Deacon:  Wisdom. Stand up. Hear the Holy Gospel.

Priest:    Peace to you all.

People:   And to your spirit.

Deacon:   A reading from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Matthew [2:13-23]

People:  Glory to You Lord. Glory to You.

Priest:   Listen.

Deacon:

After the wise men left, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, 'Move. Take the child and his mother, and escape into Egypt. Stay there until I tell you. Herod is going to search for the child, to destroy him.'

So Joseph got moving, and taking the child and his mother with him, left that night, for Egypt. They remained there until Herod died. This was to fulfill what the Lord through the prophet had spoken,

I called my son out of Egypt.

When he realised he had been out-manoeuvred by the wise men, Herod became furious, and had all the male children killed who were in Bethlehem and its region, and who were up to two years older than the birthdate he had carefully obtained from the wise men.

In this way was fulfilled the words spoken through the prophet Jeremiah,

A voice was heard in Ramah,
sobbing and loud wailing.
Rachel was weeping for her children,
refusing to be comforted,
because they were no more.

After Herod died, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt and said, "Move. Take the child and his mother with you. Go to the land of Israel, because those who wanted to kill the child have died."

So Joseph got moving, took the child and his mother with him, and went back to the land of Israel.

But when he heard that Archelaus had succeeded his father Herod and now ruled Judea, he was afraid to go there. Advised in a dream, he went to the region of Galilee. There he settled in a town called Nazareth.

In this way was fulfilled the words spoken through the prophets,

He will be called a Nazarene.

People: Glory to You Lord, Glory to You.