RUTH 2:1-4:22
JOHN 4:43-54
PSALM 105:16-36
PROVERBS 14:26-27
RUTH 2:1-4:22
Now there was a wealthy and influential man in Bethlehem named Boaz, who was a relative of Naomi's husband, Elimelech. 2 One day Ruth said to Naomi, " Let me go out into the fields to gather leftover grain behind anyone who will let me do it." And Naomi said, " All right, my daughter, go ahead." 3 So Ruth went out to gather grain behind the harvesters. And as it happened, she found herself working in a field that belonged to Boaz, the relative of her father-in-law, Elimelech. 4 While she was there, Boaz arrived from Bethlehem and greeted the harvesters. " The LORD be with you!" he said. " The LORD bless you!" the harvesters replied. 5 Then Boaz asked his foreman, " Who is that girl over there?"6 And the foreman replied, " She is the young woman from Moab who came back with Naomi. 7 She asked me this morning if she could gather grain behind the harvesters. She has been hard at work ever since, except for a few minutes' rest over there in the shelter." 8 Boaz went over and said to Ruth, " Listen, my daughter. Stay right here with us when you gather grain; don't go to any other fields. Stay right behind the women working in my field. 9 See which part of the field they are harvesting, and then follow them. I have warned the young men not to bother you. And when you are thirsty, help yourself to the water they have drawn from the well." 10 Ruth fell at his feet and thanked him warmly. " Why are you being so kind to me?" she asked. " I am only a foreigner." 11 " Yes, I know," Boaz replied. " But I also know about the love and kindness you have shown your mother-in-law since the death of your husband. I have heard how you left your father and mother and your own land to live here among complete strangers. 12 May the LORD, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge, reward you fully." 13 " I hope I continue to please you, sir," she replied. " You have comforted me by speaking so kindly to me, even though I am not as worthy as your workers." 14 At lunch time Boaz called to her, " Come over here and help yourself to some of our food. You can dip your bread in the wine if you like." So she sat with his harvesters, and Boaz gave her food--more than she could eat. 15 When Ruth went back to work again, Boaz ordered his young men, " Let her gather grain right among the sheaves without stopping her. 16 And pull out some heads of barley from the bundles and drop them on purpose for her. Let her pick them up, and don't give her a hard time!" 17 So Ruth gathered barley there all day, and when she beat out the grain that evening, it came to about half a bushel. 18 She carried it back into town and showed it to her mother-in-law. Ruth also gave her the food that was left over from her lunch. 19 " So much!" Naomi exclaimed. " Where did you gather all this grain today? Where did you work? May the LORD bless the one who helped you!" So Ruth told her mother-in-law about the man in whose field she had worked. And she said, " The man I worked with today is named Boaz." 20 " May the LORD bless him!" Naomi told her daughter-in-law. " He is showing his kindness to us as well as to your dead husband. That man is one of our closest relatives, one of our family redeemers." 21 Then Ruth said, " What's more, Boaz even told me to come back and stay with his harvesters until the entire harvest is completed." 22 " This is wonderful!" Naomi exclaimed. " Do as he said. Stay with his workers right through the whole harvest. You will be safe there, unlike in other fields." 23 So Ruth worked alongside the women in Boaz's fields and gathered grain with them until the end of the barley harvest. Then she worked with them through the wheat harvest, too. But all the while she lived with her mother-in-law.3:1 ONE day Naomi said to Ruth, " My daughter, it's time that I found a permanent home for you, so that you will be provided for. 2 Boaz is a close relative of ours, and he's been very kind by letting you gather grain with his workers. Tonight he will be winnowing barley at the threshing floor. 3 Now do as I tell you--take a bath and put on perfume and dress in your nicest clothes. Then go to the threshing floor, but don't let Boaz see you until he has finished his meal. 4 Be sure to notice where he lies down; then go and uncover his feet and lie down there. He will tell you what to do." 5 " I will do everything you say," Ruth replied. 6 So she went down to the threshing floor that night and followed the instructions of her mother-in-law. 7 After Boaz had finished his meal and was in good spirits, he lay down beside the heap of grain and went to sleep. Then Ruth came quietly, uncovered his feet, and lay down. 8 Around midnight, Boaz suddenly woke up and turned over. He was surprised to find a woman lying at his feet! 9 " Who are you?" he demanded. " I am your servant Ruth," she replied. " Spread the corner of your covering over me, for you are my family redeemer."10 " The LORD bless you, my daughter!" Boaz exclaimed. " You are showing more family loyalty now than ever by not running after a younger man, whether rich or poor. 11 Now don't worry about a thing, my daughter. I will do what is necessary, for everyone in town knows you are an honorable woman. 