During the reign of Herod king of Judea, there lived a priest named Zechariah who belonged to the priestly division of Abijah, and he had a wife named Elizabeth, who was a descendant of Aaron.

All their neighbors were filled with fear, and throughout the entire hill country of Judea all these things were talked about.

So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to the city of David called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family line of David.

In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, and Herod was tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip was tetrarch of the region of Iturea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias was tetrarch of Abilene,

So he continued to preach in the synagogues of Judea.

Now on one of those days, while he was teaching, there were Pharisees and teachers of the law sitting nearby (who had come from every village of Galilee and Judea and from Jerusalem), and the power of the Lord was with him to heal.

Then he came down with them and stood on a level place. And a large number of his disciples had gathered along with a vast multitude from all over Judea, from Jerusalem, and from the seacoast of Tyre and Sidon. They came to hear him and to be healed of their diseases,

This report about Jesus circulated throughout Judea and all the surrounding country.

Then those who are in Judea must flee to the mountains. Those who are inside the city must depart. Those who are out in the country must not enter it,

But they persisted in saying, "He incites the people by teaching throughout all Judea. It started in Galilee and ended up here!"

(He had not consented to their plan and action.) He was from the Judean town of Arimathea, and was looking forward to the kingdom of God.