Today's Reading

¹Naomi her mother-in-law said to her, "My daughter, shall I not seek rest for you, that it may be well with you?

²Now isn't Boaz our kinsman, with whose maidens you were? Behold, he winnows barley tonight at the threshing floor.

³Therefore wash yourself, anoint yourself, get dressed, and go down to the threshing floor, but do not make yourself known to the man until he has finished eating and drinking.

⁴It shall be, when he lies down, that you shall notice the place where he lies, and you shall go in, and uncover his feet, and lie down; then he will tell you what you shall do."

⁵She said to her, "All that you say I will do."

⁶She went down to the threshing floor, and did according to all that her mother-in-law told her.

⁷When Boaz had eaten and drank, and his heart was merry, he went to lie down at the end of the heap of grain. She came quietly, uncovered his feet, and lay down.

⁸It happened at midnight, that the man was startled and turned over; and behold, a woman lay at his feet.

⁹He said, "Who are you?" She answered, "I am Ruth your handmaid. Therefore spread the corner of your garment over your handmaid; for you are a redeeming kinsman."

¹⁰He said, "Blessed are you by the Lord, my daughter. You have shown more kindness in the latter end than at the beginning, inasmuch as you didn't follow young men, whether poor or rich.

¹¹Now, my daughter, do not be afraid; I will do to you all that you say; for all the city of my people does know that you are a worthy woman.

¹²Now it is true that I am a redeeming kinsman; however there is a redeemer closer than I am.

¹³Stay this night, and it shall be in the morning, that if he will perform for you the part of a redeemer, well; let him do the redeemer's part. But if he will not do the part of a redeemer for you, then I will do the part of a redeemer for you, as the Lord lives. Lie down until the morning."

¹⁴She lay at his feet until the morning. She rose up before one could discern another. For he said, "Let it not be known that the woman came to the threshing floor."

¹⁵He said, "Bring the mantle that is on you, and hold it." She held it; and he measured six measures of barley, and laid it on her; and he went into the city.

¹⁶When she came to her mother-in-law, she said, "How did it go, my daughter?" She told her all that the man had done to her.

¹⁷She said, "He gave me these six measures of barley; for he said, 'Do not go empty to your mother-in-law.'"

¹⁸Then she said, "Wait, my daughter, until you know how the matter will fall; for the man will not rest, until he has finished the thing this day."

¹Now Boaz went up to the gate, and sat down there. Behold, the near kinsman of whom Boaz spoke came by; to whom he said, "Come over here, friend, and sit down!" He turned aside, and sat down.

²He took ten men of the elders of the city, and said, "Sit down here." They sat down.

³He said to the near kinsman, "Naomi, who has come back out of the country of Moab, is selling the parcel of land, which was our brother Elimelech's.

⁴I thought to disclose it to you, saying, 'Buy it before those who sit here, and before the elders of my people.' If you will redeem it, redeem it; but if you will not redeem it, then tell me, that I may know. For there is no one to redeem it besides you; and I am after you." He said, "I will redeem it."

⁵Then Boaz said, "On the day you buy the field from the hand of Naomi, you must buy it also from Ruth the Moabitess, the wife of the dead, to raise up the name of the dead on his inheritance."

⁶The near kinsman said, "I can't redeem it for myself, lest I mar my own inheritance. Take my right of redemption for yourself; for I can't redeem it."

⁷Now this was the custom in former time in Israel concerning redeeming and concerning exchanging, to confirm all things: a man took off his shoe, and gave it to his neighbor; and this was the way of attestation in Israel.

⁸So the near kinsman said to Boaz, "Buy it for yourself." He took off his shoe.

⁹Boaz said to the elders, and to all the people, "You are witnesses this day, that I have bought all that was Elimelech's, and all that was Chilion's and Mahlon's, from the hand of Naomi.

¹⁰Moreover Ruth the Moabitess, the wife of Mahlon, have I purchased to be my wife, to raise up the name of the dead on his inheritance, that the name of the dead may not be cut off from among his brothers, and from the gate of his place. You are witnesses this day."

¹¹All the people who were in the gate, and the elders, said, "We are witnesses. May the Lord make the woman who has come into your house like Rachel and like Leah, which two built the house of Israel; and treat you worthily in Ephrathah, and be famous in Bethlehem.

