So the Lord's promise came true, just as the prophet Jeremiah had said,</span></p><p class="b"></p><p class="q1"><span class="v40_2_18"><span class="reftext" id="Matt.2.18" class="v40_2_18">18</span><a href="#fn" id="link_Matt.2.18!x.1" class="notelink x-link"><span></span></a> “In Ramah a voice was heard</span></p><p class="q2"><span class="v40_2_18">crying and weeping loudly.</span></p><p class="q1"><span class="v40_2_18">Rachel was mourning</span></p><p class="q2"><span class="v40_2_18">for her children,</span></p><p class="q1"><span class="v40_2_18">and she refused</span></p><p class="q1"><span class="v40_2_18">to be comforted,</span></p><p class="q2"><span class="v40_2_18">because they were dead.”</span></p><h3 class="s1">The Return from Egypt</h3><p class="par"><span class="v40_2_19"><span class="reftext" id="Matt.2.19" class="v40_2_19">19</span>After King Herod died, an angel from the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph while he was still in Egypt. </span><span class="v40_2_20"><span class="reftext" id="Matt.2.20" class="v40_2_20">20</span>The angel said, “Get up and take the child and his mother back to Israel. The people who wanted to kill him are now dead.”</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v40_2_21"><span class="reftext" id="Matt.2.21" class="v40_2_21">21</span>Joseph got up and left with them for Israel. </span><span class="v40_2_22"><span class="reftext" id="Matt.2.22" class="v40_2_22">22</span>But when he heard that Herod's son Archelaus was now ruler of Judea, he was afraid to go there. Then in a dream he was told to go to Galilee, </span><span class="v40_2_23"><span class="reftext" id="Matt.2.23" class="v40_2_23">23</span><a href="#fn" id="link_Matt.2.23!x.1" class="notelink x-link"><span></span></a> and they went to live there in the town of Nazareth. So the Lord's promise came true, just as the prophet had said, “He will be called a Nazarene.”<a href="#fn" id="link_Matt.2.23!f.2" class="notelink f-link"><span>+</span></a> </span></p> <a name="fn"></a><br /><br /><br /><b>Footnotes:<br /><br /><note caller="+" style="f"><char style="fr" closed="false">2.1 </char><char style="fq" closed="false">wise men: </char><char style="ft" closed="false">People famous for studying the stars.</char></note><br /><note caller="+" style="f"><char style="fr" closed="false">2.2 </char><char style="fq" closed="false">his star in the east: </char><char style="ft" closed="false">Or “his star rise.”</char></note><br /><note caller="+" style="f"><char style="fr" closed="false">2.11 </char><char style="fq" closed="false">frankincense, and myrrh: </char><char style="ft" closed="false">Frankincense was a valuable powder that was burned to make a sweet smell. Myrrh was a valuable sweet-smelling powder often used in perfume.</char></note><br /><note caller="+" style="f"><char style="fr" closed="false">2.23 </char><char style="fq" closed="false">He will be called a Nazarene: </char><char style="ft" closed="false">The prophet who said this is not known.</char></note></div></div><span class="p"><br /><br /></span><div align="center"><p><span style="font-size:11pt;">Contemporary English Version, Second Edition (CEV®)</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt;">© 2006 American Bible Society. All rights reserved.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt;">Bible text from the Contemporary English Version 2nd Edition (CEV®) is not to be reproduced in copies or otherwise by any means except as permitted in writing by American Bible Society, 101 North Independence Mall East, Floor 8, Philadelphia, PA 19106-2155 (<a href="http://www.americanbible.org">www.americanbible.org</a>). Learn more at <a href="http://www.cev.bible">www.cev.bible</a>. 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