Matthew 2:16-18

For all the mothers who have lost their children…God hears your cries.

Blessed are those who mourn for they will be comforted. Matthew 5:5

This prophecy comes from Jeremiah, in which Rachel, who had been entombed near Bethlehem some 13 centuries before the Babylonian captivity, is seen weeping for her children as they were led away to Babylon in 586 b.c. In the slaughter of the male infants at the time of Christ’s birth, Rachel once again is pictured as mourning the violent loss of her sons.

Matthew 2:16-18

¹⁶ Then Herod, when he saw that he was deceived by the wise men, was exceedingly angry; and he sent forth and put to death all the male children who were in Bethlehem and in all its districts, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had determined from the wise men. ¹⁷ Then was fulfilled what was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet, saying:

¹⁸ “A voice was heard in Ramah,

Lamentation, weeping, and great mourning,

Rachel weeping for her children,

Refusing to be comforted,

Because they are no more.”

¹⁵ Thus says the Lord: “A voice was heard in Ramah, Lamentation and bitter weeping, Rachel weeping for her children, Refusing to be comforted for her children, Because they are no more.” 

Jeremiah 31:15