THE GOSPEL

[...frankincense], and myrrh. 12 * And having received a command in a dream not to return back to Herod, they departed by another way to their own country. 13 * And when they had departed from there, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph and said, "Rise, take the child and his mother and flee to Egypt, and stay there until I tell you; for Herod is searching for the child to destroy him."

14 * And he, having risen, took the child and his mother by night and went to Egypt, 15 * and was there until the death of Herod. So that what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet might be fulfilled, which says, "Out of Egypt I have called my son." A reference to Hosea 11:1, connecting the life of Jesus to the history of the people of Israel.

B This "B" (Armenian letter Ben) likely marks the beginning of a new liturgical reading in the church calendar. 16 * Then Herod, when he saw that he was deceived by the Magi, was very angry; and he sent and killed all the male children who were in Bethlehem and in all its borders, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had determined from the Magi. 17 * Then was fulfilled what was spoken through Jeremiah the prophet, who says: 18 * "A voice was heard in Ramah, wailing and weeping and great mourning; Rachel was weeping for her children, and she would not be comforted, because they were no more." Rachel is the matriarch of Israel, here personified as weeping for the lost children of the nation. 19 * And upon the death of Herod, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, 20 * and said, "Rise, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who were seeking the child’s life are dead." 21 * And he, having risen, took the child and his mother and came to the land of Israel. 22 * But when he heard that Archelaus Herod the Great's son, known for his cruelty. was reigning over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there; and having received a command in a dream, he departed to the regions of Galilee. 23 * And he came and dwelt in the city called Nazareth, so that the word of the prophet might be fulfilled: "He shall be called a Nazarene."

CHAPTER 3

C 1 In those days, John the Baptist original: "Yovhannēs Mkrtich" comes preaching in the wilderness of Judea, 2 * and saying, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." 3 * For this is he...