12 But there is one problem. While it is true that I am one of your family redeemers, there is another man who is more closely related to you than I am. 13 Stay here tonight, and in the morning I will talk to him. If he is willing to redeem you, then let him marry you. But if he is not willing, then as surely as the LORD lives, I will marry you! Now lie down here until morning." 14 So Ruth lay at Boaz's feet until the morning, but she got up before it was light enough for people to recognize each other. For Boaz said, " No one must know that a woman was here at the threshing floor." 15 Boaz also said to her, " Bring your cloak and spread it out." He measured out six scoops of barley into the cloak and helped her put it on her back. Then Boaz returned to the town. 16 When Ruth went back to her mother-in-law, Naomi asked, " What happened, my daughter?" Ruth told Naomi everything Boaz had done for her, 17 and she added, " He gave me these six scoops of barley and said, ` Don't go back to your mother-in-law empty-handed.' "18 Then Naomi said to her, " Just be patient, my daughter, until we hear what happens. The man won't rest until he has followed through on this. He will settle it today." 4:1 SO Boaz went to the town gate and took a seat there. When the family redeemer he had mentioned came by, Boaz called out to him, " Come over here, friend. I want to talk to you." So they sat down together. 2 Then Boaz called ten leaders from the town and asked them to sit as witnesses. 3 And Boaz said to the family redeemer, " You know Naomi, who came back from Moab. She is selling the land that belonged to our relative Elimelech. 4 I felt that I should speak to you about it so that you can redeem it if you wish. If you want the land, then buy it here in the presence of these witnesses. But if you don't want it, let me know right away, because I am next in line to redeem it after you." The man replied, " All right, I'll redeem it." 5 Then Boaz told him, " Of course, your purchase of the land from Naomi also requires that you marry Ruth, the Moabite widow. That way, she can have children who will carry on her husband's name and keep the land in the family." 6 " Then I can't redeem it," the family redeemer replied, " because this might endanger my own estate. You redeem the land; I cannot do it." 7 In those days it was the custom in Israel for anyone transferring a right of purchase to remove his sandal and hand it to the other party. This publicly validated the transaction. 8 So the other family redeemer drew off his sandal as he said to Boaz, " You buy the land." 9 Then Boaz said to the leaders and to the crowd standing around, " You are witnesses that today I have bought from Naomi all the property of Elimelech, Kilion, and Mahlon. 10 And with the land I have acquired Ruth, the Moabite widow of Mahlon, to be my wife. This way she can have a son to carry on the family name of her dead husband and to inherit the family property here in his hometown. You are all witnesses today." 11 Then the leaders and all the people standing there replied, " We are witnesses! May the LORD make the woman who is now coming into your home like Rachel and Leah, from whom all the nation of Israel descended! May you be great in Ephrathah and famous in Bethlehem. 12 And may the LORD give you descendants by this young woman who will be like those of our ancestor Perez, the son of Tamar and Judah." 13 So Boaz married Ruth and took her home to live with him. When he slept with her, the LORD enabled her to become pregnant, and she gave birth to a son. 14 And the women of the town said to Naomi, " Praise the LORD who has given you a family redeemer today! May he be famous in Israel. 15 May this child restore your youth and care for you in your old age. For he is the son of your daughter-in-law who loves you so much and who has been better to you than seven sons!" 16 Naomi took care of the baby and cared for him as if he were her own. 17 The neighbor women said, " Now at last Naomi has a son again!" And they named him Obed. He became the father of Jesse and the grandfather of David. 18 This is their family line beginning with their ancestor Perez: Perez was the father of Hezron. 19 Hezron was the father of Ram. Ram was the father of Amminadab. 20 Amminadab was the father of Nahshon. Nahshon was the father of Salmon. 21 Salmon was the father of Boaz. Boaz was the father of Obed. 22 Obed was the father of Jesse. Jesse was the father of David.
