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Gospel Reading - Wise men from the east

¹Jesus was born in the town of Bethlehem, in Judea, during the reign of King Herod.

At about that time some astrologers from eastern lands arrived in Jerusalem, asking, ²“Where is the newborn King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in far-off eastern lands and have come to worship him.”

³King Herod was deeply disturbed by their question, and all Jerusalem was filled with rumors.^{a 4}He called a meeting of the Jewish religious leaders.

“Did the prophets tell us where the Messiah would be born?” he asked.

⁵“Yes, in Bethlehem,” they said, “for this is what the prophet Micah^b wrote:

⁶‘O little town of Bethlehem, you are not just an unimportant Judean village, for a Governor shall rise from you to rule my people Israel.’”

⁷Then Herod sent a private message to the astrologers, asking them to come to see him; at this meeting he found out from them the exact time when they first saw the star. Then he told them, ⁸“Go to Bethlehem and search for the child. And when you find him, come back and tell me so that I can go and worship him too!”

⁹After this interview the astrologers started out again. And look! The star appeared to them again, standing over Bethlehem.^{c 10}Their joy knew no bounds!

¹¹Entering the house where the baby and Mary, his mother, were, they threw themselves down before him, worshiping. Then they opened their presents and gave him gold, frankincense, and myrrh. ¹²But when they returned to their own land, they didn’t go through Jerusalem to report to Herod, for God had warned them in a dream to go home another way.

1. Literally, “and all Jerusalem with him.”
2. Implied; see Micah 5:2.
3. Literally, “went before them until it came and stood over where the baby lay.”