英语阅读111
Bible Story 圣经故事a
The birth of the Messiah
Matthew
This is the story of the birth of the Messiah.Mary his mother was betrothed to Joseph; before their marriage she found that she was with child by the Holy Spirit. Being a man of principle, and at the same time wanting to save her from exposure,Joseph desired to have the marriage contract set aside quietly. He had resolved on this, when an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream.‘Joseph son of David,’ said the angel, ‘do not be afraid to take Mary home with you as your wife. It is by the Holy Spirit that she has conceived this child. She will bear a son; and you shall give him the name Jesus(Saviour), for he will save his people from their sins.’ All this happened in order to fulfil what the Lord declared through the prophet:‘The virgin will conceive and bear a son, and he shall be called Emmanuel’, a name which means‘God is with us’.Rising from sleep Joseph did as the angel had directed him;he took Mary home to be his wife, but had no intercourse with her until her son was born. And he named the child Jesus.
Jesus was born at Bethlehem in Judaea during the reign of Herod.After his birth astrologers from the east arrived in Jerusalem, asking, ‘Where is the child who is born to be king of the Jews?We observed the rising of his star, and we have come to pay him homage.’King Herod was greatly perturbed when he heard this;and so was the whole of Jerusalem. He called a meeting of the chief priests and lawyers of the Jewish people, and put before them the question:‘Where is it that the Messiah is to be born?’‘At Bethlehem in Judaea’, they replied; and they referred him to the prophecy which reads:‘Bethlehem in the land of Judah, you are far from least in the eyes of the rulers of Judah; for out of you shall come a leader to be the shepherd of my people Israel.’
Herod next called the astrologers to meet him in private,and ascertained from them the time when the star had appeared. He then sent them on to Bethlehem,and said, ‘Go and make a careful inquiry for the child.When you have found him, report to me, so that I may go myself and pay him homage.’
They set out at the king's bidding; and the star which they had seen at its rising went ahead of them until it stopped above the place where the child lay. At the sight of the star they were overjoyed,Entering the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother,and bowed to the ground in homage to him; then they opened their treasures and offered him gifts: gold, frankincense, and myrrh. And being warned in a dream not to go back to Herod,they returned home another way.
After they had gone,an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, and said to him, ‘rise up, take the child and his mother and escape with them to Egypt, and stay there until I tell you; for Herod is going to search for the child to do away with him.’So Joseph rose from sleep,and taking mother and child by nigh
t he went away with them to Egypt, and there he stayed till Herod's death. This was to fulfil what the Lord had declared through the prophet: ‘I called my son out of Egypt.’
When Herod saw how the astrologers had tricked him he fell into a passion, and gave orders for the massacre of all children in Bethlehem and its neighborhood, of the age of two years or less,corresponding with the time he had ascertained from the astrologers. So the words spoken through Jeremiah the prophet were fulfilled:‘A voice was heard in Rama,wailing and loud laments; it was Rachel weeping for her children, and refusing all consolation,because they were no more.’
The time came that Herod died; and an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt and said to him, ‘Rise up, take the child and his mother, and go with them to the land of Israel, for the men who threatened the child's life are dead.’ So he rose,took mother and child with him, and came to the land of Israel. Hearing, however, that Archelaus had succeeded his father Herod as king of Judaea, he was afraid to go there. And being warned by a dream, he withdrew to the region of Galilee; there he settled in a town called Nazareth.This was to fulfil the words spoken through the prophets:‘He shall be called a Nazarene’
基督降生
马太福音
现在讲的是耶稣基督的降生。他母亲马利亚当时已经许配给约瑟，但还未过门，马利亚发觉自从圣灵怀了孕。约瑟是个正直的人，他不想公开羞辱她，便打算暗地把婚约解除算了。当他决心已定时，天主的使者在梦中向他显灵说：“大卫的子孙约瑟，你不用害怕，只管把马利亚娶入门。她是从圣灵怀的孕。她将生个儿子，你要给他起名叫耶稣（救世主），因为他将把自己的人民从罪恶中解救出来。”这一切之所以发生，是应验了天主曾借先知之口讲的话：“将有童女怀孕生子，人要称他为以马内利”，这名字意思就是“上帝与我们同在。”约瑟醒后，就遵循使者的吩咐，把马利亚娶入门为妻。但直至儿子降生，他一直都不跟马利亚同房。他给儿子起名叫耶稣。
耶稣降生于犹太的伯利恒，当时是希律王当政。他出生后，有几个占星学家从东方来到耶路撒冷，说：“那个生下来要做犹太人之王的孩子在哪里？我们看到他的星宿升起，特赶来拜谒他。”希律王听后异常惊恐，耶路撒冷的全城居民也感到非常不安。希律王把祭司长和犹太人的法学家召集一起，问道：“基督要降生在何处？”他们答道，“在犹太的伯利恒。”他们告诉他，先知预言说：“犹大地的伯利恒啊，你在犹大的统治者的眼里，远非是无关紧要的，因为从这里产生一位君王来带领我们以色列人民。”
希律王私下又把占星学家召了来，问清楚那星是何时出现的
。然后，便派他们到伯利恒去：“去仔细打听一下那孩子的下落，找到后向我禀报，我好亲自去拜谒他。”
占星学家们遵照希律王的命令起程去查访。他们看到那颗升起的星一直在他们前边移动，到了那孩子所在的地方的上空就停住了。他们看到这情况就十分高兴。进屋后，他们看到那孩子正和他母亲马利亚在一起，便伏地拜见他；然后打开宝盒，把带来的黄金、乳香和没药等礼品献给他。占星学家们因为在梦中得到指示说不要再回去见希律王，于是就从别的路径返回家去。
他们走后，主的一个使者便在梦中向约瑟显灵，对他说：快起来，带着孩子和他母亲一起逃往埃及去吧。你们先住在那儿，以后我再告诉你们该怎么办；因为希律王要寻找这孩子，要置他于死地。”约瑟醒来马上起床，连夜带着母子俩逃往埃及。他在那儿一直住到希律王死去。这就应验了主借先知所讲的话，“我把我的儿子召出了埃及。”
当希律得知自己受了占星学家的欺骗后，便怒不可遏地下令：按占星学家们指出的时间，凡是伯利恒城或其周围地区的两岁以内的孩子，全都要杀掉。这就应验了主借先知耶利米所说的话：“在拉玛，你会听到号啕痛哭的声音，这是拉结在哭她的孩子们，而且谁也劝不住，因为她的儿女们再也不在人世了。”
希律终于死了。天主的使者便在埃及向约瑟梦中显灵，说：“起来，带着孩子和他母亲去以色列吧，因为要害孩子性命的人都已经死了。”约瑟便起来，带着母子俩去以色列。但当他听说亚基老接替他父亲希律作了犹太王的消息后，便又不敢到那里去。并按另一个梦中得到的告诫，他转往加利利地区，在一座叫拿撒勒的城里住下。这就应验天主借先知们所说的：“他要被称为拿撒勒人了。”