Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized by  John the Baptist.

         But John tried to stop Him by saying, "I need to be baptized by you and do you come to me?"

                  Jesus replied, "Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness." Then John consented.

His [the Messiah] winnowing fork is in His hand and He will clear His threshing floor, gathering His wheat into the barn and burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire.

"I [John the Baptist] baptize you with water for repentance. 

          But after me comes one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.

And do not think you [to the Pharisees and Sadducees] can say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our father.'

          I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham.

                    The ax is already at the root of the trees and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.

When John the Baptist saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming where he was baptizing, he said, You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? Produce fruit in keeping with repentance.

People went out to John the Baptist from Jerusalem and all Judea and the whole region of the Jordan.

         Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River.

John the Baptist's clothes were made out of camel's hair and he had a leather belt around his waist.

         His food was locust and wild honey.

In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea and saying, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near."

          This is he who was spoken of through the prophet Isaiah: "A voice of one calling in the wilderness, prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him."

So Joseph got up, took the child and his mother and went to the land of Israel.

          But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning in Judea in the place of his father Herod, Joseph was afraid to go there. Having been warned in a dream, he withdrew to the district of Galilee and he went and lived in a town called Nazareth.

                  So fulfilling what was said through the prophets, that Jesus would be called a Nazarene.

After Herod died, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt and said, "Get up, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who were trying to take the child's life are dead."

Then what was said through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled: "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."

When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its surrounding area who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi.

So Joseph got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt, where he stayed until the death of Herod. 

          And so fulfilled what the Lord had said through the prophet: "Out of Egypt I called My son."

When 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 escape to Egypt.

          Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him."

And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, the Magi returned to their country by another way.

When the Magi saw the star, they were overjoyed.

          On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary and they bowed down and worshiped him.

                    Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.

After the Magi had heard the king, they went on their way and the star they had seen when it rose went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was.

Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared.

           He sent them to Bethlehem and said, "Go and search carefully for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him."

When he [Herod] had called together all the people's chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Messiah was to be born.

         "In Bethlehem in Judea," they replied, "for this is what the prophet has written: '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 shepherd my people Israel.'"

When King Herod heard this [the Magi looking for Jesus] he was disturbed and all Jerusalem with him.

After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, "Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him."

        

When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife.

           But he didn't consummate their marriage until she gave birth to her son. And Joseph gave him the name Jesus.

All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: "The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son and they will call him Immanuel" [meaning 'God with us'].

But after Joseph considered putting Mary away, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, "Joseph, son of David, don't be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.

        She will give birth to a son and you are to give him the name 'Jesus' because he will save his people from their sins."

Because Joseph her husband was faithful to the law and didn't want to expose Mary to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.

This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit.