The Life of Jesus

After Yeshua was born in Beit-Lechem in the land of Y'hudah during the time when Herod was king, Magi from the east came to Yerushalayim

and asked, "Where is the newborn King of the Jews? For we saw his star in the east and have come to worship him."

When King Herod heard of this he became very agitated, and so did everyone else in Yerushalayim. He called together all the head cohanim and Torah-teachers

of the people and asked them, "Where will the Messiah be born?"

"In BeitLechem of Y'hudah," they replied, "because the prophet wrote,

`And you, Beit-Lechem in the land of Y'hudah, are by no means the least among the rulers of Y'hudah; for from you will come a Ruler who will shepherd my people Isra'el.'"

Herod summoned the Magi to meet with him privately and asked them exactly when the star had appeared.

Then he sent them to Beit-Lechem with these instructions: "Search carefully for the child; and when you find him, let me know, so that I too may go and worship him."

After they had listened to the king, they went away; and the star which they had seen in the east went in front of them until it came and stopped over the place where the child was.

When they saw the star, they were overjoyed.

Upon entering the house, they saw the child with his mother Miryam; and they prostrated themselves and worshipped him. Then they opened their bags and presented him gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.

But they had been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, so they took another route back to their own country.

After they had gone, an angel of ADONAI appeared to Yosef in a dream and said, "Get up, take the child and his mother, and escape to Egypt, and stay there until I tell you to leave. For Herod is going to look for the child in order to kill him."

So he got up, took the child and his mother, and left during the night for Egypt,

where he stayed until Herod died. This happened in order to fulfill what ADONAI had said through the prophet, "Out of Egypt I called my son."

Meanwhile, when Herod realized that the Magi had tricked him, he was furious and gave orders to kill all the boys in and around Beit-Lechem who were two years old or less, calculating from the time the Magi had told him.

In this way were fulfilled the words spoken through the prophet Yirmeyahu,

"A voice was heard in Ramah, sobbing and lamenting loudly. It was Rachel sobbing for her children and refusing to be comforted, because they are no longer alive."

After Herod's death, an angel of ADONAI appeared in a dream to Yosef in Egypt

and said, "Get up, take the child and his mother, and go to Eretz-Yisra'el, for those who wanted to kill the child are dead."

So he got up, took the child and his mother, and went back to Eretz-Yisra'el.

However, when he heard that Archelaus had succeeded his father Herod as king of Y'hudah, he was afraid to go there. Warned in a dream, he withdrew to the Galil

and settled in a town called Natzeret, so that what had been spoken by the prophets might be fulfilled, that he will be called a Natzrati.

It was during those days thatYochanan the Immerser arrived in the desert ofY'hudah and began proclaiming the message,

"Turn from your sins to God, for the Kingdom of Heaven is near!"