¹²Let your house be like the house of Perez, whom Tamar bore to Judah, of the seed which the Lord shall give you of this young woman."

¹³So Boaz took Ruth, and she became his wife; and he went in to her, and the Lord gave her conception, and she bore a son.

¹⁴The women said to Naomi, "Blessed be the Lord, who has not left you this day without a redeemer; and let his name be famous in Israel.

¹⁵He shall be to you a restorer of life, and sustain you in your old age, for your daughter-in-law, who loves you, who is better to you than seven sons, has borne him."

¹⁶Naomi took the child, and laid it in her bosom, and looked after him.

¹⁷The women, her neighbors, gave him a name, saying, "There is a son born to Naomi." And they named him Obed. He is the father of Jesse, the father of David.

¹⁸Now this is the history of the generations of Perez: Perez became the father of Hezron,

¹⁹and Hezron became the father of Ram, and Ram became the father of Amminadab,

²⁰and Amminadab became the father of Nahshon, and Nahshon became the father of Salmon,

²¹and Salmon became the father of Boaz, and Boaz became the father of Obed,

²²and Obed became the father of Jesse, and Jesse became the father of David.

¹Now there was a certain man of Ramathaim Zophim, of the hill country of Ephraim, and his name was Elkanah, the son of Jeroham, the son of Elihu, the son of Tohu, the son of Zuph, an Ephraimite:

²and he had two wives; the name of the one was Hannah, and the name of other Peninnah: and Peninnah had children, but Hannah had no children.

³This man went up out of his city from year to year to worship and to sacrifice to the Lord of hosts in Shiloh. The two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, priests to the Lord, were there.

⁴When the day came that Elkanah sacrificed, he gave to Peninnah his wife, and to all her sons and her daughters, portions:

⁵but to Hannah he gave a double portion; for he loved Hannah, but the Lord had shut up her womb.

⁶Her rival taunted her severely, to irritate her, because the Lord had shut up her womb.

⁷As he did so year by year, when she went up to the house of the Lord, so she taunted her; therefore she wept, and did not eat.

⁸Elkanah her husband said to her, "Hannah, why do you weep? Why do you not eat? Why is your heart grieved? Am I not better to you than ten sons?"

⁹So Hannah rose up after they had eaten in Shiloh, and after they had drank. Now Eli the priest was sitting on his seat by the doorpost of the Lord's temple.

¹⁰She was in bitterness of soul, and prayed to the Lord, and wept bitterly.

¹¹She vowed a vow, and said, "Lord of hosts, if you will indeed look on the affliction of your handmaid, and remember me, and not forget your handmaid, but will give to your handmaid a boy, then I will give him to the Lord all the days of his life, and no razor shall come on his head."

¹²It happened, as she continued praying before the Lord, that Eli saw her mouth.

¹³Now Hannah spoke in her heart. Only her lips moved, but her voice was not heard. Therefore Eli thought she was drunk.

¹⁴Eli said to her, "How long will you make yourself drunk? Put away your wine from you."

¹⁵Hannah answered, "No, my lord, I am a woman of a sorrowful spirit. I have drunk neither wine nor strong drink, but I poured out my soul before the Lord.

¹⁶Do not count your handmaid as a worthless woman; for I have been speaking out of the abundance of my distress and my anguish."

¹⁷Then Eli answered, "Go in peace; and may the God of Israel grant your petition that you have asked of him."

¹⁸She said, "Let your handmaid find favor in your sight." So the woman went her way, and ate; and her facial expression wasn't sad any more.

¹⁹They rose up in the morning early, and worshiped before the Lord, and returned, and came to their house to Ramah: and Elkanah knew Hannah his wife; and the Lord remembered her.

²⁰It happened, when the time had come, that Hannah conceived, and bore a son; and she named him Samuel, saying, "Because I have asked him of the Lord."

²¹The man Elkanah, and all his house, went up to offer to the Lord the yearly sacrifice, and his vow.

²²But Hannah did not go up; for she said to her husband, "Not until the child is weaned; then I will bring him, that he may appear before the Lord, and stay there forever."

²³Elkanah her husband said to her, "Do what seems good to you. Wait until you have weaned him; only may the Lord establish his word." So the woman waited and nursed her son, until she weaned him.

²⁴When she had weaned him, she took him up with her, with a three year old bull, and one ephah of meal, and a bottle of wine, and brought him to the Lord's house in Shiloh. The child was young.

