Mat 1 | EE | STEP | This is a list of the ancestors of Jesus Christ. Jesus was from the family of King David. David was from the family of Abraham.

Matthew 1

The ancestors of Jesus Christ

1 This is a list of the ancestors of Jesus Christ. Jesus was from the family of King David. David was from the family of Abraham. ^{▼▼1:1 Jesus was a Jew. Abraham was the ancestor of all the Jews. The Jews are also called Israelites, and they called their country Israel. We can read about Abraham in the book called Genesis 12-25. We can read about King David in the books called 1 Samuel (chapters 16-31) and 2 Samuel.}

2 Abraham 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. Tamar was their mother.
Perez was the father of Hezron.
Hezron was the father of Ram.
4 Aram was the father of Amminadab.
Amminadab was the father of Nahshon.
Nahshon was the father of Salmon.
5 Salmon was the father of Boaz. Rahab was his mother.
Boaz was the father of Obed. Ruth was his mother.
Obed was the father of Jesse.
6 Jesse was the father of King David.
David was Solomon’s father. Solomon’s mother was the wife of 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.

This was at the time when their enemies took the Jews away to Babylon.

12 Here is a list of Jesus’ ancestors who lived after that time:

Jeconiah was the father of Shealtiel.
Shealtiel was the father of Zerubbabel.
13 Zerubbabel was the father of Abiud.
Abiud was the father of Eliakim.
Eliakim was the father of Azor.
14 Azor was the father of Zadok.
Zadok was the father of Achim.
Achim 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 married Mary. Mary was the mother of Jesus. Jesus is the one who is called Christ. ^{▼▼1:16 Christ or the Messiah}

17 So then, there were 14 generations from Abraham to David. There were another 14 generations from David to the time they took the Jews away to Babylon. Then there were 14 generations from that time until Jesus, the Messiah, was born. ^{▼▼1:17 A generation was a single step down from one ancestor to the next. They usually counted from a father to his oldest son. The names of all their ancestors were very important to the Jews. Everybody knew the names of the people in their family. Then they knew that they were Jews. The list shows that Jesus was in the same family as Abraham, Judah, Joshua and David. They were his ancestors. Matthew records Jesus’ ancestors until Joseph. Jesus was Mary’s son, but he was not Joseph’s son. Matthew explains this in the next few verses. But, when Joseph married Mary, he became the father of Jesus by the law.}

Jesus is born

18 This is how Jesus Christ was born. His mother’s name was Mary. She had promised to marry a man called Joseph. Then she discovered that she was going to have a baby. This happened before they started to live together. It was the Holy Spirit that caused this to happen to her. 19 Joseph was a good man. He wanted to do what was right. He did not want her to become ashamed in front of people. So he decided to stop their marriage secretly. ^{▼▼1:19 Joseph thought that Mary had had sex with another man. When two Jewish people promised to marry, it was not easy to stop the marriage. Joseph could have told people in a public place that Mary had done something wrong. This would stop the marriage. The law said that they should then kill Mary. Another way was to tell only two people. Joseph wanted to choose the second way.} 20 He thought about what he should do. Then an angel came from the Lord God to see him. The angel came to Joseph while he was dreaming. The angel said, ‘Joseph, you who are from the family of King David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife. The baby that is growing inside her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 Mary’s baby will be a boy. He will save his people from their sins. Because of that, you must give him the name Jesus.’ ^{▼▼1:21 Jesus saves people from God’s punishment for the wrong things that they have done. He also helps people to be better people.}

22 The Lord God had given a message about this to one of his prophets long ago. Now that message would become true. 23 The prophet had said, ‘A young woman who has never had sex will have a baby boy. People will call her son Immanuel.’ This name means ‘God is with us’.

24 Then Joseph woke up from his sleep. He did what God’s angel had said to him. He married Mary and he took her to his home. 25 Joseph did not have sex with Mary until after the baby boy was born. He said that the boy’s name should be Jesus.