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The visit of the Magi

Wise Men bring gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
Contributed by Didier Martin
Story also available on our translated websites: Spanish, Portuguese, German, French
1
After Jesus was born, Mary and Joseph stayed in Bethlehem. Jesus was now nearly two years old. – Slide 1
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Early one morning, a neighbour came running to Mary with some news.<br/>Mary, some people from the East are in town and coming this way.’ – Slide 2
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‘Look they are here now and coming to your house.’ – Slide 3
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The men saw Jesus and exclaimed, ‘We have found the newborn king!’ – Slide 4
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Then they offered Jesus gifts they had brought saying, ‘We bring presents of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.’ – Slide 5
6
Then they explained why they were in Bethlehem. <br/>‘We have come on a long journey, from far away in the East. We are scholars and astronomers known as Wise Men or Magi.’ – Slide 6
7
‘We study the sky at night and saw that a new bright star had appeared. We knew this was a sign from God that a great king had been born.’ – Slide 7
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‘So we decided to follow this star and after a very long trip we came to the land of Israel. We headed for Jerusalem as this is where we thought a new king would be.’ – Slide 8
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‘We began asking people, “We have come to worship the new king who was born to be the king of the Jews. Where can we find him?”’ <br/>But no one had heard of the new-born king. – Slide 9
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Now at the time when Jesus was born in Bethlehem, Judea was governed by the cruel King Herod the Great. – Slide 10
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When King Herod learned of the Wise Men’s visit, he called his local advisors and asked, ‘Do your sacred Scriptures say anything about a baby who will become king of the Jews?’ – Slide 11
12
The men looked through the scriptures and reported that a prophet many years ago had written. ‘And you, O Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for from you shall come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel.’ – Slide 12
13
Herod called the Wise Men from the East to his palace. ‘You must look for this child in Bethlehem. Once you find Him, let me know where He is so that I can also go to worship Him.’ – Slide 13
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But the cruel and jealous king did not want to worship the new king. Secretly he thought, ‘When I find that child, I’ll kill Him! No one but me will be the king of the Jews!’ – Slide 14
15
Following Herod’s instructions, the Wise Men set out for Bethlehem, with the star once again guiding them. <br/>‘Look the star is leading us to a house in Bethlehem.’ – Slide 15
16
The wise men told Mary and Joseph, ‘That how we were led to you and found Jesus. He is the new-born King!’ <br/>Then they explained, ‘We’ll leave tomorrow morning and tell king Herod the good news.’ – Slide 16
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But in the morning, as they were preparing to depart, one of them said, ‘I had a dream in which God warned us not to return to Jerusalem. Herod is jealous and wants to kill the child!’ – Slide 17
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They agreed to return to the East by another route and set off on their long journey. – Slide 18
19
When King Herod learned of the wise men’s secret departure, he was furious and ordered all the baby boys in Bethlehem to be killed! – Slide 19
20
But an angel appeared to Joseph to warn him. <br/>‘Get up and flee with the boy and his mother to Egypt. Stay there until I say it’s time to go.’ – Slide 20
21
‘Mary, we must leave right away!’ Joseph told Mary. ‘An angel has warned me in a dream that Jesus is in great danger.’ – Slide 21
22
‘We must head for Egypt as Herod will not find us there.’ – Slide 22
23
So that night Joseph and Mary headed on a long trip toward Egypt where God would keep them safe and Herod could not harm Jesus. <br/>Two years later, when King Herod died, God told Joseph it was safe to return and the young family headed back to their home town of Nazareth. – Slide 23
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Slide 24