²⁵They killed the bull, and brought the child to Eli.

²⁶She said, "Oh, my lord, as your soul lives, my lord, I am the woman who stood by you here, praying to the Lord.

²⁷For this child I prayed; and the Lord has given me my petition which I asked of him.

²⁸Therefore also I have granted him to the Lord. As long as he lives he is granted to the Lord." He worshiped the Lord there.

¹Now a certain man was sick, Lazarus from Bethany, of the village of Mary and her sister, Martha.

²It was that Mary who had anointed the Lord with ointment, and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother, Lazarus, was sick.

³The sisters therefore sent to him, saying, "Lord, behold, he for whom you have great affection is sick."

⁴But when Jesus heard it, he said, "This sickness is not to death, but for the glory of God, that God's Son may be glorified by it."

⁵Now Jesus loved Martha, and her sister, and Lazarus.

⁶When therefore he heard that he was sick, he stayed two days in the place where he was.

⁷Then after this he said to the disciples, "Let us go into Judea again."

⁸The disciples told him, "Rabbi, the Jewish leaders were just trying to stone you, and are you going there again?"

⁹Jesus answered, "Are not there twelve hours of daylight? If a man walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world.

¹⁰But if a man walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him."

¹¹He said these things, and after that, he said to them, "Our friend, Lazarus, has fallen asleep, but I am going so that I may awake him out of sleep."

¹²The disciples said to him, "Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will recover."

¹³Now Jesus had spoken of his death, but they thought that he spoke of taking rest in sleep.

¹⁴So Jesus said to them plainly then, "Lazarus is dead.

¹⁵I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, so that you may believe. Nevertheless, let us go to him."

¹⁶Thomas therefore, who is called The Twin, said to his fellow disciples, "Let us go also, that we may die with him."

¹⁷So when Jesus came, he found that he had been in the tomb four days already.

¹⁸Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, about fifteen stadia away.

¹⁹Many of the Judeans had come to Martha and Mary, to console them concerning their brother.

²⁰Then when Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, but Mary stayed in the house.

²¹Therefore Martha said to Jesus, "Lord, if you would have been here, my brother would not have died.

²²Even now I know that, whatever you ask of God, God will give you."

²³Jesus said to her, "Your brother will rise again."

²⁴Martha said to him, "I know that he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day."

²⁵Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will still live, even if he dies.

²⁶Whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?"

²⁷She said to him, "Yes, Lord. I have come to believe that you are the Messiah, God's Son, he who comes into the world."

²⁸When she had said this, she went away, and called Mary, her sister, secretly, saying, "The Teacher is here, and is calling you."

²⁹When she heard this, she arose quickly, and went to him.

³⁰Now Jesus had not yet come into the village, but was still in the place where Martha met him.

³¹Then the Judeans who were with her in the house, and were consoling her, when they saw Mary, that she rose up quickly and went out, followed her, supposing that she was going to the tomb to weep there.

³²Therefore when Mary came to where Jesus was, and saw him, she fell down at his feet, saying to him, "Lord, if you would have been here, my brother would not have died."

³³When Jesus therefore saw her weeping, and the Judeans weeping who came with her, he groaned in the spirit, and was troubled,

³⁴and said, "Where have you put him?" They told him, "Lord, come and see."

³⁵Jesus wept.

³⁶The Judeans therefore said, "See how much affection he had for him!"

³⁷Some of them said, "Could not this man, who opened the eyes of him who was blind, have also kept this man from dying?"

³⁸Jesus therefore, again groaning in himself, came to the tomb. Now it was a cave, and a stone lay against it.

³⁹Jesus said, "Take away the stone." Martha, the sister of him who was dead, said to him, "Lord, by this time there is a stench, for he has been dead four days."

⁴⁰Jesus said to her, "Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see God's glory?"

⁴¹So they took away the stone. Jesus lifted up his eyes, and said, "Father, I thank you that you listened to me.

⁴²I know that you always listen to me, but because of the multitude that stands around I said this, that they may believe that you sent me."

⁴³When he had said this, he shouted with a loud voice, "Lazarus, come out!"

⁴⁴He who was dead came out, bound hand and foot with wrappings, and his face was wrapped around with a cloth. Jesus said to them, "Free him, and let him go."

