1 Now, of the Iesoús having been born in Bethléem of the Ioudaía in Heródes the king's days, see! Magi from Eastern places* were near to Hierosóluma, beside it,
2 saying, "Where is the one having been born king of the Ioudaíoi? For we saw of Him the star in the East* and we have come to do obeisance to Him."
3 Now, the king Heródes, having heard, was stirred, and all Hierosóluma with him.
4 And bringing together all the priests and scribes of the people, he was inquiring of them where the Anointed* One is born.
5 Now, they said to him, "In Bethléem of the Ioudaía. For in this way it was written through the prophets:
6 'And you Bethléem of the land of Ioúda* are in no way least among the leaders of Ioúda, for out of you will come One leading who will shepherd the people of Mine, the Israel.'"
7 Then Heródes stealthily, having called the magi, pinpointed by them the time of the exhibiting* star.
8 And sending them to Bethléem, he said, "Having journeyed, search out pinpointedly about the young child. Now, upon that you would discover, notify me: that is the way how also I, having come, will do obeisance to Him."
9 Now, they having heard the king, they journeyed. And behold! The star that they saw in the East* brought them forth, until it, having come, was set over above where the young child was*.
10 Now, having seen the star, they rejoiced, with great joy, exceedingly!
11 And having gone into the house, they saw the young child with Maria the mother of His. And having fallen, they did obeisance to Him. And having opened the treasures of theirs, they brought forth to Him presents: gold and libanon and smyrna*.
12 And having been declared to, down a dream, not to bend back to before Heród, by another way they withdrew into the region* of theirs.
13 Now, their having withdrawn, behold! An angel of the Lord appears, down a dream, to the Ioséf, saying, "Having woken, take along the young child and the mother of His! And flee into Egypt! And be there until I would say to you! For Heródes is going to seek the young child to destroy Him."
14 Now, he having woken, he took along the young child and the mother of His by night and he withdrew into Egypt.
15 (And he was there until the end of Heródes, so that it be fulfilled: the utterance under the Lord, via the prophet saying, "Out of Egypt I called the son of Mine.")
16 Then Heródes, having seen that he had been belittled by the magi, was greatly provoked. And having sent, he took up from the Earth all the children who were in Bethléem and in all the horizons of it, aged from two years and lower, according to the time he had pinpointed from the magi.
17 Then was fulfilled what was uttered* via Ieremías the prophet saying,
18 "Sound in Hramá was heard, wailing and lamentation great, Hrachél bewailing the children of hers, and she did not wish to be comforted, for they were not."
19 Now, of the Heródes having ended, behold! An angel of the Lord appears down a dream to the Ioséf in Egypt,
20 saying, "Having woken, take along the young child and the mother of His and go into Israél's land! For they have died, the ones seeking the life of the young child."
21 Now he, having woken, took along the young child and the mother of His and he entered into Israél's land.
22 Now, having heard that, "Archélaos reigns the Ioudaía after the father of his, Heródes," he feared to go off to there. Now, having been declared to, down a dream, he withdrew into the parts of the Galilaia.
23 And having gone, he made his house in a town called Nazarét, the way how it would be fulfilled, the utterance via the prophets, that "Nazoraíos He will be called."
Notes
1 Or rising places or places where rivers rise
2 Or rising place
4 the Christ (Greek), the Messiah (Hebrew)
6 Other manuscripts read of the Ioudaíoi or land of the Ioudaíoi
7 The participle can be read in the middle voice to mean star exhibiting the Anointed One's birth and in the passive voice to mean appearing star
9 Or the rising place; some mss read only over above the child
11 Ancient hearers would know these as referring to places outside Israel (Lebanon the country, and Smyrna a port on the eastern shores of the Aegean Sea) as well as to two different types of resins from trees (frankincense and myrrh). These are prophetic gifts that foretell the future of Jesus Christ in several ways. First, they foretell that all nations would be given to Christ (Daniel 7:27, Matthew 28:18-20). Another example: myrrh looks ahead to Christ's self-sacrifice, as it comes from thorny trees and a primary use is embalming the lifeless human body for burial.
12 Literally, re-spaced into the space of theirs