Visitors from the East
1 Jesus was born in the town of Bethlehem in Judea, during the time when Herod was king. Soon afterward, some men who studied the stars came from the East to Jerusalem 2 and 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.”
3 When King Herod heard about this, he was very upset, and so was everyone else in Jerusalem. 4 He 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:
6 ‘Bethlehem in the land of Judah,
you are by no means the least of the leading cities of Judah;
for from you will come a leader
who will guide my people Israel.’”
7 So Herod called the visitors from the East to a secret meeting and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. 8 Then 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.”
9-10 And 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. 11 They went into the house, and when they saw the child with his mother Mary, they knelt down and worshiped him. They brought out their gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh, and presented them to him.
12 Then they returned to their country by another road, since God had warned them in a dream not to go back to Herod.
The Escape to Egypt
13 After 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.”
14 Joseph got up, took the child and his mother, and left during the night for Egypt, 15 where he stayed until Herod died. This was done to make come true what the Lord had said through the prophet, “I called my Son out of Egypt.”
The Killing of the Children
16 When 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 neighborhood 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.
17 In this way what the prophet Jeremiah had said came true:
18 “A sound is heard in Ramah,
the sound of bitter weeping.
Rachel is crying for her children;
she refuses to be comforted,
for they are dead.”
The Return from Egypt
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 back to the land of Israel, because those who tried to kill the child are dead.” 21 So Joseph got up, took the child and his mother, and went back to Israel.
22 But 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 23 and made his home in a town named Nazareth. And so what the prophets had said came true: “He will be called a Nazarene.”
Balume bakatjenjela
1 Kwakati Jesu asinobe azwagwa mu nzi we Bhetelehema we Judiya, mu tjibaka tje mbuso wa Herode mambo, kukazha balume bakatjenjela ku Jerusalema bedwa ku bhezhuba, ngono bakabhuzwa bakati, 2 “Ungayi mambo we Bajuta wazwagwa kene? Tabona nyenyedzi iye ku bhezhuba ngono tawonnamata.”
3 Ngono kwakati mambo Herode ne bunji gwe bathu mu Jerusalema, behwa ikoku bakadziyidzika kwazo. 4 Herode wakakubunganya bapirisiti bakulu bose ne badiyi be nlayo ngono kababhuzwa kuti Mesiya unowozwaligwa ngayi.
5 Bakashandula beti, “Mu nzi we Bhetelehema mu ntuthu we Judiya, ngobe ikoku ndiko kwakakwagwa nge nlebesambeli eti,
6 “ ‘Koga iwe nzi we Bhetelehema, mu ntuthu we Juda,
aute uli ntukununu tjose mu balauli be Juda,
ngobe mukuli kowobhuda nlauli
unowolisa bathu bangu Baiziraela.’ ”
7 Ipapo Herode kadana balume ibabo bakatjenjela nge kwakasumbikala, kuti awane malebeswa mubali ekuti nyenyedzi yakaboneka tjibaka tjipi. 8 Ndizo Herode kabatumila ku Bhetelehema eti, “Yendani munoshaka mwana iwoyo nge njele. Muti ha mambona, mundizibise kuti namibo ndiyende ndinonnamata.”
9 Bakati basinohwa tjalebgwa ndi mambo, bakayenda, ngono bakabona nyenyedzi yabakabe babona ku bhezhuba, ikabatungamila kudzina ima pezhugwi kwe pakabe mwana alipo. 10 Bakati bebona nyenyedzi bakashatha kwazo kwazo, 11 ngono bakati bengina mu ng'umba bakabona mwana na mmeyabe Mariya, bakazwiyisa pasi bakan'namata. Kudwapo bakadusa fumwa yabo bakampa zwipo zwe golide ne nti we motsha unonuhwa zwinozipa ne nti we mira.
12 Ngono balume ibabo se bakabe batjenjedziwa mu hwope kuti basibgwilile kuna Herode, bakabgwilila ku shango yabo nge zila ipoga.
Kutizhila ku Egipiti
13 Bakati bayenda, ntumwa wa She kaboneka kuna Josefa mu hwope eti, “Muka, tola mwana na mmeyabe utizhile ku Egipiti. Ugale ikoko kudzina ndikubudza kuti utini, ngobe Herode wabe pejo ngoshaka mwana kuti ambulaye.”
14 Ndizo kamuka, katola mwana na mmeyabe busiku kayenda ku Egipiti, 15 kwaakagala kuswikila Herode efa. Oku kwakashingikala kuti ndizo kusiwile pasi matama a She akalebgwa nge nlebesambeli eti, “Ndakadanila Nkololo wangu kuzhe kwe Egipiti.”
Kubulawa kwe bana be Bhetelehema
16 Herode kati ebona kuti balume bakatjenjela bantjenjelela, kangina bushongola kwazo, ngono kadusa ndaulo kuti bana bose be tjilisana mu Bhetelehema ne ntuthu wose bana makole mabili ne kuyenda pasi babulawe. Makole iyawa Herode wakabe ealebela pezhugwi kwe tjakabe tjalebgwa nge balume bakatjenjela. 17 Ipapo matama akalebgwa nge nlebesambeli Jeremiya kasiwile pasi, Jeremiya wakabe ati,
18 “Hwi lakahwika mu nzi we Rama
kumimila ne kulila kukulu kulu
Rahele elilila ngawana dzidze
elamba nyaladziwa, ngobe dzafa.”
Kubgwilila ku Nazareta
19 Herode kati asinofa, ntumwa we kudzimu kaboneka mu hwope kuna Josefa ali ku Egipiti, eti, 20 “Milika utole mwana na mmeyabe uyende ku shango ye Iziraela, ngobe ibabo bakabe beshaka kupedza butjilo gugwe bakafa.” 21 Ndizo kamilika katola mwana na mmeyabe kayenda ku shango ye Iziraela.
22 Ngono Josefa kati ehwa kuti Akelaosi wagala tate babe Herode thaka, unobusa mu Judiya katja kuyendako. Ndizo kati atjenjedziwa mu hwope kashandukila ku ntuthu we Galili. 23 Wakayenda kanogala mu nzi we Nazareta, kuti ndizo kusiwile pasi matama akalebgwa nge balebesambeli beti, “Unowodang'wa Nnazareta.”