THE GOOD NEWS ACCORDING TO
MATTHEW
ΜΑΤΘΑΙ͂ΟΣ מַתִּתְיָהוּ
⇐
THE GOOD NEWS ACCORDING TO
MATTHEW
ΜΑΤΘΑΙ͂ΟΣ מַתִּתְיָהוּ
[...]
Translation in progress.
This is a record of the beginning of Jesus the Messiah, Son of David, Son of Abraham:
Abraham was the father of Isaac,
Isaac was the father of Jacob,
Jacob was the father of Judah and his brothers,
Judah was the father of Perez and Zerah, whose mother was Tamar,
Perez was the father of Hezron,
Hezrom was the father of Ram,
Ram was the father of Amminadab,
Amminadab was the father of Nahshon,
Nahshon was the father of Salmon,
Salmon was the father of Boaz, whose mother was Rahab,
Boaz was the father of Obed, whose mother was Ruth,
Obed was the father of Jesse,
Jesse was the father of King David.
David was the father of Solomon, whose mother was the wife of Uriah,
Solomon was the father of Rehoboam,
Rehoboam was the father of Abijah,
Abijah was the father of Asa,
Asa was the father of Jehoshaphat,
Jehoshaphat was the father of Joram,
Joram was the father of Uzziah,
Uzziah was the father of Jotham,
Jotham was the father of Ahaz,
Ahaz was the father of Hezekiah,
Hezekiah was the father of Manasseh,
Manasseh was the father of Amos,
Amos was the father of Josiah,
Josiah was the father of Jeconiah and his brothers,
at the time of the deportation to Babylon.
Then after the deportation to Babylon:
Jeconiah was the father of Shealtiel,
Shealtiel was the father of Zerubbabel,
Zerubbabel was the father of Abiud,
Abiud was the father of Eliakim,
Eliakim was the father of Azor,
Azor was the father of Zadok,
Zadok was the father of Achim,
Achim was the father of Eliud,
Eliud was the father of Eleazar,
Eleazar was the father of Matthan,
Matthan was the father of Jacob,
and Jacob was the father of Joseph, who was Mary’s husband.
From Mary, Jesus, who is called the Messiah, was born.
Thus, in all, from Abraham to David, there were 14 generations;
from David to the deportation to Babylon, 14 generations;
from the time of deportation to the Messiah, 14 generations.
Now this is how Jesus the Messiah was born: His mother Mary was engaged to Joseph, but before they lived together, she was found to be pregnant by the Holy Spirit. Now Joseph, her husband, being righteous and not willing to make a show of her, determinedly planned to divorce her in secret.
Now while he considered these things - check this out! - a messenger of the Lord shone and made himself visible to him through a dream! He said to him:
─ Joseph, son of David, may you not be afraid of taking Mary as your wife, because the child that is being conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son and you will name Him Jesus, because He will save His people from their sins.
All of this happened so that what the Lord spoke through the prophet may be brought to completion, saying:
“Look, the virgin will become pregnant and will bear a son,
and they will call Him ‘Immanuel’,”
which translated means “God with us”.
When Joseph woke up from his sleep, he did as the messenger of the Lord had commanded him: He took his wife, but did not sleep with her until she had brought forth a son and he called Him Jesus.
Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, in the days of King Herod, - check this out! - Magians from the east arrived in Jerusalem, saying: ─ Where is He who was born King of the Jews? Because we saw His star in the east and we have come to worship Him.
When King Herod heard this, he was troubled - he and all Jerusalem with him. He brought together all the chief priests and scribes of the people and inquired of them where the Messiah was to be born.
They told him:
─ In Bethlehem of Judea, for it has been written in this manner by the prophet:
‘And you, Bethlehem, land of Judah,
are by no means least among the rulers of Judah,
for out of you will come forth a Ruler,
who will shepherd My people Israel.’
Then Herod called the Magians in secret and inquired of them to know exactly the time when the star appeared. And, having sent them to Bethlehem, he said:
─ As you go, search carefully for the Child. Then when you find Him, report it back to me so that I too may go and worship Him.
After they heard the king, they went away. Check this out: the star that they saw in the east went ahead of them until, having arrived, it stood over the place where the Child was! When they saw the star, they were extremely overjoyed. And coming into the house, they found the Child with His mother Mary. Having knelt down, they worshiped Him. Having opened their treasures, they offered Him gifts: gold, frankincense and myrrh. Then God warned them in a dream not to return to Herod. So, by another route, they ran away to their country for safety.
