NLT

NLT

Click to Change

Return to Top

Return to Top

Printer Icon

Print

Copy
Copy Options
Format by: Verse Paragraph
Strong's
Red Letter
Audio Bibles
The Blue Letter Bible

Matthew 2 :: New Living Translation (NLT)

toggle collapse
Choose a new font size and typeface
Audio Bibles
Visitors from the East
Unchecked Copy BoxMat 2:1 - Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the reign of King Herod. About that time some wise men[fn] from eastern lands arrived in Jerusalem, asking,
Unchecked Copy BoxMat 2:2 - “Where is the newborn king of the Jews? We saw his star as it rose,[fn] and we have come to worship him.”
Unchecked Copy BoxMat 2:3 - King Herod was deeply disturbed when he heard this, as was everyone in Jerusalem.
Unchecked Copy BoxMat 2:4 - He called a meeting of the leading priests and teachers of religious law and asked, “Where is the Messiah supposed to be born?”
Unchecked Copy BoxMat 2:5 - “In Bethlehem in Judea,” they said, “for this is what the prophet wrote:
Unchecked Copy BoxMat 2:6 - ‘And you, O Bethlehem in the land of Judah,
are not least among the ruling cities[fn] of Judah,
for a ruler will come from you
who will be the shepherd for my people Israel.’[fn]
Unchecked Copy BoxMat 2:7 - Then Herod called for a private meeting with the wise men, and he learned from them the time when the star first appeared.
Unchecked Copy BoxMat 2:8 - 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!”
Unchecked Copy BoxMat 2:9 - 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.
Unchecked Copy BoxMat 2:10 - When they saw the star, they were filled with joy!
Unchecked Copy BoxMat 2:11 - 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.
Unchecked Copy BoxMat 2:12 - 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.
The Escape to Egypt
Unchecked Copy BoxMat 2:13 - 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.”
Unchecked Copy BoxMat 2:14 - That night Joseph left for Egypt with the child and Mary, his mother,
Unchecked Copy BoxMat 2:15 - 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.”[fn]
Unchecked Copy BoxMat 2:16 - 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.
Unchecked Copy BoxMat 2:17 - Herod’s brutal action fulfilled what God had spoken through the prophet Jeremiah:
Unchecked Copy BoxMat 2:18 - “A cry was heard in Ramah—
weeping and great mourning.
Rachel weeps for her children,
refusing to be comforted,
for they are dead.”[fn]
The Return to Nazareth
(Luk 2:39 )
Unchecked Copy BoxMat 2:19 - When Herod died, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt.
Unchecked Copy BoxMat 2:20 - “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.”
Unchecked Copy BoxMat 2:21 - So Joseph got up and returned to the land of Israel with Jesus and his mother.
Unchecked Copy BoxMat 2:22 - 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.
Unchecked Copy BoxMat 2:23 - So the family went and lived in a town called Nazareth. This fulfilled what the prophets had said: “He will be called a Nazarene.”
NLT Footnotes
Or royal astrologers; Greek reads magi; also in 2:7, 16.
Or star in the east.
Greek the rulers.
Mic 5:2; 2 Sam 5:2.
Hos 11:1.
Jer 31:15.
NLT

Holy Bible, New Living Translation copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Full copyright information is provided here. Visit the New Living Translation website.

For more information on this translation, see the NLT Preface.

BLB Searches
Search the Bible
NLT
 [?]

Advanced Options

Other Searches

Multi-Verse Retrieval
x
NLT

Daily Devotionals
x

Blue Letter Bible offers several daily devotional readings in order to help you refocus on Christ and the Gospel of His peace and righteousness.

Daily Bible Reading Plans
x

Recognizing the value of consistent reflection upon the Word of God in order to refocus one's mind and heart upon Christ and His Gospel of peace, we provide several reading plans designed to cover the entire Bible in a year.

One-Year Plans

Two-Year Plan