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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.[a] 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, take Mary home as your wife. Do not be afraid to do that. 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.[b] Because of that, you must give him the name “Jesus”.’

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Footnotes

  1. 1:19 Joseph thought that Mary had had sex with another man. When two Jewish people had promised to marry each other, 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. But Joseph wanted to be kind to Mary. Then the angel told him that Mary had not done anything wrong, so he should marry her.
  2. 1:21 Jesus saves people from God's punishment for the wrong things that they have done.

19 Because Joseph her husband was faithful to the law, and yet[a] did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce(A) her quietly.

20 But after he had considered this, an angel(B) of the Lord appeared to him in a dream(C) and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus,[b](D) because he will save his people from their sins.”(E)

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Footnotes

  1. Matthew 1:19 Or was a righteous man and
  2. Matthew 1:21 Jesus is the Greek form of Joshua, which means the Lord saves.