Scrutatio

Giovedi, 28 marzo 2024 - San Castore di Tarso ( Letture di oggi)

Matthew 2


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1After Jesus had been born at Bethlehem in Judaea during the reign of King Herod, suddenly some wisemen came to Jerusalem from the east2asking, 'Where is the infant king of the Jews? We saw his star as it rose and have come to do himhomage.'3When King Herod heard this he was perturbed, and so was the whole of Jerusalem.4He called together al the chief priests and the scribes of the people, and enquired of them where theChrist was to be born.5They told him, 'At Bethlehem in Judaea, for this is what the prophet wrote:6And you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, you are by no means the least among the leaders of Judah,for from you wil come a leader who wil shepherd my people Israel.'7Then Herod summoned the wise men to see him privately. He asked them the exact date on which thestar had appeared8and sent them on to Bethlehem with the words, 'Go and find out all about the child, and when you havefound him, let me know, so that I too may go and do him homage.'9Having listened to what the king had to say, they set out. And suddenly the star they had seen risingwent forward and halted over the place where the child was.10The sight of the star fil ed them with delight,11and going into the house they saw the child with his mother Mary, and fal ing to their knees they didhim homage. Then, opening their treasures, they offered him gifts of gold and frankincense and myrrh.12But they were given a warning in a dream not to go back to Herod, and returned to their own countryby a different way.13After they had left, suddenly the angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, 'Get up,take the child and his mother with you, and escape into Egypt, and stay there until I tel you, because Herodintends to search for the child and do away with him.'14So Joseph got up and, taking the child and his mother with him, left that night for Egypt,15where he stayed until Herod was dead. This was to fulfil what the Lord had spoken through theprophet: I cal ed my son out of Egypt.16Herod was furious on realising that he had been fooled by the wise men, and in Bethlehem and itssurrounding district he had al the male children killed who were two years old or less, reckoning by the date hehad been careful to ask the wise men.17Then were fulfilled the words spoken through the prophet Jeremiah:18A voice is heard in Ramah, lamenting and weeping bitterly: it is Rachel weeping for her children,refusing to be comforted because they are no more.19After Herod's death, suddenly the angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt20and said, 'Get up, take the child and his mother with you and go back to the land of Israel, for thosewho wanted to kil the child are dead.'21So Joseph got up and, taking the child and his mother with him, went back to the land of Israel.22But when he learnt that Archelaus had succeeded his father Herod as ruler of Judaea he was afraid togo there, and being warned in a dream he withdrew to the region of Galilee.23There he settled in a town cal ed Nazareth. In this way the words spoken through the prophets were tobe fulfil ed: He wil be cal ed a Nazarene.