After the Magians had gone, - check this out! - a messenger of the Lord makes himself visible to Joseph through a dream:
─ Having arisen, take the Child and His mother and flee to Egypt. Stay there until I should tell you. Herod is looking for the Child so he can destroy Him.
So Joseph got up, took the Child and His mother by night and ran away to Egypt for their safety. He stayed there until Herod’s death, so that what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet may be brought to completion:
“Out of Egypt I have called My Son.”
Then Herod, realizing he had been mocked by the Magians, was extremely enraged. He gave orders to put to death all the boys in and around Bethlehem who were two years old and under, according to the exact time he had inquired of the Magians. Then it was brought to completion what was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet:
“A voice was heard in Ramah,
great lamentation and mourning,
Rachel weeping aloud for her children
and refused to be comforted,
because they are dead.”
After Herod died, - check this out! - a messenger of the Lord appears in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, saying:
─ Having arisen, take the Child and His mother and go to the land of Israel, because the people seeking the Child’s life died.
And so, when he arose, he took the Child and His mother and came into the land of Israel. Now when he heard Archelaus was ruling over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. But God warned him in a dream, so he ran away to the district of Galilee and arriving there, he established himself in a city called Natsareth, so that what had been spoken through the prophets should be brought to completion - that Jesus would be called a Natsorean.
Then in those days, John the Immerser made a public appearance in the wilderness of Judea. He preached:
─ Repent, y’all! For the kingdom of the skies is near!
Because this is the one spoken of by Isaiah the prophet, saying,
“A voice of one shouting in the wilderness,
Y’all prepare the way of the Lord!
Y’all make His paths straight!”
Now John himself had clothes made of camel’s hairs and a leather belt around his waist. His food was locusts and wild honey.
At that time, people from Jerusalem, all Judea and all the neighboring cities around the Jordan were going out to John and being cleansed by him through immersion in the Jordan river, confessing their sins. Now, when John saw the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to where he immersed people, he told them:
─ Y’all bunch of viper hatchlings! Who warned y’all to flee from the coming wrath? So produce fruit that is consistent with your repentance! And don’t think y’all can say to yourselves, “We have Abraham as your father”, because I say to y’all that God has the power to raise up children for Abraham from these stones. Even now the ax is laid at the root of the trees. Therefore, every tree that doesn’t produce good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. I, in fact, immerse y’all in water to repentance, but after me is coming the One who is more powerful than me, of whose sandals I’m not worthy to carry. He will immerse y’all in the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing shovel is in His hand, and He’ll thoroughly clean His threshing floor and gather His wheat into the storehouse; but the chaff, He’ll burn up with unquenchable fire.
Then from Galilee to John, comes Jesus, to be baptized by him in the Jordan River. But John tried to prohibit Him, saying:
─ I need to be baptized by You, and yet You come to me?
But Jesus answered:
─ Allow it to be so this time, for in this way it is appropriate to make all righteousness complete.
So John allowed it. Having been baptized
Then, having seen the crowds, He went up the mountain; and, having sat down, His disciples came to Him. And He taught them, saying thus:
─ How good is life for the poor in spirit,
because theirs is the kingdom of the skies.
How good is life for those who grieve,
because they will be comforted.
How good is life for the unimportant,
because they will inherit the land.
How good is life for those who hunger and thirst for right-relationships,
because they will be filled.
How good is life for the pure in heart,
because they will see God.
How good is life for those who show mercy,
because they will be shown mercy.
How good is life for the peacemakers,
because they will be called “children of God”.
How good is life for those who have been persecuted
on account of doing what is right
because theirs is the kingdom of the skies.
How good is life for you
when they insult you,
persecute you
or say anything evil against you, lying,
on account of Me.
Celebrate and jump for joy,
because your reward is great in the skies,
for this is how they persecuted the prophets who came before you.
You are the salt of the land. But if the salt becomes tasteless, what can recover its saltiness? So it’s useless for nothing except to be trampled by men after being thrown out. You are the light of the world. A city cannot be hidden when it’s on a hill.
Now I also say to you that you are Peter, a stone, and upon this bedrock I will build my assembly and the gates of Hades will not withstand it.
[...]
Translation in progress.
Footnotes