1 Now when Jesus was born at Bethlehem in Judea in the days of King Herod, stargazers came from the East to Jerusalem
2 and asked, "Where is He that is born King of the Jews? We saw His star when it rose and have come to worship Him."
3 Now when King Herod heard of it, he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him.
4 So he called together all the high priests and scribes of the people, and anxiously asked them where the Christ was to be born.
5 They told him, "At Bethlehem in Judea, for this is what the prophet wrote:
6 'And you, Bethlehem in Judah's land, You are not at all the least among the leading places of Judah, for out of you will come a ruler, who will shepherd my people Israel.'"
7 Then Herod secretly sent for the stargazers, and found out from them exactly the time the star appeared.
8 So he sent them to Bethlehem with this order, "Go and carefully search for the child, and when you find Him, bring back word to me, and I too may come and do Him homage."
9 After listening to the king, they started on their journey, and the star which they had seen rise led them on until it came and stopped over the place where the child was.
10 When they saw the star, they were thrilled with ecstatic joy,
11 and went into the house and saw the child with His mother, Mary; and they fell at His feet and worshiped Him. They opened up their treasure sacks and presented Him with gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
12 Then, as they had been divinely warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they set out to their own country by another route.
13 After they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, "Wake up! Tenderly take the child and His mother, and escape to Egypt; stay there until I further direct you, for Herod is going to search for the child to destroy Him."
14 Then he awoke and tenderly took the child and His mother by night and made their escape to Egypt;
15 he stayed there until Herod's death, so as to fulfill what the Lord had said by the prophet, "Out of Egypt I called my Son."
16 Then Herod, because he saw that a trick had been played on him by the stargazers, was very angry, and sent and slaughtered all the boy babies in Bethlehem and in all that neighborhood, from two years down, in accordance with the time which he had found out from the stargazers.
17 Then the saying was fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet Jeremiah:
18 "A sob was heard in Ramah, weeping and great wailing, Rachel weeping for her children, and she refused to be comforted, because they were gone."
19 But after Herod died, an angel of the Lord in a dream appeared to Joseph in Egypt,
20 and said, "Wake up, tenderly take the child and His mother, and make the trip to the land of Israel, for those who sought the child's life are dead."
21 Then he awoke, tenderly took the child and His mother, and made the trip to the land of Israel.
22 But because he heard that Archelaus was ruling over Judea in the place of his father, Herod, he was afraid to go there; and because he was divinely warned in a dream, he set out for the region of Galilee.
23 He went to a town called Nazareth and made his home there, so that the saying of the prophet was fulfilled: "He shall be called a Nazarene."