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Ruth Meets Boaz
2 Now Naomi had a kinsman on her husband’s side, a prominent rich man of the family of Elimelech whose name was Boaz.(A) 2 And Ruth the Moabite said to Naomi, “Let me go to the field and glean among the ears of grain behind someone in whose sight I may find favor.” She said to her, “Go, my daughter.”(B) 3 So she went. She came and gleaned in the field behind the reapers. As it happened, she came to the part of the field belonging to Boaz, who was of the family of Elimelech. 4 Just then Boaz came from Bethlehem. He said to the reapers, “The Lord be with you.” They answered, “The Lord bless you.”(C) 5 Then Boaz said to his young man who was in charge of the reapers, “To whom does this young woman belong?” 6 The young man who was in charge of the reapers answered, “She is the young Moabite woman who came back with Naomi from the country of Moab.(D) 7 She said, ‘Please, let me glean and gather among the sheaves behind the reapers.’ So she came, and she has been on her feet from early this morning until now without resting even for a moment.”[a]
8 Then Boaz said to Ruth, “Now listen, my daughter, do not go to glean in another field or leave this one, but keep close to my young women. 9 Keep your eyes on the field that is being reaped and follow behind them. I have ordered the young men not to bother you. If you get thirsty, go to the vessels and drink from what the young men have drawn.” 10 Then she fell prostrate, with her face to the ground, and said to him, “Why have I found favor in your sight, that you should take notice of me, when I am a foreigner?”(E) 11 But Boaz answered her, “All that you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband has been fully told me, how you left your father and mother and your native land and came to a people that you did not know before.(F) 12 May the Lord reward you for your deeds, and may you have a full reward from the Lord, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come for refuge!”(G) 13 Then she said, “May I continue to find favor in your sight, my lord, for you have comforted me and spoken kindly to your servant, even though I am not one of your servants.”
14 At mealtime Boaz said to her, “Come here and eat some of this bread and dip your morsel in the sour wine.” So she sat beside the reapers, and he heaped up for her some parched grain. She ate until she was satisfied, and she had some left over.(H) 15 When she got up to glean, Boaz instructed his young men, “Let her glean even among the standing sheaves, and do not reproach her. 16 You must also pull out some handfuls for her from the bundles and leave them for her to glean, and do not rebuke her.”
17 So she gleaned in the field until evening. Then she beat out what she had gleaned, and it was about an ephah of barley. 18 She picked it up and came into the town, and her mother-in-law saw how much she had gleaned. Then she took out and gave her what was left over after she herself had been satisfied.(I) 19 Her mother-in-law said to her, “Where did you glean today? And where have you worked? Blessed be the man who took notice of you.” So she told her mother-in-law with whom she had worked, saying, “The name of the man with whom I worked today is Boaz.”(J) 20 Then Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, “Blessed be he by the Lord, whose kindness has not forsaken the living or the dead!” Naomi also said to her, “The man is a relative of ours, one of our nearest kin.”[b](K) 21 Then Ruth the Moabite said, “He even said to me, ‘Stay close by my young men until they have finished all my harvest.’ ” 22 Naomi said to Ruth, her daughter-in-law, “It is better, my daughter, that you go out with his young women, otherwise someone might bother you in another field.” 23 So she stayed close to the young women of Boaz, gleaning until the end of the barley and wheat harvests, and she lived with her mother-in-law.(L)
Ruth and Boaz at the Threshing Floor
3 Naomi her mother-in-law said to her, “My daughter, I need to seek some security for you, so that it may be well with you.(M) 2 Now here is our kinsman Boaz, with whose young women you have been working. See, he is winnowing barley tonight at the threshing floor.(N) 3 Now wash and anoint yourself, and put on your best clothes and go down to the threshing floor, but do not make yourself known to the man until he has finished eating and drinking.(O) 4 When he lies down, observe the place where he lies; then go and uncover his feet and lie down, and he will tell you what to do.” 5 She said to her, “All that you say I will do.”
