The Gospel According to St. Matthew

⭑ Catholic Public Domain Version 2009 ⭑

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- Chapter 1 -

(Ruth 4:18–22; Luke 3:23–38)

The book of the lineage of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.

Abraham conceived Isaac. And Isaac conceived Jacob. And Jacob conceived Judah and his brothers.

And Judah conceived Perez and Zerah by Tamar. And Perez conceived Hezron. And Hezron conceived Ram.

And Ram conceived Amminadab. And Amminadab conceived Nahshon. And Nahshon conceived Salmon.

And Salmon conceived Boaz by Rahab. And Boaz conceived Obed by Ruth. And Obed conceived Jesse.

And Jesse conceived king David. And king David conceived Solomon, by her who had been the wife of Uriah.

And Solomon conceived Rehoboam. And Rehoboam conceived Abijah. And Abijah conceived Asa.

And Asa conceived Jehoshaphat. And Jehoshaphat conceived Joram. And Joram conceived Uzziah.

And Uzziah conceived Jotham. And Jotham conceived Ahaz. And Ahaz conceived Hezekiah.

And Hezekiah conceived Manasseh. And Manasseh conceived Amos. And Amos conceived Josiah.

And Josiah conceived Jechoniah and his brothers in the transmigration of Babylon.

And after the transmigration of Babylon, Jechoniah conceived Shealtiel. And Shealtiel conceived Zerubbabel.

And Zerubbabel conceived Abiud. And Abiud conceived Eliakim. And Eliakim conceived Azor.

And Azor conceived Zadok. And Zadok conceived Achim. And Achim conceived Eliud.

And Eliud conceived Eleazar. And Eleazar conceived Matthan. And Matthan conceived Jacob.

And Jacob conceived Joseph, the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ.(a)

(b)

And so, all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations; and from David to the transmigration of Babylon, fourteen generations; and from the transmigration of Babylon to the Christ, fourteen generations.

The Birth of Jesus

(Isaiah 7:10–16; Luke 2:1–7)

Now the procreation of the Christ occurred in this way. After his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they lived together, she was found to have conceived in her womb by the Holy Spirit.

Then Joseph, her husband, since he was just and was not willing to hand her over, preferred to send her away secretly.

But while thinking over these things, behold, an Angel of the Lord appeared to him in his sleep, saying: “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to accept Mary as your wife. For what has been formed in her is of the Holy Spirit.

And she shall give birth to a son. And you shall call his name JESUS. For he shall accomplish the salvation of his people from their sins.”

Now all this occurred in order to fulfill what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying:

“Behold, a virgin shall conceive in her womb, and she shall give birth to a son. And they shall call his name Emmanuel, which means: God is with us.”(c)

Then Joseph, arising from sleep, did just as the Angel of the Lord had instructed him, and he accepted her as his wife.

And he knew her not, yet she bore her son, the firstborn. And he called his name JESUS.(d)

Footnotes

(a)1:16 Notice that after many uses of the formula ‘one man conceived another man,’ the passage does not say that Joseph conceived (genuit) Jesus. The break in this formula indicates the understanding of Matthew and of the Church from its earliest days, that Joseph was not the biological father of Jesus.(Conte)

(b)1:16 The husband of Mary:The Evangelist gives us rather the pedigree of St. Joseph, than that of the blessed Virgin, to conform to the custom of the Hebrews, who in their genealogies took no notice of women; but as they were near akin, the pedigree of the one shows that of the other.(Challoner)

(c)1:23 The expression ‘in utero habebit’ literally means ‘shall have in the womb.’ But this verse is a quote from Isaiah 7:14, which, in the Latin, uses ‘virgo concipiet’ rather than ‘in utero habebit.’ Therefore, the use of the translation ‘shall conceive in her womb’ to convey the expression ‘shall have in the womb’ is justified. Verse 18 which has a similar expression, with a similar translation.(Conte)

(d)1:25 Till she brought forth her firstborn son:From these words Helvidius and other heretics most impiously inferred that the blessed Virgin Mary had other children besides Christ; but St. Jerome shows, by divers examples, that this expression of the Evangelist was a manner of speaking usual among the Hebrews, to denote by the word until, only what is done, without any regard to the future. Thus it is said, Genesis 8. 6 and 7, that Noe sent forth a raven, which went forth, and did not return till the waters were dried up on the earth. That is, did not return any more. Also Isaias 46. 4, God says: I am till you grow old. Who dare infer that God should then cease to be: Also in the first book of Machabees 5. 54, And they went up to mount Sion with joy and gladness, and offered holocausts, because not one of them was slain till they had returned in peace. That is, not one was slain before or after they had returned. God saith to his divine Son: Sit on my right hand till I make thy enemies thy footstool. Shall he sit no longer after his enemies are subdued? Yea and for all eternity. St. Jerome also proves by Scripture examples, that an only begotten son, was also called firstborn, or first begotten: because according to the law, the firstborn males were to be consecrated to God; Sanctify unto me, saith the Lord, every firstborn that opens the womb among the children of Israel, etc. Ex. 13. 2.(Challoner)