Side by side
Matthew 2
Our retelling next to the Bible text it comes from. Each row lines up one scene with the verses it retells.
Scene 1: Travelers from the EastVerses 1 to 2
A group of strangers walked through the gates of Jerusalem. They had come a very long way, from a land to the east.
They were Magi. Magi were wise men who studied the stars. They were not Jewish. They came from another nation, and most likely another religion.
Jesus had been born in Bethlehem, about 5 miles away. Herod was the king of the land.
The Magi had seen a star rise in the sky. They believed it meant a new king had been born. So they made the long trip west to Jerusalem.
The Magi asked people in the city a question. "Where is the One who has been born King of the Jews? We saw His star in the east and have come to worship Him" (2:2).
1After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem, 2asking, “Where is the One who has been born King of the Jews? We saw His star in the east and have come to worship Him.”
Scene 2: Herod Is TroubledVerses 3 to 6
King Herod heard what the Magi were asking. He was "disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him" (2:3).
The Bible doesn't say exactly why the whole city was upset. One likely reason: Herod was a king who did not share power. When Herod was upset, people had reason to be afraid.
Herod called together the chief priests and the scribes. Scribes were teachers of Moses's law. He asked them where the Christ would be born. Christ is the Greek word for Messiah, the king God promised to send.
They knew the answer. "In Bethlehem in Judea" (2:5).
Bethlehem was the hometown of King David, Israel's great shepherd king.
They pointed to the words of the prophet Micah. "But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah, for out of you will come a ruler who will be the shepherd of My people Israel" (2:6).
A shepherd takes care of sheep. This is a comparison. God's king would take care of God's people.
3When King Herod heard this, he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. 4And when he had assembled all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he asked them where the Christ was to be born. 5“In Bethlehem in Judea,” they replied, “for this is what the prophet has written: 6‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah, for out of you will come a ruler who will be the shepherd of My people Israel.’”
Scene 3: A Secret MeetingVerses 7 to 8
Then Herod called the Magi to a secret meeting. He asked them exactly when the star first appeared.
He sent them to Bethlehem. "Go and search carefully for the Child, and when you find Him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship Him" (2:8).
Here's what you know that the Magi did not know yet: Herod did not want to worship the child. He wanted to kill him.
7Then Herod called the Magi secretly and learned from them the exact time the star had appeared. 8And sending them to Bethlehem, he said: “Go and search carefully for the Child, and when you find Him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship Him.”
Scene 4: The StarVerses 9 to 10
The Magi left the king and went on their way.
The star they had seen in the east appeared ahead of them. It led them south. It stopped over the place where the child was.
When they saw the star, they were full of joy. Matthew says they "rejoiced with great delight" (2:10).
9After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen in the east went ahead of them until it stood over the place where the Child was. 10When they saw the star, they rejoiced with great delight.
Scene 5: The GiftsVerse 11
The Magi came to a house. Inside, they saw the child with Mary, his mother.
Matthew says a house, not a stable. By now Jesus was most likely a young child, not a newborn baby.
The Magi fell down on their knees and worshiped him. These important travelers bowed to a small child in a small town.
They had not found him in a palace. They had not found him in the capital city. God's king was living in an ordinary house.
Then they opened their treasure boxes. They gave Jesus gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Frankincense is a sweet-smelling tree sap that people burned in worship. Myrrh is another tree sap. It was used in perfume and to prepare bodies for burial.
11On coming to the house, they saw the Child with His mother Mary, and they fell down and worshiped Him. Then they opened their treasures and presented Him with gifts of gold and frankincense and myrrh.
Scene 6: Another Way HomeVerse 12
God warned the Magi in a dream. They must not go back to Herod.
So they went home to their own country by a different road.
The Magi never told Herod where the child was. God had given them a different way.
12And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they withdrew to their country by another route.
Scene 7: Escape to EgyptVerses 13 to 15
After the Magi left, an angel of the Lord came to Joseph in a dream.
The angel said, "Get up!... Take the Child and His mother and flee to Egypt" (2:13). The angel told Joseph to stay there until the angel told him to leave. Herod was going to search for the child to kill him.
Joseph got up. That same night, he took Jesus and Mary and left for Egypt.
Egypt was far to the southwest, across a desert. Herod did not rule there. One likely reason God chose it: the family would be out of Herod's reach.
Jesus and his family became refugees. A refugee is someone who must run from home to stay safe.
They stayed in Egypt until Herod died. Matthew says this matched the words of the prophet Hosea: "Out of Egypt I called My Son" (2:15). Long ago, God had brought his people Israel out of Egypt. Now God's Son would come out of Egypt too.
13When the Magi had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. “Get up!” he said. “Take the Child and His mother and flee to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the Child to kill Him.” 14So he got up, took the Child and His mother by night, and withdrew to Egypt, 15where he stayed until the death of Herod. This fulfilled what the Lord had spoken through the prophet: “Out of Egypt I called My Son.”
Scene 8: Herod's OrderVerses 16 to 18
Herod waited. The Magi did not come back. He saw that they had tricked him, and he was filled with rage.
Herod sent orders to Bethlehem. All the boys two years old and under were to be killed, in the town and all around it. He picked that age from what the Magi had told him about the star.
It was done. Little boys died, and their families were left with terrible grief.
Matthew says this fulfilled the words of the prophet Jeremiah. "A voice is heard in Ramah, weeping and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children, and refusing to be comforted, because they are no more" (2:18).
Rachel was the wife of Jacob, a mother of Israel, long ago. This is a comparison. It is as if she were crying for the children of Bethlehem. She would not be comforted. The Bible lets that grief be heard.
16When Herod saw that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was filled with rage. Sending orders, he put to death all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, according to the time he had learned from the Magi. 17Then what was spoken through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled: 18“A voice is heard in Ramah, weeping and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children, and refusing to be comforted, because they are no more.”
Scene 9: Home to NazarethVerses 19 to 23
Then Herod died. An angel of the Lord came to Joseph in Egypt, again in a dream.
The angel told him to take Jesus and Mary back to the land of Israel. The people who wanted to kill the child were dead.
So Joseph got up, and the family went back.
But Herod's son Archelaus was now ruling Judea. Joseph was afraid to go there. God warned him in another dream. So Joseph took the family north, to Galilee.
They made their home in a small town called Nazareth. This was the town where Mary and Joseph had lived before Jesus was born (Luke 2:39). Matthew says this matched the prophets' words: "He will be called a Nazarene" (2:23).
The Magi had asked where the king was. God had kept that king safe, through dreams and a long road, all the way home.
19After Herod died, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt. 20“Get up!” he said. “Take the Child and His mother and go to the land of Israel, for those seeking the Child’s life are now dead.” 21So Joseph got up, took the Child and His mother, and went to the land of Israel. 22But when he learned that Archelaus was reigning in Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. And having been warned in a dream, he withdrew to the district of Galilee, 23and he went and lived in a town called Nazareth. So was fulfilled what was spoken through the prophets: “He will be called a Nazarene.”
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