Bible Reading Plan – Day 273

₁This is the list of the ancestors of Jesus Christ, a descendant of David, who was a descendant of Abraham.

_12-16From the time after the exile in Babylon to the birth of Jesus, the following ancestors are listed: Jehoiachin, Shealtiel, Zerubbabel, Abiud, Eliakim, Azor, Zadok, Achim, Eliud, Eleazar, Matthan, Jacob, and Joseph, who married Mary, the mother of Jesus, who was called the Messiah.

₁₇So then, there were fourteen generations from Abraham to David, and fourteen from David to the exile in Babylon, and fourteen from then to the birth of the Messiah.

₁₈This was how the birth of Jesus Christ took place. His mother Mary was engaged to Joseph, but before they were married, she found out that she was going to have a baby by the Holy Spirit. ₁₉Joseph was a man who always did what was right, but he did not want to disgrace Mary publicly; so he made plans to break the engagement privately. ₂₀While he was thinking about this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph, descendant of David, do not be afraid to take Mary to be your wife. For it is by the Holy Spirit that she has conceived. ₂₁She will have a son, and you will name him Jesus — because he will save his people from their sins.”

₂₂Now all this happened in order to make what the Lord had said through the prophet come true, ₂₃“A virgin will become pregnant and have a son, and he will be called Immanuel” (which means, “God is with us”).

₂₄So when Joseph woke up, he married Mary, as the angel of the Lord had told him to do. ₂₅But he had no sexual relations with her before she gave birth to her son. And Joseph named him Jesus.

₁Jesus was born in the town of Bethlehem in Judea, during the time when Herod was king. Soon afterwards, some men who studied the stars came from the east to Jerusalem ₂and 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.”

₃When King Herod heard about this, he was very upset, and so was everyone else in Jerusalem. ₄He 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:

₇So Herod called the visitors from the east to a secret meeting and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. ₈Then 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.”

_9-10And 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. ₁₁They went into the house, and when they saw the child with his mother Mary, they knelt down and worshipped him. They brought out their gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh, and presented them to him.

₁₂Then they returned to their country by another road, since God had warned them in a dream not to go back to Herod.

₁₃After 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.”

₁₄Joseph got up, took the child and his mother, and left during the night for Egypt, ₁₅where he stayed until Herod died. This was done to make what the Lord had said through the prophet come true, “I called my Son out of Egypt.”

₁₆When 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 neighbourhood 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.

₁₇In this way what the prophet Jeremiah had said came true:

₁₉After Herod died, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt ₂₀and 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.” ₂₁So Joseph got up, took the child and his mother, and went back to Israel.

₂₂But 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 ₂₃and made his home in a town named Nazareth. And so what the prophets had said came true: “He will be called a Nazarene.”

₁At that time John the Baptist came to the desert of Judah and started preaching. ₂“Turn away from your sins,” he said, “because the Kingdom of heaven is near!” ₃John was the man the prophet Isaiah was talking about when he said:

₄John's clothes were made of camel's hair; he wore a leather belt round his waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey. ₅People came to him from Jerusalem, from the whole province of Judea, and from all the country near the River Jordan. ₆They confessed their sins, and he baptized them in the Jordan.

₇When John saw many Pharisees and Sadducees coming to him to be baptized, he said to them, “You snakes — who told you that you could escape from the punishment God is about to send? ₈Do those things that will show that you have turned from your sins. ₉And don't think you can escape punishment by saying that Abraham is your ancestor. I tell you that God can take these stones and make descendants for Abraham! ₁₀The axe is ready to cut down the trees at the roots; every tree that does not bear good fruit will be cut down and thrown in the fire. ₁₁I baptize you with water to show that you have repented, but the one who will come after me will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. He is much greater than I am; and I am not good enough even to carry his sandals. ₁₂He has his winnowing shovel with him to thresh out all the grain. He will gather his wheat into his barn, but he will burn the chaff in a fire that never goes out.”

₁₃At that time Jesus arrived from Galilee and came to John at the Jordan to be baptized by him. ₁₄But John tried to make him change his mind. “I ought to be baptized by you,” John said, “and yet you have come to me!”

₁₅But Jesus answered him, “Let it be so for now. For in this way we shall do all that God requires.” So John agreed.

₁₆As soon as Jesus was baptized, he came up out of the water. Then heaven was opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God coming down like a dove and alighting on him. ₁₇Then a voice said from heaven, “This is my own dear Son, with whom I am pleased.”

₁Then the Spirit led Jesus into the desert to be tempted by the Devil. ₂After spending forty days and nights without food, Jesus was hungry. ₃Then the Devil came to him and said, “If you are God's Son, order these stones to turn into bread.”

₄But Jesus answered, “The scripture says, ‘Human beings cannot live on bread alone, but need every word that God speaks.’ ”

₅Then the Devil took Jesus to Jerusalem, the Holy City, set him on the highest point of the Temple, ₆and said to him, “If you are God's Son, throw yourself down, for the scripture says:

₇Jesus answered, “But the scripture also says, ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’ ”

₈Then the Devil took Jesus to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in all their greatness. ₉“All this I will give you,” the Devil said, “if you kneel down and worship me.”

₁₀Then Jesus answered, “Go away, Satan! The scripture says, ‘Worship the Lord your God and serve only him!’ ”

₁₁Then the Devil left Jesus; and angels came and helped him.

₁₂When Jesus heard that John had been put in prison, he went away to Galilee. ₁₃He did not stay in Nazareth, but went to live in Capernaum, a town by Lake Galilee, in the territory of Zebulun and Naphtali. ₁₄This was done to make what the prophet Isaiah had said come true:

₁₇From that time Jesus began to preach his message: “Turn away from your sins, because the Kingdom of heaven is near!”

₁₈As Jesus walked along the shore of Lake Galilee, he saw two brothers who were fishermen, Simon (called Peter) and his brother Andrew, catching fish in the lake with a net. ₁₉Jesus said to them, “Come with me, and I will teach you to catch people.” ₂₀At once they left their nets and went with him.

₂₁He went on and saw two other brothers, James and John, the sons of Zebedee. They were in their boat with their father Zebedee, getting their nets ready. Jesus called them, ₂₂and at once they left the boat and their father, and went with him.

₂₃Jesus went all over Galilee, teaching in the synagogues, preaching the Good News about the Kingdom, and healing people who had all kinds of disease and sickness. ₂₄The news about him spread through the whole country of Syria, so that people brought to him all those who were sick, suffering from all kinds of diseases and disorders: people with demons, and epileptics, and paralytics — and Jesus healed them all. ₂₅Large crowds followed him from Galilee and the Ten Towns, from Jerusalem, Judea, and the land on the other side of the Jordan.