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Thursday, July 31st, 2025
the Week of Proper 12 / Ordinary 17
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Read the Bible

THE MESSAGE

Matthew 2:7

Herod then arranged a secret meeting with the scholars from the East. Pretending to be as devout as they were, he got them to tell him exactly when the birth-announcement star appeared. Then he told them the prophecy about Bethlehem, and said, "Go find this child. Leave no stone unturned. As soon as you find him, send word and I'll join you at once in your worship."

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Heathen;   Jesus, the Christ;   Magi;   Miracles;   Wisdom;   Wise Men;   Thompson Chain Reference - Bible Stories for Children;   Children;   Herods of the New Testament;   Home;   Pleasant Sunday Afternoons;   Religion;   Stories for Children;   Torrey's Topical Textbook - Prophecies Respecting Christ;  

Dictionaries:

- American Tract Society Bible Dictionary - Herod;   Magi or Wise Men;   Bridgeway Bible Dictionary - Edom;   Baker Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology - Foreigner;   Jerusalem;   Magic;   Charles Buck Theological Dictionary - Hutchinsonians;   Easton Bible Dictionary - Herod the Great;   Jesus;   Magic;   Stars;   Wise Men;   Holman Bible Dictionary - Archaeology and Biblical Study;   Bethlehem;   Epiphany;   Fall;   Herod;   Antiochus IV;   Matthew, the Gospel of;   Midrash;   Wisdom and Wise Men;   Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible - Herod;   Jesus Christ;   Magi;   Magic, Divination, and Sorcery;   Mss;   Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament - Dates (2);   Flight;   Magi ;   Perfect Perfection;   Star (2);   Morrish Bible Dictionary - Herod the Great;   Herod, Family of;   Magi ;   Star in the East;   The Hawker's Poor Man's Concordance And Dictionary - Herodians;   People's Dictionary of the Bible - Bethlehem;   Gospel;   Magi;   Smith Bible Dictionary - Ma'gi;   Watson's Biblical & Theological Dictionary - Eclipse;  

Encyclopedias:

- Condensed Biblical Cyclopedia - Jesus of Nazareth;   International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Appear;   Carefully;   Chronology of the New Testament;   Enquire;   Joseph, Husband of Mary;   Magi, the;   Star of the Magi;   Zoroastrianism;   The Jewish Encyclopedia - Jesus of Nazareth;  

