THE

RIVERSIDE NEW TESTAMENT

THE GOOD NEWS TOLD BY MATTHEW

THE ancestral line of Jesus Christ, son of David, son of Abraham:

Abraham was the father of Isaac; Isaac was the father of Jacob; Jacob was the father of Judah and his brothers; Judah was the father of Perez and Zerah (Tamar was their mother); Perez was the father of Hezron; Hezron was the father of Ram; Ram was the father of Amminadab; Amminadab was the father of Nahshon; Nahshon was the father of Salmon; Salmon was the father of Boaz (Rahab was his mother); Boaz was the father of Obed (Ruth was his mother); Jesse was the father of David the King.

David was the father of Solomon (his mother had been Uriah's wife); Solomon was the father of Rehoboam; Rehoboam was the father of Abijah; Abijah was the father of Asa; Asa was the father of Jehoshaphat; Jehoshaphat was the father of Joram; Joram was the father of Uzziah; Uzziah was the father of Jotham; Jotham was the father of Ahaz; Ahaz was the father of Hezekiah; Hezekiah was the father of Manasseh; Manasseh was the father of Amon; Amon was the father of Josiah; Josiah was the father of Jechoniah and his brothers at the time of the Babylonian exile.

After the Babylonian exile, Jechoniah was the father of Shealtiel; Shealtiel was the father of Zerubbabel; Zerubbabel was the father of Abiud; Abiud was the father of Eliakim; Eliakim was the father of Azor; Azor was the father of Sadoc; Sadoc was the father of Achim; Achim was the father of Eliud; Eliud was the father of Eleazar; Eleazar was the father of

Matthan; Matthan was the father of Jacob; Jacob was the father of Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ.

So there were in all fourteen generations from Abraham to David, and fourteen generations from David to the Babylonian exile, and fourteen generations from the Babylonian exile to the Christ.

The birth of Jesus was in this way: His mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, but before they came together she was found to be with child by the Holy Spirit. Joseph, her husband, being an upright man, and yet not willing to make her a public example, resolved to dismiss her privately. But while he was thinking this over, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, "Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for what has been conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins." All this happened in fulfillment of what the Lord had spoken through the prophet: "Behold the virgin will conceive and will bear a son, and they will call his name Immanuel" (which means, God is with us).

When Joseph awoke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord had bidden him, and took his wife to his home. But he did not live with her as a husband until she had borne a son. He called his name Jesus.

II

AFTER Jesus had been born in Bethlehem, in Judæa, in the days of Herod the King, wise men from the East arrived at Jerusalem, saying, "Where is he who has been born King of the Jews? For we saw his star in the East and have come to do homage to him.'

When King Herod heard it, he was disturbed, and so was all Jerusalem. Then he called together all the high priests and scribes of the people and inquired of them where the Christ was to be born. They said to him, "In Bethlehem, in Judæa. For so it was written by the prophet, ' And thou, Bethlehem, land of Judah, art by no means least among the leaders of Judah;

for from thee will come a leader who will shepherd my people Israel.'

Then Herod' secretly summoned the wise men and learned from them exactly the time of the star's appearance, and as he sent them to Bethlehem he said, "Go and make careful inquiries about the child, and when you have found him bring me word, so that I too may come and do homage to him." After hearing the king, they journeyed on, and the star which they had seen in the East went before them until it came and stood over where the child was. When they saw the star, they were very joyful. They entered the house and saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and did him homage. Then they opened their treasures and presented to him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh. After this they were warned in a dream not to return to Herod, and so went by another road back to their own country.

After they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph and said, "Rise up, and take the child and his mother and flee into Egypt, and be there until I tell you, for Herod will search for the child in order to kill him." So Joseph rose up, and took the child and his mother in the night and went away to Egypt, and was there until the death of Herod, in order that the word of the Lord spoken through the prophet might be fulfilled, "Out of Egypt I called my Son."

Then Herod, seeing that he had been outwitted by the wise men, became furious, and sent out and killed all the boy babies two years old and under in Bethlehem and all its neighborhood, guided by the date which he had carefully learned from the wise men. Then was fulfilled what was spoken through Jeremiah the prophet when he said, "A voice was heard in Ramah, wailing and bitter lamentation, Rachel weeping for her children, and she would not be comforted because they are not."

But after Herod had died, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt and said, "Arise, and take the child and his mother and go into the land of Israel, for they are dead who sought the child's life." So he arose, and took the child and his mother and came into the land of Israel. But

when he heard that Archelaus was reigning over Judæa in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there, and being directed in a dream he went away to the region of Galilee and settled in a town called Nazareth, so that what had been spoken through the prophets might be fulfilled, "He will be called a Nazarene."

III

IN those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wild part of Judæa and saying, "Repent; for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. For this is he who was foretold through Isaiah the prophet when he said: "The voice of one crying aloud in the wilderness, Make ready the way of the Lord, make straight his paths.""

This John had his clothing of camel's hair and wore a leather belt around his waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey. Then went out to him Jerusalem and all Judæa and all the neighborhood of the Jordan and were baptized by him in the Jordan River, confessing their sins. When he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming for baptism, he said, "Brood of vipers, who directed you to flee from the coming wrath? Produce fruit fitting for a change of heart, and do not think of saying to yourselves, 'We have Abraham for our father,' for I tell you God is able out of these stones to raise up children for Abraham. Now the axe is lying at the root of the trees. Every tree that does not yield good fruit will be cut down and cast into the fire. I baptize you with water for a change of heart, but he who is coming after me is more powerful than I; I am not worthy to carry his shoes; he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. He has his fan in his hand and will thoroughly clean his threshing-floor. He will gather his grain into his storehouse, but the chaff he will burn with fire unquenchable."

Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to John to be baptized by him. But John opposed him, saying, "I have need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?" Jesus replied, "Permit it now, for so it is fitting for us to complete every righteous act." Then he permitted him.

D

Jesus, as soon as he was baptized, went up from the water, and the heavens were opened and he saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove and coming upon him. A voice from the heavens said, "This is my Son, the beloved in whom I delight."

IV

THEN Jesus was led by the Spirit up into the wild country to be tempted by the Devil. After he had fasted forty days and forty nights he was hungry. Then the tempter came and said to him, "If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to turn into loaves of bread." But he answered, "It is written, 'Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.""

Then the Devil took him with him to the holy city and placed him on the top of the temple and said to him, "If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down; for it is written, "To his angels he will give charge of you, and on their hands they will bear you lest you strike your foot against a stone."" Jesus said to him, "It is written, too, 'Thou shalt not try the Lord thy God.""

Again the Devil took him with him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory, and said to him, "All these things I will give you if you will fall down and do homage to me." Jesus said to him, "Begone, Satan, for it is written, 'To the Lord thy God alone shalt thou do homage, and him alone shalt thou serve."" Then the Devil left him, and angels came and waited upon him.

When Jesus heard that John had been betrayed, he went away into Galilee. Leaving Nazareth, he came and lived in Capernaum on the lake shore on the borders of Zebulun and Naphtali, so that the word spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled: "Land of Zebulun and land of Naphtali, road to the sea, country beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles, the people that sat in darkness saw a great light and upon those sitting in the land and shadow of death light dawned."

From that time Jesus began to proclaim and say, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand."

As he was walking along the shore of the lake of Galilee, he