2
Joseph had a dream
Matthew 1:18b-25a
18 Mary was promised to a man called Joseph, but they hadn’t slept together yet, like married people do. Then the Holy Spirit made a baby grow inside Mary. 19 Joseph found out that Mary was going to have a baby, and he was not happy. He knew that the baby wasn’t his, so he wanted to leave Mary. But he was a good man, and he didn’t want to shame her. So he thought, “I will just leave her quietly, without any argument.”
20 While Joseph thought about that, he went to sleep and had a dream. He saw an angel messenger from God. The angel said, “Joseph, you are from the family of David. Look, you can go ahead and marry Mary. Don’t be too frightened to do that. You see, her baby is from the Holy Spirit, not from another man. 21 She will have a baby boy, and you will name him Jesus. (That name Jesus means God saves.) You see, he will save his people, so that God will not punish them for the bad things they do.”*
22 That all happened just like God told one of his men to write in God’s book, a long time ago. He wrote,
23 “There will be a young woman that has never slept with a man, like a woman does with her husband, but she will have a baby boy.
That boy will have a special name, Immanuel. That name means God is with us.”*
24 Joseph woke up and did what God’s angel told him to do. He married Mary. 25 But he did not sleep with her, like a man does with his wife, until after her son was born.
* 2:21 Luke 1:31 * 2:23 Isaiah 7:14; 8:8, 10