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 was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi "from the east came to Jerusalem
2 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."
3 When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him.
4 When he had called together all the people's chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Messiah was to be born.
5 "In Bethlehem in Judea," they replied, "for this is what the prophet has written:
6 "'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.' ""
7 Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared.
8 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."
9 After they 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.
10 When they saw the star, they were overjoyed.
11 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.
12 And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.
13 When they 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."
14 So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt,
15 where he stayed until the death of Herod. And so was fulfilled what the Lord had said through the prophet: "Out of Egypt I called my son." [^3]
16 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 vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi.
17 Then what was said through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled:
18 "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." [^4]
19 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 take the child's life are dead."
21 So he got up, took the child and his mother and went to the land of Israel.
22 But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning in Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. Having been warned in a dream, he withdrew to the district of Galilee,
23 and he went and lived in a town called Nazareth. So was fulfilled what was said through the prophets, that he would be called a Nazarene.