Genealogy of Jesus from Abraham
1 This is the account of the lineage of Jesus Christ, descendant of David and Abraham:
2 Abraham fathered Isaac, who fathered Jacob, who fathered Judah and his siblings. 3 Judah fathered Perez and Zara by Tamar, and Perez fathered Hezron, who fathered Aram, 4 who fathered Aminadab, who fathered Nahshon, who fathered Salmon, 5 who fathered Boaz by Rahab. Boaz fathered Obed by Ruth, and Obed fathered Jesse, 6 who fathered King David, who fathered Solomon by Uriah’s wife.
7 Solomon fathered Rehoboam, who fathered Abijah, who fathered Asa, 8 who fathered Jehosophat, who fathered Joram, who fathered Uzzaiah, 9 who fathered Jotham, who fathered Ahaz, who fathered Hezekiah, 10 who fathered Manasseh, who fathered Amos, who fathered Josiah, 11 who fathered Jechoniah and his siblings at the time of the deportation to Babylon.
12 After the Babylonian exile, Jechoniah fathered Shealtiel, who fathered Zorobabel, 13 who fathered Abiud, who fathered Eliakim, who fathered Azor, 14 who fathered Zadok, who fathered Achim, who fathered Eliud, 15 who fathered Eleazar, who fathered Matthan, who fathered Jacob, 16 who fathered Joseph the husband of Mary, who gave birth to Jesus who is called Christ.
17 So there were fourteen generations from Abraham to David, fourteen from David to the Babylonian exile, and fourteen from the Babylonian exile to Christ.
The Birth of Jesus
18 Now this is the account of the birth of Jesus Christ: His mother Mary was engaged to Joseph, but before they were married it was discovered that Mary was pregnant by the Holy Spirit. 19 But her husband Joseph, being a decent person, didn’t want to make a public spectacle of her, so he intended to divorce her quietly.19
20 While he was mulling all these things over, suddenly an angel of the Master appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph, descendant of David, don’t hesitate to accept Mary as your wife, because the baby is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will give birth to a son, and you will give him the name Jesus, since he will save his people from their sins.”
22 This all happened in order to fulfill what the Master said through the prophet: 23 “Look! The unmarried woman will become pregnant and give birth to a son. And they will give him the name Emmanuel, which means ‘God is with us’.” 23 24 Then Joseph woke up from his sleep and did as the angel told him. He married her 25 but had no intimacy with her until she gave birth to a son, whom she named Jesus.
- 19 The custom of the time and culture was that the engaged couple were considered husband and wife before they were actually married, so a legal divorce was required to break off the engagement.
- 23 “Unmarried” is what the Greek word means, not strictly “virgin,” and not necessarily a woman. But this context clearly indicates that Mary’s pregnancy was caused by the Holy Spirit, so there is no reason to render the word inaccurately in order to preserve the teaching of the virgin birth. The point is that Jesus had no human father.