1Now there was a wealthy and influential man in Bethlehem named Boaz, who was a relative of Naomi’s husband, Elimelech.2One day Ruth the Moabite said to Naomi, “Let me go out into the harvest fields to pick up the stalks of grain left behind by anyone who is kind enough to let me do it.”Naomi replied, “All right, my daughter, go ahead.” 3So 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.4While 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.

5Then Boaz asked his foreman, “Who is that young woman over there? Who does she belong to?”6And the foreman replied, “She is the young woman from Moab who came back with Naomi. 7She 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 in the shelter.”8Boaz 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 young women working in my field. 9See which part of the field they are harvesting, and then follow them. I have warned the young men not to treat you roughly. And when you are thirsty, help yourself to the water they have drawn from the well.”

10Ruth fell at his feet and thanked him warmly. “What have I done to deserve such kindness?” she asked. “I am only a foreigner.”11“Yes, I know,” Boaz replied. “But I also know about everything you have done for 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. 12May the Lord, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge, reward you fully for what you have done.”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 one of your workers.”

14At mealtime Boaz called to her, “Come over here, and help yourself to some food. You can dip your bread in the sour wine.” So she sat with his harvesters, and Boaz gave her some roasted grain to eat. She ate all she wanted and still had some left over.15When Ruth went back to work again, Boaz ordered his young men, “Let her gather grain right among the sheaves without stopping her. 16And 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!”17So Ruth gathered barley there all day, and when she beat out the grain that evening, it filled an entire basket.* 18She carried it back into town and showed it to her mother-in-law. Ruth also gave her the roasted grain that was left over from her meal.

19“Where did you gather all this grain today?” Naomi asked. “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. 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.”21Then Ruth said, “What’s more, Boaz even told me to come back and stay with his harvesters until the entire harvest is completed.”

22“Good!” Naomi exclaimed. “Do as he said, my daughter. Stay with his young women right through the whole harvest. You might be harassed in other fields, but you’ll be safe with him.”23So Ruth worked alongside the women in Boaz’s fields and gathered grain with them until the end of the barley harvest. Then she continued working with them through the wheat harvest in early summer. And all the while she lived with her mother-in-law.

Chapter 3

1One 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. 2Boaz is a close relative of ours, and he’s been very kind by letting you gather grain with his young women. Tonight he will be winnowing barley at the threshing floor. 3Now 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 eating and drinking. 4Be 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. 6So she went down to the threshing floor that night and followed the instructions of her mother-in-law.7After Boaz had finished eating and drinking and was in good spirits, he lay down at the far end of the pile of grain and went to sleep. Then Ruth came quietly, uncovered his feet, and lay down. 8Around midnight Boaz suddenly woke up and turned over. He was surprised to find a woman lying at his feet! 9“Who are you?” he asked.“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 even more family loyalty now than you did before, for you have not gone after a younger man, whether rich or poor. 11Now don’t worry about a thing, my daughter. I will do what is necessary, for everyone in town knows you are a virtuous woman. 12But while it’s true that I am one of your family redeemers, there is another man who is more closely related to you than I am. 13Stay here tonight, and in the morning I will talk to him. If he is willing to redeem you, very well. Let him marry you. But if he is not willing, then as surely as the Lord lives, I will redeem you myself! Now lie down here until morning.”

14So 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 had said, “No one must know that a woman was here at the threshing floor.” 15Then Boaz said to her, “Bring your cloak and spread it out.” He measured six scoops* of barley into the cloak and placed it on her back. Then he* returned to the town.16When Ruth went back to her mother-in-law, Naomi asked, “What happened, my daughter?”Ruth told Naomi everything Boaz had done for her, 17and she added, “He gave me these six scoops of barley and said, ‘Don’t go back to your mother-in-law empty-handed.’ ”18Then Naomi said to her, “Just be patient, my daughter, until we hear what happens. The man won’t rest until he has settled things today.”

Chapter 4

1Boaz went to the town gate and took a seat there. Just then the family redeemer he had mentioned came by, so Boaz called out to him, “Come over here and sit down, friend. I want to talk to you.” So they sat down together. 2Then Boaz called ten leaders from the town and asked them to sit as witnesses. 3And 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. 4I thought 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.”

5Then 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.”7Now 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. 8So the other family redeemer drew off his sandal as he said to Boaz, “You buy the land.”

9Then Boaz said to the elders and to the crowd standing around, “You are witnesses that today I have bought from Naomi all the property of Elimelech, Kilion, and Mahlon. 10And 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.”11Then the elders and all the people standing in the gate replied, “We are witnesses! May the Lord make this woman who is coming into your home like Rachel and Leah, from whom all the nation of Israel descended! May you prosper in Ephrathah and be famous in Bethlehem. 12And 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.”
13So Boaz took Ruth into his home, and she became his wife. When he slept with her, the Lord enabled her to become pregnant, and she gave birth to a son. 14Then the women of the town said to Naomi, “Praise the Lord, who has now provided a redeemer for your family! May this child be famous in Israel.

15May he restore your youth and care for you in your old age. For he is the son of your daughter-in-law who loves you and has been better to you than seven sons!”16Naomi took the baby and cuddled him to her breast. And she cared for him as if he were her own. 17The 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.

18This is the genealogical record of 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

43At the end of the two days, Jesus went on to Galilee. 44He himself had said that a prophet is not honored in his own hometown. 45Yet the Galileans welcomed him, for they had been in Jerusalem at the Passover celebration and had seen everything he did there.46As he traveled through Galilee, he came to Cana, where he had turned the water into wine. There was a government official in nearby Capernaum whose son was very sick. 47When he heard that Jesus had come from Judea to Galilee, he went and begged Jesus to come to Capernaum to heal his son, who was about to die.

48Jesus asked, “Will you never believe in me unless you see miraculous signs and wonders?”49The official pleaded, “Lord, please come now before my little boy dies.”50Then Jesus told him, “Go back home. Your son will live!” And the man believed what Jesus said and started home.51While the man was on his way, some of his servants met him with the news that his son was alive and well. 52He asked them when the boy had begun to get better, and they replied, “Yesterday afternoon at one o’clock his fever suddenly disappeared!” 53Then the father realized that that was the very time Jesus had told him, “Your son will live.” And he and his entire household believed in Jesus. 54This was the second miraculous sign Jesus did in Galilee after coming from Judea.

Psalm 105:16-36

16 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 They bruised his feet with fetters
and placed his neck in an iron collar.

19 Until the time came to fulfill his dreams,
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 his servant Moses,
along with Aaron, whom he had chosen.

27 They performed miraculous signs among the Egyptians,
and wonders 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 their water into blood,
poisoning all the fish.

30 Then frogs overran the land
and even invaded the king’s bedrooms.

31 When the Lord spoke, flies descended on the Egyptians,
and gnats swarmed across Egypt.

32 He sent them hail instead of rain,
and lightning flashed over the land.

33 He ruined their grapevines and fig trees
and shattered all the trees.

34 He spoke, and hordes of locusts came—
young locusts beyond number.

35 They ate up everything green in the land,
destroying all the crops in their fields.

36 Then he killed the oldest son in each Egyptian home,
the pride and joy of each family.

Proverbs 14:26-27

26 Those who fear the Lord are secure;
he will be a refuge for their children.

27 Fear of the Lord is a life-giving fountain;
it offers escape from the snares of death.