1. This is the family history of Jesus Christ. He came from the family of David and from the family of Abraham.
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. (Their mother 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 was Rahab.) Boaz was the father of Obed. (His mother was Ruth.) Obed was the father of Jesse.
6. Jesse was the father of King David. David was the father of Solomon. (His mother had been Uriah's wife.)
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 grandfather of Jehoiachin and his brothers, who lived during the time that the people were taken away to Babylon.
12. After they were taken to Babylon: Jehoiachin was the father of Shealtiel. Shealtiel was the grandfather 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 was the husband of Mary, and Mary was the mother of Jesus, who is called the Christ.
17. So there were fourteen generations from Abraham to David. There were also fourteen generations from David until the people were taken away to Babylon. And there were fourteen more from the time the people were taken to Babylon until Christ was born.
18. This is how the birth of Jesus Christ happened. His mother Mary was engaged to marry Joseph. But before they married, he learned that she was expecting a baby. (She was pregnant by the power of the Holy Spirit. )
19. Mary's husband, Joseph, was a good man. He did not want to cause her public disgrace, so he planned to divorce her secretly.
20. But after Joseph thought about this, an angel from the Lord came to him in a dream. The angel said, "Joseph, son of David, don't be afraid to accept Mary to be your wife. The baby inside her is from the Holy Spirit.
21. She will give birth to a son. You will name him Jesus. Give him that name because he will save his people from their sins."
22. All this happened to make clear the full meaning of what the Lord said through the prophet:
23. "The virgin will be pregnant and will give birth to a son. They will name him Immanuel." (Immanuel means "God with us.")
24. When Joseph woke up, he did what the Lord's angel told him to do. He married Mary.
25. But Joseph did not have sexual relations with her until her son was born. And he named him Jesus.