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
Then Herod secretly summoned the wise men and asked them the exact time the star appeared.
King James Version (1611)
Then Herod, when he had priuily called the Wise men, enquired of them diligently what time the Starre appeared:
King James Version
Then Herod, when he had privily called the wise men, enquired of them diligently what time the star appeared.
English Standard Version
Then Herod summoned the wise men secretly and ascertained from them what time the star had appeared.
New American Standard Bible
Then Herod secretly called for the magi and determined from them the exact time the star appeared.
New Century Version
Then Herod had a secret meeting with the wise men and learned from them the exact time they first saw the star.
Amplified Bible
Then Herod secretly sent for the magi and learned from them the [exact] time the star [had first] appeared.
Geneva Bible (1587)
Then Herod priuily called the Wisemen, and diligently inquired of them the time of the starre that appeared,
New American Standard Bible (1995)
Then Herod secretly called the magi and determined from them the exact time the star appeared.
Legacy Standard Bible
Then Herod secretly called the magi and carefully determined from them the time the star appeared.
Berean Standard Bible
Then Herod called the Magi secretly and learned from them the exact time the star had appeared.
Contemporary English Version
Herod secretly called in the wise men and asked them when they had first seen the star.
Complete Jewish Bible
Herod summoned the Magi to meet with him privately and asked them exactly when the star had appeared.
Darby Translation
Then Herod, having secretly called the magi, inquired of them accurately the time of the star that was appearing;
Easy-to-Read Version
Then Herod had a private meeting with the wise men from the east. He learned from them the exact time they first saw the star.
George Lamsa Translation
Then Herod called the Magi secretly, and he learned from them at what time the star appeared to them.
Good News Translation
So Herod called the visitors from the East to a secret meeting and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared.
Lexham English Bible
Then Herod secretly summoned the wise men and determined precisely from them the time when the star appeared.
Literal Translation
Then secretly calling the wise men, Herod asked of them exactly the time of the star appearing.
American Standard Version
Then Herod privily called the Wise-men, and learned of them exactly what time the star appeared.
Bible in Basic English
Then Herod sent for the wise men privately, and put questions to them about what time the star had been seen.
Hebrew Names Version
Then Herod secretly called the wise men, and learned from them exactly what time the star appeared.
International Standard Version
Then Herod secretly called together the wise menastrologers
; Gk. magi">[fn] and found out from them the time the star had appeared.
Etheridge Translation
Then Herodes privately called the Magians, and learned from them at what time the star appeared to them:
Murdock Translation
Then Herod privately called the Magi, and learned from them at what time the star appeared to them.
Bishop's Bible (1568)
Then Herode, when he had priuilye called the wyse men, inquired of the diligently, what tyme the starre appeared.
English Revised Version
Then Herod privily called the wise men, and learned of them carefully what time the star appeared.
World English Bible
Then Herod secretly called the wise men, and learned from them exactly what time the star appeared.
Wesley's New Testament (1755)
Then Herod, having privately called the wise men, inquired of them with great exactness, at what time the star appeared:
Weymouth's New Testament
Thereupon Herod sent privately for the Magi and ascertained from them the exact time of the star's appearing.
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
Thanne Eroude clepide pryueli the astromyens, and lernyde bisili of hem the tyme of the sterre that apperide to hem.
Update Bible Version
Then Herod secretly called the Wise-men, and learned of them exactly what time the star appeared.
Webster's Bible Translation
Then Herod, when he had privately called the wise men, inquired of them diligently what time the star appeared.
New English Translation
Then Herod privately summoned the wise men and determined from them when the star had appeared.
New King James Version
Then Herod, when he had secretly called the wise men, determined from them what time the star appeared.
New Living Translation
Then Herod called for a private meeting with the wise men, and he learned from them the time when the star first appeared.
New Life Bible
Then Herod had a secret meeting with the men who learned things from stars. He asked them about what time the star had been seen.
New Revised Standard
Then Herod secretly called for the wise men and learned from them the exact time when the star had appeared.
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Then Herod, privately, calling the wise men, ascertained from them the time of the appearing star;
Douay-Rheims Bible
Then Herod, privately calling the wise men learned diligently of them the time of the star which appeared to them;
Revised Standard Version
Then Herod summoned the wise men secretly and ascertained from them what time the star appeared;
Tyndale New Testament (1525)
Then Herod prevely called the wyse men and dyligetly enquyred of them ye tyme of the starre that appered
Young's Literal Translation
Then Herod, privately having called the mages, did inquire exactly from them the time of the appearing star,
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
Then Herod preuely called the wyse men, and dyligently enquyred of them, what tyme the starre appered,
Mace New Testament (1729)
Then Herod having privately sent for the Magi, enquired of them the exact time when the star appeared.
Simplified Cowboy Version
Then Herod asked those strangers when the bright light had appeared in the sky.

Contextual Overview

1After Jesus was born in Bethlehem village, Judah territory— this was during Herod's kingship—a band of scholars arrived in Jerusalem from the East. They asked around, "Where can we find and pay homage to the newborn King of the Jews? We observed a star in the eastern sky that signaled his birth. We're on pilgrimage to worship him." 3When word of their inquiry got to Herod, he was terrified—and not Herod alone, but most of Jerusalem as well. Herod lost no time. He gathered all the high priests and religion scholars in the city together and asked, "Where is the Messiah supposed to be born?" 5They told him, "Bethlehem, Judah territory. The prophet Micah wrote it plainly: It's you, Bethlehem, in Judah's land, no longer bringing up the rear. From you will come the leader who will shepherd-rule my people, my Israel." 7Herod then arranged a secret meeting with the scholars from the East. Pretending to be as devout as they were, he got them to tell him exactly when the birth-announcement star appeared. Then he told them the prophecy about Bethlehem, and said, "Go find this child. Leave no stone unturned. As soon as you find him, send word and I'll join you at once in your worship."

