Matthew 1:1

Plain English Version

A long time ago, God promised to send somebody to save us. Jesus is that person. These names are the fathers and grand-fathers of Jesus, that lived a long time before he was born. This list shows that Jesus was from the family of David. David was the big boss over the Israel people. It also shows that David was from the family of Abraham.

Cross References

Genesis 12:3

If anyone does good things for you and your family, I will do good things for them. But, if anyone does bad things to you, and if they make trouble for you and your family, I will curse them and make trouble for them. I will use your family to do good things for all the families in the world.”

Genesis 2:4

This story is about the time when God made the earth and the sky.

Genesis 22:18

And I will use your family to do good things for all the nations in the world. I will do all this because you listened to me, and you did what I told you to do.’ ”

Genesis 5:1

This is the story about Adam’s family. You see, when God made people, he made them to be like himself.

Matthew 1:18

This is the story about how Jesus was born. He is the man that God talked about a long time ago. God promised to send him to us. Mary was promised to a man called Joseph, but they hadn’t slept together yet, like married people do. Then the Holy Spirit made a baby grow inside Mary.

Matthew 1:2

This list starts with Abraham, a really long time ago. He was the father of Isaac. Isaac was the father of Jacob. Jacob was the father of Judah and his brothers.

Matthew 3:16

So John baptised Jesus. And as Jesus came up out of the water, the sky opened up, and Jesus saw the spirit of God coming down like a pigeon, and landing on him.

Matthew 9:27

Jesus was walking along, and 2 blind men followed him. They kept on shouting to him, “You belong to David’s family, and you are the special man that God promised to send. Please, feel sorry for us, and help us.”

John 7:42

God’s book says that he will be from David’s family, and that he will be born in the town called Bethlehem, where David lived, in Judea country.”

Acts 2:30

But David was one of God’s men, and he wrote God’s messages for people. And God promised David that one day, some time later, a man from David’s own family will become the big boss over his people.

Romans 1:3

That good news is about our leader Jesus Christ. He was born into David’s family. David was the big boss of the Jewish nation a long time ago. Jesus was born as a human being into David’s family, but really, Jesus is God’s own son. God showed us in a powerful way that Jesus is his son. He did it like this. People killed Jesus, but God used his Holy Spirit to make him alive again.

Romans 4:13

Remember that story about Abraham, that old man that lived a long time ago. God promised him that one day the people born into his family would be great people everywhere in the world. And Abraham believed that word that God promised him. Abraham didn’t have the law at that time. He just believed God, and then God said that Abraham was good, and God promised to look after his family.

Galatians 3:16

Well, in the same way, nobody can change what God promised to Abraham, and to Abraham’s son, and to all the people in his family. You know, we can read this story in God’s book. God doesn’t say that he promised things to Abraham’s sons, like it is talking about a lot of people. No, he is talking about only one man. He says Abraham’s son. You see, God promised those things to just one man, and that man is Jesus Christ.

1 Timothy 2:5

You see, there is only one God, and there is only one man that can stand between God and us people, to bring us back to God and ask him not to punish us. That man is Jesus Christ.

2 Timothy 2:8

So if people make trouble for you, just remember that they made trouble for Jesus Christ. He was born into the family of David, the man that was the big boss a long time ago. But people gave Jesus a lot of trouble, and they killed him. But then God made him alive again. That is the good news that I always tell people about Jesus.