Matthew 1
1 A long time ago God promised to send somebody to save us. Jesus is that one. These are the names of the fathers and grand-fathers of Jesus from a long time before he was born. This list shows that Jesus came from the family of the big boss of the Israel people, called David. It also shows that David came from the family of Abraham.
2 This list starts with Abraham, a really long time ago. He was the father of Isaac. Isaac was the father of Jacob. Jacob was the father of Judah and his brothers.
3 Judah was the father of Perez and Zerah. Their mother’s name was Tamar. Perez was the father of Hezron. Hezron was the father of Ram.
4 Ram was the father of Amminadab. Amminadab was the father of Nahshon. Nahshon was the father of Salmon.
5 Salmon was the father of Boaz. His mother’s name was Rahab. Boaz was the father of Obed. His mother’s name was Ruth. Obed was the father of Jesse.
6 Jesse was the father of David. He was the big boss of all that mob, the Israel nation. So in that family there were 14 fathers from Abraham to David. David was the father of Solomon. At first Solomon’s mother was the wife of another man called Uriah.
7 Solomon was the father of Rehoboam. Rehoboam was the father of Abijah. Abijah was the father of Asa.
8 Asa was the father of Jehoshaphat. Jehoshaphat was the father of Jehoram. Jehoram was the father of Uzziah.
9 Uzziah was the father of Jotham. Jotham was the father of Ahaz. Ahaz was the father of Hezekiah.
10 Hezekiah was the father of Manasseh. Manasseh was the father of Amon. Amon was the father of Josiah.
11 Josiah was the father of Jeconiah and his brothers. At that time the soldiers from Babylon country took the Jewish people to their country. So in that family there were 14 fathers from David till the time they all had to go to Babylon.
12 Jeconiah was the father of Shealtiel. Shealtiel was the father of Zerubbabel.
13 Zerubbabel was the father of Abihud. Abihud was the father of Eliakim. Eliakim was the father of Azor.
14 Azor was the father of Zadok. Zadok was the father of Akim. Akim was the father of Eliud.
15 Eliud was the father of Eleazar. Eleazar was the father of Matthan. Matthan was the father of Jacob.
16 Jacob was the father of Joseph. Joseph was the husband of Mary, and Mary was the mother of Jesus, who is God’s special person.
17 So in that family there were 14 fathers from Abraham to David, and there were 14 fathers from David till the time they all had to go to Babylon, and there were 14 fathers from that Babylon time till the time God sent his promised one, Jesus.
18 This is the way Jesus was born. He is the one God talked about a long time ago. God promised to send him to us. Mary was promised to a man called Joseph. He found out that Mary was going to have a baby, and he was not happy. He knew that the baby wasn’t his, so he wanted to leave Mary.
19 But he was a good man and he didn’t want to shame her, so he thought, “I will just leave her quietly, without any argument.”
20 While Joseph thought about this he went to sleep and had a dream. He saw an angel messenger from God. The angel said, “Hey, Joseph, you are from the family of David. Go ahead and marry Mary. Don’t be afraid too that. You see, her baby is from the Holy Spirit, not from another man.
21 She will have a baby boy, and you will call him Jesus. (That name Jesus means God saves.) You see, he will save his people, so that God will not punish them for the bad things they do.”
22 This all happened the way one of God’s men wrote, a long time ago. He wrote,
23 “There will be a young woman that has never slept with a man, like a woman does with her husband, but she will have a baby boy. That boy will have a special name, Immanuel. That name means, God is with us. ”
24 Joseph woke up and did what God’s angel told him to do. He married Mary.
25 But he did not sleep with her, like a man does with his wife, until after her son was born. And he named the baby Jesus.