1 Jesus nasceu em Belém, na Judeia, durante o reinado de Herodes. Por esse tempo, alguns sábios das terras do Oriente chegaram a Jerusalém 2 e perguntaram: "Onde está o recém-nascido rei dos judeus? Vimos sua estrela no Oriente e viemos adorá-lo".
3 Ao ouvir isso, o rei Herodes ficou perturbado, e com ele todo o povo de Jerusalém. 4 Reuniu os principais sacerdotes e os mestres da lei e lhes perguntou: "Onde nascerá o Cristo?".
5 Eles responderam: "Em Belém da Judeia, pois assim escreveu o profeta:
6 ‘E você, Belém, na terra de Judá,
não é a menor entre as principais cidades de Judá,
pois de você virá um governante
que será o pastor do meu povo, Israel’".
7 Então Herodes convocou os sábios em segredo e soube por eles o momento em que a estrela tinha aparecido. 8 "Vão a Belém e procurem o menino com atenção", disse ele. "Quando o encontrarem, voltem e digam-me, para que eu vá e também o adore."
9 Após a conversa com o rei, os sábios seguiram seu caminho, guiados pela estrela que tinham visto no Oriente. Ela ia adiante deles, até que parou acima do lugar onde o menino estava. 10 Quando viram a estrela, ficaram muito alegres. 11 Ao entrar na casa, viram o menino com Maria, sua mãe, e se prostraram e o adoraram. Então abriram seus tesouros e o presentearam com ouro, incenso e mirra.
12 Quando chegou a hora de partir, retornaram para sua terra por outro caminho, pois haviam sido avisados em sonho para não voltar a Herodes.
13 Depois que os sábios partiram, um anjo do Senhor apareceu a José em sonho. "Levante-se", disse o anjo. "Fuja para o Egito com o menino e sua mãe. Fique lá até eu lhe dizer que volte, pois Herodes vai procurar o menino a fim de matá-lo."
14 Naquela mesma noite, José se levantou e partiu com o menino e Maria, sua mãe, para o Egito, 15 onde ficaram até a morte de Herodes. Cumpriu-se, assim, o que o Senhor tinha dito por meio do profeta: "Do Egito chamei meu filho".
16 Quando Herodes se deu conta de que os sábios o haviam enganado, ficou furioso. Enviou soldados para matar todos os meninos de dois anos para baixo em Belém e seus arredores, tomando por base o relato dos sábios acerca da primeira aparição da estrela. 17 Com isso, cumpriu-se o que foi dito por meio do profeta Jeremias:
18 "Ouviu-se um clamor em Ramá,
choro e grande lamentação.
Raquel chora por seus filhos
e se recusa a ser consolada,
pois eles já não existem".
19 Quando Herodes morreu, um anjo do Senhor apareceu em sonho a José, no Egito. 20 "Levante-se", disse o anjo. "Leve o menino e a mãe de volta para a terra de Israel, pois já morreram os que tentavam matar o menino."
21 Então José se levantou e se preparou para voltar à terra de Israel com o menino e sua mãe. 22 Soube, porém, que o novo governador da Judeia era Arquelau, filho de Herodes, e teve medo de ir para lá. Depois de ser avisado em sonho, partiu para a região da Galileia. 23 A família foi morar numa cidade chamada Nazaré, cumprindo-se, desse modo, o que os profetas haviam dito, que Jesus seria chamado nazareno.
1 After Jesus had been born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of King Herod, wise men from the east arrived in Jerusalem
2 and asked, "Where is the one who was born king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him."
3 When King Herod heard this he was troubled, and all the people of Jerusalem with him.
4 He called together all the high priests and scribes of the people and asked them where the Christ was to be born.
5 They told him, "In Bethlehem of Judea. For that is what was written by the prophet:
6 ‘O Bethlehem in the land of Judah,you are by no means least among the rulers of Judah. For from you will come a rulerwho will shepherd my people Israel.’"
7 Then Herod secretly called together the wise men and found out from them the time the star had appeared.
8 Then he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, "As you go, search carefully for the child. When you find him, tell me so that I, too, may go and worship him."
9 After listening to the king, they set out, and the star they had seen in the east went ahead of them until it came and stopped over the place where the child was.
10 When they saw the star, they were ecstatic with joy.
11 After they went into the house and saw the child with his mother Mary, they fell down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasure sacks and offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
12 Having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they left for their own country by a different road.
13 After they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, "Get up, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, because Herod intends to search for the child and kill him."
14 So Joseph got up and took the child and his mother and left at night for Egypt.
15 He stayed there until Herod's death in order to fulfill what was declared by the Lord through the prophet when he said, "Out of Egypt I called my Son."
16 When Herod saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, he flew into a rage and ordered the execution of all the male children in Bethlehem and all its neighboring regions who were two years old and younger, according to the time that he had determined from the wise men.
17 Then what was declared by the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled when he said,
18 "A voice was heard in Ramah:wailing and great mourning. Rachel was crying for her children.She refused to be comforted,because they no longer existed."
19 But 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 to the land of Israel, for those who were trying to kill the child are dead."
21 So Joseph got up and took the child and his mother and went into the land of Israel.
22 But when he heard that Archelaus was ruling over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. Having been warned in a dream, he left for the region of Galilee
23 and came and settled in a town called Nazareth in order to fulfill what was said by the prophets: "He will be called a Nazarene."