Conception and Birth of Jesus

¹⁸ Now the birth of Jesus the ^[a]Messiah was as follows: when His ^(A)mother Mary had been ^[b]betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was ^(B)found to be pregnant by the Holy Spirit. ¹⁹ And her husband Joseph, since he was a righteous man and did not want to disgrace her, planned to ^[c](C)send her away secretly. ²⁰ But when he had thought this over, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “^(D)Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife; for ^[d]the Child who has been conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. ²¹ She will give birth to a Son; and ^(E)you shall name Him Jesus, for ^[e]He ^(F)will save His people from their sins.” ²² Now all this ^[f]took place so that what was ^(G)spoken by the Lord through ^[g]the prophet would be fulfilled: ²³ “^(H)Behold, the virgin will ^[h](I)conceive and give birth to a Son, and they shall name Him ^[i]Immanuel,” which translated means, “^(J)God with us.” ²⁴ And Joseph awoke from his sleep and did as the angel of the Lord commanded him, and took Mary as his wife, ^25 [j]but kept her a virgin until she ^(K)gave birth to a Son; and ^(L)he named Him Jesus.

The Visit of the Magi

2 Now after Jesus was ^(M)born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of ^(N)Herod the king, behold, ^[k]magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem, saying, ² “Where is He who has been born ^(O)King of the Jews? For we saw ^(P)His star in the east and have come to worship Him.” ³ When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. ⁴ And gathering together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the ^[l]Messiah was to be born. ⁵ They said to him, “^(Q)In Bethlehem of Judea; for this is what has been written ^[m]by ^[n]the prophet:

⁵¹ Truly, truly I say to you, if anyone ^(A)follows My word, he will never ^(B)see death.” ^52 (C)The Jews said to Him, “Now we know that You ^(D)have a demon. Abraham died, and the prophets as well; and yet You say, ‘If anyone ^(E)follows My word, he will never ^(F)taste of death.’ ⁵³ You ^(G)are not greater than our father Abraham, who died, are You? The prophets died too. Whom do You make Yourself out to be?” ⁵⁴ Jesus answered, “^(H)If I glorify Myself, My glory is nothing; ^(I)it is My Father who glorifies Me, of whom you say, ‘He is our God’; ⁵⁵ and ^(J)you have not come to know Him, ^(K)but I know Him. And if I say that I do not know Him, I will be ^(L)a liar like you; ^(M)but I do know Him, and I ^(N)follow His word. ^56 (O)Your father Abraham was ^(P)overjoyed that he would see My day, and he saw it and rejoiced.” ^57 (Q)So the Jews said to Him, “You are not yet fifty years old, and You have seen Abraham?” ⁵⁸ Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly I say to you, before Abraham ^[a]was born, ^[b](R)I am.” ⁵⁹ Therefore they ^(S)picked up stones to throw at Him, but Jesus ^(T)hid Himself and left the temple grounds.