6 So she went down to the threshing floor and did just as her mother-in-law had instructed her. 7 When Boaz had eaten and drunk and was in a contented mood, he went to lie down at the end of the heap of grain. Then she came stealthily and uncovered his feet and lay down.(P) 8 At midnight the man was startled and turned over, and there, lying at his feet, was a woman! 9 He said, “Who are you?” And she answered, “I am Ruth, your servant; spread your cloak over your servant, for you are next-of-kin.”[c](Q) 10 He said, “May you be blessed by the Lord, my daughter; this last instance of your loyalty is better than the first; you have not gone after young men, whether poor or rich. 11 And now, my daughter, do not be afraid, I will do for you all that you ask, for all the assembly of my people know that you are a worthy woman.(R) 12 But now, though it is true that I am a near kinsman, there is another kinsman more closely related than I.(S) 13 Remain this night, and in the morning, if he will act as next-of-kin[d] for you, good; let him do it. But if he is not willing to act as next-of-kin[e] for you, then, as the Lord lives, I will act as next-of-kin[f] for you. Lie down until the morning.”(T)
14 So she lay at his feet until morning but got up before one person could recognize another, for he said, “It must not be known that the woman came to the threshing floor.” 15 Then he said, “Bring the cloak you are wearing and hold it out.” So she held it, and he measured out six measures of barley and put it on her back; then he went into the town. 16 She came to her mother-in-law, who said, “How did things go with you,[g] my daughter?” Then she told her all that the man had done for her, 17 saying, “He gave me these six measures of barley, for he said, ‘Do not go back to your mother-in-law empty-handed.’ ” 18 She replied, “Wait, my daughter, until you learn how the matter turns out, for the man will not rest but will settle the matter today.”(U)
The Marriage of Boaz and Ruth
4 No sooner had Boaz gone up to the gate and sat down there than the next-of-kin[h] of whom Boaz had spoken came passing by. So Boaz said, “Come over;[i] sit down here.” And he went over and sat down.(V) 2 Then Boaz took ten men of the elders of the town and said, “Sit down here,” so they sat down. 3 He then said to the next-of-kin,[j] “Naomi, who has come back from the country of Moab, is selling the parcel of land that belonged to our kinsman Elimelech.(W) 4 So I thought I would tell you of it and say: Buy it in the presence of those sitting here and in the presence of the elders of my people. If you will redeem it, redeem it; but if you[k] will not, tell me, so that I may know; for there is no one prior to you to redeem it, and I come after you.” So he said, “I will redeem it.”(X) 5 Then Boaz said, “The day you acquire the field from the hand of Naomi, you are also acquiring Ruth[l] the Moabite, the widow of the dead man, to maintain the dead man’s name on his inheritance.”(Y) 6 At this, the next-of-kin[m] said, “I cannot redeem it for myself without damaging my own inheritance. Take my right of redemption yourself, for I cannot redeem it.”(Z)
7 Now this was the custom in former times in Israel concerning redeeming and exchanging to confirm a transaction: the one took off a sandal and gave it to the other; this was the manner of attesting in Israel.(AA) 8 So when the next-of-kin[n] said to Boaz, “Acquire it for yourself,” he took off his sandal. 9 Then Boaz said to the elders and all the people, “You are witnesses today that I have acquired from the hand of Naomi all that belonged to Elimelech and all that belonged to Chilion and Mahlon. 10 I have also acquired Ruth the Moabite, the wife of Mahlon, to be my wife, to maintain the dead man’s name on his inheritance, in order that the name of the dead may not be cut off from his kindred and from the gate of his native place; today you are witnesses.”(AB) 11 Then all the people who were at the gate, along with the elders, said, “We are witnesses. May the Lord make the woman who is coming into your house like Rachel and Leah, who together built up the house of Israel. May you produce children[o] in Ephrathah and bestow a name in Bethlehem;(AC) 12 and, through the children that the Lord will give you by this young woman, may your house be like the house of Perez, whom Tamar bore to Judah.”(AD)
The Genealogy of David
13 So Boaz took Ruth, and she became his wife. When they came together, the Lord made her conceive, and she bore a son.(AE) 14 Then the women said to Naomi, “Blessed be the Lord, who has not left you this day without next-of-kin,[p] and may his name be renowned in Israel!(AF) 15 He shall be to you a restorer of life and a nourisher of your old age, for your daughter-in-law who loves you, who is more to you than seven sons, has borne him.”(AG) 16 Then Naomi took the child and laid him in her bosom and became his nurse. 17 The women of the neighborhood gave him a name, saying, “A son has been born to Naomi.” They named him Obed; he became the father of Jesse, the father of David.
