1 Kad Jēzus bija piedzimis Betlēmē Jūdu zemē ķēniņa Hēroda laikā, redzi, gudri viri no austrumu zemes atnāca uz Jeruzālemi un sacija:
2 „Kur ir jaunpiedzimušais jūdu ķēniņš? Jo mēs viņa zvaigzni redzējām austrumu zemē un atnācām viņu pielūgt.“
3 Kad ķēniņš Hērods to dzirdēja, tad viņš izbijās un visa Jeruzāleme līdzarviņu.
4 Un saaicinājis visus tautas augstos priesterus un rakstu mācītājus, viņš izzināja no tiem, kur Kristum būs piedzimt.
5 Un tie viņam sacīja: „Betlēmē jūdu zemē; jo tā raksta pravietis:
6 Un tu, Betlēme, jūdu zemē, tu nebūt neesi mazākā starp Jūdas ciltskungiem; jo no tevis nāks valdnieks, kas ganīs manu Israēla tautu.“
7 Tad Hērods paslepen saaicināja gudros, sīki izjautāja tiem par zvaigznes atspīdēšanas laiku.
8 Un viņš tos sūtīja uz Betlēmi un sacīja: „Eita un ievāciet rūpīgi ziņas par to bērnu, un kad jūs viņu atradīsit, tad paziņojiet to man, ka ir es aizeju un viņu pielūdzu.“
9 To no ķēniņa dzirdējuši, tie aizgāja. Un redzi, zvaigzne, ko tie bija redzējuši austrumu zemē, gāja tiem pa priekšu un nostājās pār namu, kuj-ā bija bērns.
10 Un zvaigzni ieraudzījuši, tie priecājās ar varen lielu prieku.
11 Un namā iegājuši, tie ieraudzīja bērnu līdz ar Mariju, viņa māti, un tie nometās ceļos un viņu pielūdza. Tad tie atvēra savas mantas un dāvāja viņam zeltu, vīrāku un mirres.
12 Un sapnī saņēmuši norādījumu pie Hēroda neatgriezties, tie aizgāja pa citu ceļu uz savu zemi.
13 Bet kad tie bija aizgājuši, redzi, tā Kunga eņģelis parādījās Jāzepam sapnī un sacīja: „Celies, ņem bērnu un viņa māti un bēdz uz Ēģipti un paliec tur, kamēr es tev to teikšu, jo Hērods meklē bērnu nokaut.“
14 Tad viņš cēlās, ņēma bērnu un viņa māti naktī un bēga uz Ēģipti.
15 Un palika tur līdz Hēroda nāvei, lai piepildītos tā Kunga vārds, runāts ar pravieša muti: „No Ēģiptes es savu dēlu esmu aicinājis.“
16 Kad Hērods redzēja, ka gudrie viņu piekrāpuši, tad viņš ļoti apskaitās, aizsūtīja un lika apkaut visus bērnus Betlēmē un visā viņas apkārtnē divi gadi vecus un jaunākus pēc tā laika, ko viņš no gudrajiem bija izzinājis.
17 Tad piepildījās pravieša Jeremija runātie vārdi:
18 „Brēkšana bija dzirdama Ramā, daudz raudu un vaimanu; Rachele apraud savus bērnus un nav iepriecināma, jo viņu vairs nav.“
19 Kad Hērods bija miris, redzi, tā Kunga eņģelis parādījās sapnī Jāzepam Ēģiptē un sacīja:
20 „Celies, ņem bērnu un viņa māti un ej uz Israēla zemi, jo tie ir miruši, kas tīkoja pēc bērna dzīvības.“
21 Un viņš cēlās, ņēma bērnu un viņa māti un nonāca Israēla zemē.
22 Bet kad viņš dzirdēja, ka Jūdejā valdīja Archelavs sava tēva Hēroda vietā, tad viņš baidījās turp noiet; un sapnī saņēmis norādījumu, viņš atgriezās Galilejas robežās.
23 Un turp nonācis, viņš apmetās pilsētā ar vārdu Nacarete, lai piepildītos praviešu vārdi, kas sacījuši: „Viņu sauks par Nacarieti.“
Visitors from the East
1 Jesus was born in the town of Bethlehem in Judea, during the time when Herod was king. Soon afterward, some men who studied the stars came from the East to Jerusalem 2 and asked, “Where is the baby born to be the king of the Jews? We saw his star when it came up in the east, and we have come to worship him.”
3 When King Herod heard about this, he was very upset, and so was everyone else in Jerusalem. 4 He called together all the chief priests and the teachers of the Law and asked them, “Where will the Messiah be born?”
5 “In the town of Bethlehem in Judea,” they answered. “For this is what the prophet wrote:
6 ‘Bethlehem in the land of Judah,
you are by no means the least of the leading cities of Judah;
for from you will come a leader
who will guide my people Israel.’”
7 So Herod called the visitors from the East to a secret meeting and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. 8 Then he sent them to Bethlehem with these instructions: “Go and make a careful search for the child; and when you find him, let me know, so that I too may go and worship him.”
9-10 And so they left, and on their way they saw the same star they had seen in the East. When they saw it, how happy they were, what joy was theirs! It went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. 11 They went into the house, and when they saw the child with his mother Mary, they knelt down and worshiped him. They brought out their gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh, and presented them to him.
12 Then they returned to their country by another road, since God had warned them in a dream not to go back to Herod.
The Escape to Egypt
13 After they had left, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph and said, “Herod will be looking for the child in order to kill him. So get up, take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt, and stay there until I tell you to leave.”
14 Joseph got up, took the child and his mother, and left during the night for Egypt, 15 where he stayed until Herod died. This was done to make come true what the Lord had said through the prophet, “I called my Son out of Egypt.”
The Killing of the Children
16 When Herod realized that the visitors from the East had tricked him, he was furious. He gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its neighborhood who were two years old and younger—this was done in accordance with what he had learned from the visitors about the time when the star had appeared.
17 In this way what the prophet Jeremiah had said came true:
18 “A sound is heard in Ramah,
the sound of bitter weeping.
Rachel is crying for her children;
she refuses to be comforted,
for they are dead.”
The Return from Egypt
19 After Herod died, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt 20 and said, “Get up, take the child and his mother, and go back to the land of Israel, because those who tried to kill the child are dead.” 21 So Joseph got up, took the child and his mother, and went back to Israel.
22 But when Joseph heard that Archelaus had succeeded his father Herod as king of Judea, he was afraid to go there. He was given more instructions in a dream, so he went to the province of Galilee 23 and made his home in a town named Nazareth. And so what the prophets had said came true: “He will be called a Nazarene.”