JOHN 4:43-54
At the end of the two days' stay, Jesus went on into Galilee. 44 He had previously said, " A prophet is honored everywhere except in his own country." 45 The Galileans welcomed him, for they had been in Jerusalem at the Passover celebration and had seen all his miraculous signs. 46 In the course of his journey through Galilee, he arrived at the town of Cana, where he had turned the water into wine. There was a government official in the city of Capernaum whose son was very sick. 47 When he heard that Jesus had come from Judea and was traveling in Galilee, he went over to Cana. He found Jesus and begged him to come to Capernaum with him to heal his son, who was about to die. 48 Jesus asked, " Must I do miraculous signs and wonders before you people will believe in me?" 49 The official pleaded, " Lord, please come now before my little boy dies." 50 Then Jesus told him, " Go back home. Your son will live!" And the man believed Jesus' word and started home. 51 While he was on his way, some of his servants met him with the news that his son was alive and well. 52 He asked them when the boy had begun to feel better, and they replied, " Yesterday afternoon at one o'clock his fever suddenly disappeared!" 53 Then the father realized it was the same time that Jesus had told him, " Your son will live." And the officer and his entire household believed in Jesus. 54 This was Jesus' second miraculous sign in Galilee after coming from Judea.
PSALM 105:16-36
He [the LORD] called for a famine on the land of Canaan,
cutting off its food supply.
17 Then he sent someone to Egypt ahead of them--
Joseph, who was sold as a slave.
18 There in prison, they bruised his feet with fetters
and placed his neck in an iron collar.
19 Until the time came to fulfill his word,
the LORD tested Joseph's character.
20 Then Pharaoh sent for him and set him free;
the ruler of the nation opened his prison door.
21 Joseph was put in charge of all the king's household;
he became ruler over all the king's possessions.
22 He could instruct the king's aides as he pleased
and teach the king's advisers.
23 Then Israel arrived in Egypt;
Jacob lived as a foreigner in the land of Ham.
24 And the LORD multiplied the people of Israel
until they became too mighty for their enemies.
25 Then he turned the Egyptians against the Israelites,
and they plotted against the LORD's servants.
26 But the LORD sent Moses his servant,
along with Aaron, whom he had chosen.
27 They performed miraculous signs among the Egyptians,
and miracles in the land of Ham.
28 The LORD blanketed Egypt in darkness,
for they had defied his commands to let his people go.
29 He turned the nation's water into blood,
poisoning all the fish.
30 Then frogs overran the land;
they were found even in the king's private rooms.
31 When he spoke, flies descended on the Egyptians,
and gnats swarmed across Egypt.
32 Instead of rain, he sent murderous hail,
and flashes of lightning overwhelmed the land.
33 He ruined their grapevines and fig trees
and shattered all the trees.
34 He spoke, and hordes of locusts came--
locusts beyond number.
35 They ate up everything green in the land,
destroying all the crops.
36 Then he killed the oldest child in each Egyptian home,
the pride and joy of each family.
PROVERBS 14:26-27
Those who fear the LORD are secure; he will be a place of refuge for their children. Fear of the LORD is a life-giving fountain; it offers escape from the snares of death.
