Jesus' Family Escapes to Egypt and Returns

After they had departed, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. Joseph was told to take the young child and his mother and flee to Egypt. Herod was going to search for the child to destroy him. So Joseph got up in the night, took the child and his mother, and left for Egypt.

Jesus' family stayed in Egypt until Herod died. Matthew says this matched words spoken through a prophet about God's son being called out of Egypt. While the family was away, Herod became very angry and ordered the killing of the boys in Bethlehem and the surrounding countryside who were two years old and under. Matthew connects this grief with Jeremiah's words about weeping and mourning.

After Herod died, an angel of the Lord again appeared to Joseph in a dream in Egypt. Joseph was told to take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, because the people who wanted the child's life were dead. Joseph obeyed and returned with them to the land of Israel.

But Joseph heard that Archelaus was reigning over Judea in place of his father Herod, and he was afraid to go there. After another warning in a dream, he withdrew to the region of Galilee. The family came to live in a city called Nazareth. Matthew says this fulfilled words spoken through the prophets that he would be called a Nazarene.

Luke briefly says that after Mary and Joseph completed what the law of the Lord required, they returned to Galilee, to their own city, Nazareth. Luke also says the child grew, became strong in spirit, was filled with wisdom, and that God's grace was upon him.