Some important parts of the good news about Jesus that Matthew wrote
(From the book in the Holy Bible called Matthew)
About this book
The Holy Bible has 4 books about the things that Jesus did, and the messages he told to people when he was here on the earth, about 2,000 years ago. Those books are in the 2nd part of the Holy Bible, called the New Testament. The men that wrote them were Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. They wrote their books after Jesus went back to heaven. Most of the things in their books happened in the country we now call Israel.
In each of those 4 books we can read about some of the things that Jesus did and said. This Bible has everything that Mark and John wrote about Jesus in their books, but we have not yet translated everything that Matthew and Luke wrote. We have only translated the stories and messages that Mark and John didn’t write about, but that Matthew and Luke did write about.
This book has those stories and messages that Matthew wrote. They are important for us today because they tell us about the good things that Jesus did, and they tell us God’s messages that Jesus taught to people.
Matthew had another name. He was sometimes called Levi. At first, he was a tax man. He took money from the Jewish people and gave it to the Roman government. But one day, Jesus told him, “Follow me,” and Matthew left his money job and followed Jesus (see Mark 2:13-14). Later, Jesus picked Matthew to be one of his 12 special workers (see Mark 3:13-19). Those 12 men went everywhere with Jesus. So Matthew saw and heard most of the things that he wrote about in this book.
1
The family line of Jesus
1 A long time ago, God promised to send somebody to save us. Jesus is that person. These names are the fathers and grand-fathers of Jesus, that lived a long time before he was born. This list shows that Jesus was from the family of David. David was the big boss over the Israel people. It also shows that David was from the family of Abraham.
2 This list starts with Abraham, a really long time ago. He was the father of Isaac.
Isaac was the father of Jacob.
Jacob was the father of Judah and his brothers.
3 Judah was the father of Perez and Zerah. Their mother’s name was Tamar.
Perez was the father of Hezron.
Hezron was the father of Ram.
4 Ram was the father of Amminadab.
Amminadab was the father of Nahshon.
Nahshon was the father of Salmon.
5 Salmon was the father of Boaz. His mother’s name was Rahab.
Boaz was the father of Obed. His mother’s name was Ruth.
Obed was the father of Jesse.
6 Jesse was the father of David. He was the big boss over all that mob, the Israel nation.
So in that family there were 14 fathers from Abraham to David.
David was the father of Solomon. At first Solomon’s mother was the wife of another man called Uriah.
7 Solomon was the father of Riaboam.
Riaboam was the father of Abijah.
Abijah was the father of Asa.
8 Asa was the father of Jehoshafat.
Jehoshafat was the father of Jehoram.
Jehoram was the father of Uzziah.
9 Uzziah was the father of Jotham.
Jotham was the father of Ahaz.
Ahaz was the father of Hezekiah.
10 Hezekiah was the father of Manasseh.
Manasseh was the father of Amon.
Amon was the father of Josiah.
11 Josiah was the father of Jeconiah and his brothers. At that time, the soldiers from Babylon came and fought the Jewish people. The Babylon mob won, and they took the Jewish people as prisoners to their country.*
So in that family there were 14 fathers from David until the time they all had to go to Babylon.
12 Jeconiah was the father of Shiyaltiel.
Shiyaltiel was the father of Zerubbabel.
13 Zerubbabel was the father of Abihud.
Abihud was the father of Eliakim.
Eliakim was the father of Azor.
14 Azor was the father of Zadok.
Zadok was the father of Akim.
Akim was the father of Eliud.
15 Eliud was the father of Eleazar.
Eleazar was the father of Matthan.
Matthan was the father of Jacob.
16 Jacob was the father of Joseph. Joseph was the husband of Mary, and Mary was the mother of Jesus. Jesus is the Christ, the man that God promised to send to save us.
17 So in that family there were 14 fathers from Abraham to David, and there were 14 fathers from David until the time they all had to go to Babylon, and there were 14 fathers from that Babylon time until the time God sent Jesus to the world.
Joseph had a dream
18 This is the story about how Jesus was born. He is the man that God talked about a long time ago. God promised to send him to us.*
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 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. And he named the baby Jesus.*
* 1:11 2 Kings 24:14-15; 2 Chronicles 36:10; Jeremiah 27:20 * 1:18 Luke 1:27 * 1:21 Luke 1:31 * 1:23 Isaiah 7:14; 8:8, 10 * 1:25 Luke 2:21