18 Now these are the descendants of Perez: Perez became the father of Hezron,(AH) 19 Hezron of Ram, Ram of Amminadab, 20 Amminadab of Nahshon, Nahshon of Salmon,[q] 21 Salmon of Boaz, Boaz of Obed, 22 Obed of Jesse, and Jesse of David.
Jesus Returns to Galilee
43 When the two days were over, he went from that place to Galilee(A) 44 (for Jesus himself had testified that a prophet has no honor in the prophet’s own country).(B) 45 When he came to Galilee, the Galileans welcomed him, since they had seen all that he had done in Jerusalem at the festival, for they, too, had gone to the festival.(C)
Jesus Heals an Official’s Son
46 Then he came again to Cana in Galilee, where he had changed the water into wine. Now there was a royal official whose son lay ill in Capernaum.(D) 47 When he heard that Jesus had come from Judea to Galilee, he went and begged him to come down and heal his son, for he was at the point of death.(E) 48 Then Jesus said to him, “Unless you[a] see signs and wonders you will not believe.”(F) 49 The official said to him, “Sir,[b] come down before my little boy dies.” 50 Jesus said to him, “Go; your son will live.”[c] The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him and started on his way. 51 As he was going down, his slaves met him and told him that his child was alive. 52 So he asked them the hour when he began to recover, and they said to him, “Yesterday at one in the afternoon the fever left him.” 53 The father realized that this was the hour when Jesus had said to him, “Your son will live.”[d] So he himself believed, along with his whole household.(G) 54 Now this was the second sign that Jesus did after coming from Judea to Galilee.(H)
16 When he summoned famine against the land
and cut off every supply of bread,[a](A)
17 he had sent a man ahead of them,
Joseph, who had been sold as a slave.(B)
18 His feet were hurt with fetters;
his neck was put in a collar of iron;(C)
19 until what he had said came to pass,
the word of the Lord kept testing him.(D)
20 The king sent and released him;
the ruler of the peoples set him free.(E)
21 He made him lord of his house
and ruler of all his possessions,(F)
22 to instruct[b] his officials at his pleasure
and to teach his elders wisdom.
23 Then Israel came to Egypt;
Jacob lived as an alien in the land of Ham.(G)
24 And the Lord made his people very fruitful
and made them stronger than their foes,(H)
25 whose hearts he then turned to hate his people,
to deal craftily with his servants.(I)
26 He sent his servant Moses
and Aaron, whom he had chosen.(J)
27 They performed his signs among them
and miracles in the land of Ham.(K)
28 He sent darkness and made the land dark;
they rebelled[c] against his words.(L)
29 He turned their waters into blood
and caused their fish to die.(M)
30 Their land swarmed with frogs,
even in the chambers of their kings.(N)
31 He spoke, and there came swarms of flies
and gnats throughout their country.(O)
32 He gave them hail for rain
and lightning that flashed through their land.(P)
33 He struck their vines and fig trees
and shattered the trees of their country.
34 He spoke, and the locusts came,
and young locusts without number;(Q)
35 they devoured all the vegetation in their land
and ate up the fruit of their ground.
36 He struck down all the firstborn in their land,
the first issue of all their strength.(R)
New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.