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

Matthew 26:3-5, Exodus 1:10, 1 Samuel 18:21, Psalms 10:9, Psalms 10:10, Psalms 55:21, Psalms 64:4-6, Psalms 83:3, Psalms 83:4, Isaiah 7:5-7, Ezekiel 38:10, Ezekiel 38:11, Revelation 12:1-5, Revelation 12:15

Reciprocal: Ecclesiastes 10:13 - beginning Matthew 2:16 - according Revelation 22:16 - the bright

Cross-References

Genesis 2:15
God took the Man and set him down in the Garden of Eden to work the ground and keep it in order.
Genesis 2:21
God put the Man into a deep sleep. As he slept he removed one of his ribs and replaced it with flesh. God then used the rib that he had taken from the Man to make Woman and presented her to the Man.
Genesis 3:23
So God expelled them from the Garden of Eden and sent them to work the ground, the same dirt out of which they'd been made. He threw them out of the garden and stationed angel-cherubim and a revolving sword of fire east of it, guarding the path to the Tree-of-Life.
Numbers 16:22
They threw themselves on their faces and said, "O God, God of everything living, when one man sins are you going to take it out on the whole community?"
Psalms 100:3
Know this: God is God, and God, God . He made us; we didn't make him. We're his people, his well-tended sheep.
Proverbs 20:27
God is in charge of human life, watching and examining us inside and out.
Isaiah 2:22
Quit scraping and fawning over mere humans, so full of themselves, so full of hot air! Can't you see there's nothing to them?
Isaiah 64:8
Still, God , you are our Father. We're the clay and you're our potter: All of us are what you made us. Don't be too angry with us, O God . Don't keep a permanent account of wrongdoing. Keep in mind, please, we are your people—all of us. Your holy cities are all ghost towns: Zion's a ghost town, Jerusalem's a field of weeds. Our holy and beautiful Temple, which our ancestors filled with your praises, Was burned down by fire, all our lovely parks and gardens in ruins. In the face of all this, are you going to sit there unmoved, God ? Aren't you going to say something? Haven't you made us miserable long enough?
Zechariah 12:1
War Bulletin: God 's Message concerning Israel, God 's Decree—the very God who threw the skies into space, set earth on a firm foundation, and breathed his own life into men and women: "Watch for this: I'm about to turn Jerusalem into a cup of strong drink that will have the people who have set siege to Judah and Jerusalem staggering in a drunken stupor.
John 20:22
Then he took a deep breath and breathed into them. "Receive the Holy Spirit," he said. "If you forgive someone's sins, they're gone for good. If you don't forgive sins, what are you going to do with them?"

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Then Herod, when he had privately called the wise men,.... As soon as he had got the intelligence of the place of the Messiah's birth, he called, or ordered the wise men to be brought into his presence, and that in a very private manner; lest the Jews, who knew his hypocrisy and deceit, should perceive his views, and enter into his designs, and so give the wise men some instructions, which would be prejudicial to the scheme he was forming in his own mind to destroy the young king; and having called them to him, he

inquired of them diligently what time the star appeared. He took a good deal of pains in examining them, he sifted them, and inquired of them with much accuracy, and exactness, the precise time of the star's appearing to them, how long ago it was when it was first observed by them; that hereby he might exactly know the age of Christ, and the better execute the bloody design he had formed, should the wise men disappoint him; and the better detect an impostor, should another afterwards arise, and set up himself for the king of the Jews.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Privily - Secretly, privately. He did this to ascertain the time when Jesus was born.

Diligently - Accurately, exactly. He took pains to learn the precise time when the star appeared. He did this because he naturally concluded that the star appeared just at the time of his birth, and he wished to know precisely how old the child was.


 
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