After talking with them the Lord was taken up into heaven and sat down on the right of God. And they went forth and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them and confirming their message through the signs that accompanied them.]
[They reported briefly to Peter and his companions all that they had been told. And after that Jesus himself sent forth through them, from east to west, the holy and imperishable proclamation of everlasting salvation.]
MATTHEW
Matthew is believed to date from A.D. 75 at the latest, but incorporating written accounts from an earlier date.
«I THE B 0 0 K 0 F THE 0 RIGIN 0 F JESUS Christ the son of David the son of Abraham.
Abraham was the father of Isaac, and Isaac of Jacob, Jacob of Judah and his brothers, and Judah of Perez and Zarah by Tamar, and Perez of Hezron, and Hezron of Ram, and Ram of Aminadab, and Aminadab of Nahshon, and Nahshon of Salmon, and Salmon of Boaz by Rahab, and Boaz of Obed by Ruth, and Obed of Jesse, and Jesse of David the King. David was the father of Solomon by the wife of Uriah, Solomon of Rehoboam, Rehoboam of Abijah, and Abijah of Asa, and Asa of Jehosaphat, and Jehosaphat of Joram, and Joram of Uzziah, and Uzziah of Jotham, and Jotham of Ahaz, and Ahaz of Hezekiah, Hezekiah of Manasseh, Manasseh of Amos, and Amos of Josiah, and Josiah of Jechoniah and his brothers, at the time of the Babylonian migration. After the Babylonian migration Jechoniah was the father of Salathiel, Salathiel of Zerubbabel, Zerubbabel of Abiud, and Abiud of Eliakim, Eliakim of Azor, and Azor of Zadok, and Zadok of Achim, Achim of Eliud, Eliud of Eleazar, Eleazar of Matthan, and Matthan of Jacob, and Jacob of Joseph the husband of Mary, from whom was born Jesus who is called the Christ.
Thus all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen, and from David until the Babylonian migration fourteen generations, and from the Babylonian migration until Christ fourteen generations.
The birth of Jesus Christ came in this way: Mary his mother was engaged to Joseph, but before they came together she was found to be with child, by the Holy Spirit. And Joseph her husband, being a righteous man and not desiring to make her notorious, wished to put her away secretly. But as he was considering this, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying: Joseph son of David, do not fear to accept Mary your wife, for what is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. And she will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus; for he shall save his people from their sins. All this was done in order that the word of the Lord might be fulfilled which was spoken through his prophet, saying: Behold, the maiden shall conceive in her womb, and she shall bear a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel; which translated means, God is with us. And Joseph wakening from his sleep did as the angel of the Lord had told him, and he accepted his wife, and did not know her as a wife until she had borne a son. And he called his name, Jesus.
•I When Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judaea in the days of Herod the King, behold, Magians from the east came to Jerusalem, saying: Where is he who is born King of the Jews? For we saw his star in the east and have come to worship him. And hearing this King Herod was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him, and calling together aU the high priests and the scribes of the people he asked them where the Christ was born. And they said to ^rn: In Bethlehem of Judaea; for thus it is written by the prophet: You also, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means the least among the leaders of Judah; for out of you wiU come a leader who will be a shepherd of my people, Israel.
Then Herod called in the Magians secretly and found from them the exact time when the star had appeared, and sent them to Bethlehem, saying: Go and learn exactly about the child, and when you find him, bring back the news to me, so that I too may go and worship him. And they after hearing the King went on their way, and behold, the star, which they had seen in the east, led them until it came and stood above the place where the child was. And when they saw the star they were filled with a very great joy. Then going into the house they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they threw themselves down and worshipped him, and opening their strongboxes they proffered him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh. Then having been warned in a dream not to turn back to Herod, they went away by another road to their own country.
When they had gone, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, saying: Awake, take the child and his mother, and escape into Egypt, and remain there until I tell you. For Herod means to seek out the child to destroy him. Then he woke and took the child and his mother by night and went away into Egypt, and was there until the death of Herod; so that there might be fulfilled the word spoken by the Lord through his prophet, saying: Out of Egypt I have called my son.
Then Herod, seeing that he had been outwitted by the
Magians, was very angry, and sending out his men, he killed all the boy children in Bethlehem and all its outlying regions, those two years old or less, according to the time he had reckoned from the Magians. Then was fulfilled the word spoken by Jeremiah the prophet, saying: A voice was heard in Rama, weeping and much lamentation, Rachel weeping for her children, and she would not be comforted because they are gone.
Now when Herod died, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, saying: Awake, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel; for those who sought the life of the child are dead. And he wakening took the child and his mother and went to the land of Israel. But hearing that Archelaus was King in Judaea in ' the place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go back there, and being warned in a dream, he withdrew to the region of Galilee, and reaching there settled in a city called Nazareth; so as to fulfill the word spoken by the prophets: He shall be called a Nazarene.
•1 In those days came John the Baptist preaching in the desert of Judaea, saying: Repent; for the Kingdom of Heaven is near. He was the one who was mentioned by Isaiah the prophet, saying: The voice of one crying in the desert: prepare the way of the Lord, straighten the roads before him. This John wore clothing made of camel's hair, and a belt of hide around his waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey. At that time Jerusalem came to him, and all Judaea and all the country about Jordan, and they were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. And seeing many of the Pharisees and Sad- ducees coming to baptism, he said to them: You viper's brood, who warned you to flee from the anger to come? Then produce fruit which is worthy of your repentance; and do not think to say among yourselves: We have Abraham for our father. For I say to you that out of these stones God can raise up children to Abraham. And by now the ax is set against the root of the trees; so that every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut out and thrown into the fire. I baptize you in water for repentance, but he who is coming after me is stronger than I, and I am not fit to carry his shoes; he will baptize you in the Holy Spirit and fire; his winnowing fan is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and gather his grain into his storehouse and bum the chaff in quenchless fire.