⁴⁵Therefore many of the Judeans, who came to Mary and saw what Jesus did, believed in him.

⁴⁶But some of them went away to the Pharisees, and told them the things which Jesus had done.

⁴⁷The chief priests therefore and the Pharisees gathered a council, and said, "What are we doing? For this man does many signs.

⁴⁸If we leave him alone like this, everyone will believe in him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation."

⁴⁹But a certain one of them, Caiaphas, being high priest that year, said to them, "You know nothing at all,

⁵⁰nor do you consider that it is advantageous for you that one man should die for the people, and that the whole nation not perish."

⁵¹Now he did not say this of himself, but being high priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus would die for the nation,

⁵²and not for the nation only, but that he might also gather together into one the children of God who are scattered abroad.

⁵³So from that day forward they took counsel that they might put him to death.

⁵⁴Jesus therefore walked no more openly among the Judeans, but departed from there into the country near the wilderness, to a city called Ephraim. He stayed there with his disciples.

⁵⁵Now the Jewish Passover was near, and many went up from the country to Jerusalem before the Passover, to purify themselves.

⁵⁶Then they sought for Jesus and spoke one with another, as they stood in the temple, "What do you think-that he is not coming to the feast at all?"

⁵⁷Now the chief priests and the Pharisees had commanded that if anyone knew where he was, he should report it, that they might seize him.

¹ God, the nations have come into your inheritance. They have defiled your holy temple. They have laid Jerusalem in heaps.

²They have given the dead bodies of your servants to be food for the birds of the sky, the flesh of your holy ones to the animals of the earth.

³Their blood they have shed like water around Jerusalem. There was no one to bury them.

⁴We have become a reproach to our neighbors, a scoffing and derision to those who are around us.

⁵How long, Lord? Will you be angry forever? Will your jealousy burn like fire?

⁶Pour out your wrath on the nations that do not know you; on the kingdoms that do not call on your name;

⁷For they have devoured Jacob, and destroyed his homeland.

⁸Do not hold the iniquities of our forefathers against us. Let your tender mercies speedily meet us, for we are in desperate need.

⁹Help us, God of our salvation, for the glory of your name. Deliver us, and forgive our sins, for your name's sake.

¹⁰Why should the nations say, "Where is their God?" Let it be known among the nations, before our eyes, that vengeance for your servants' blood is being poured out.

¹¹Let the sighing of the prisoner come before you. According to the greatness of your power, preserve those who are sentenced to death.

¹²Pay back to our neighbors seven times into their bosom their reproach with which they have reproached you, Lord.

¹³So we, your people and sheep of your pasture, will give you thanks forever. We will praise you forever, to all generations.

¹Better is a dry morsel with quietness, than a house full of feasting with strife.

²A servant who deals wisely will rule over a son who causes shame, and shall have a part in the inheritance among the brothers.

³The refining pot is for silver, and the furnace for gold, but the Lord tests the hearts.

⁴An evildoer heeds wicked lips. A liar gives ear to a mischievous tongue.

⁵Whoever mocks the poor reproaches his Maker. He who is glad at calamity shall not be unpunished.

⁶Children's children are the crown of old men; the glory of children are their parents.

⁷Arrogant speech isn't fitting for a fool, much less do lying lips fit a prince.

⁸A bribe is a precious stone in the eyes of him who gives it; wherever he turns, he prospers.

⁹He who covers an offense promotes love; but he who repeats a matter separates best friends.

¹⁰A rebuke enters deeper into one who has understanding than a hundred lashes into a fool.

¹¹An evil man seeks only rebellion; therefore a cruel messenger shall be sent against him.

¹²Let a bear robbed of her cubs meet a man, rather than a fool in his folly.

¹³Whoever rewards evil for good, evil shall not depart from his house.

¹⁴The beginning of strife is like breaching a dam, therefore stop contention before quarreling breaks out.

¹⁵He who justifies the wicked, and he who condemns the righteous, both of them alike are an abomination to the Lord.

¹⁶Why is there money in the hand of a fool to buy wisdom, seeing he has no understanding?

¹⁷A friend loves at all times; and a brother is born for adversity.

¹⁸A man void of understanding strikes hands, and becomes collateral in the presence of his neighbor.

¹⁹He who loves disobedience loves strife. One who builds a high gate seeks destruction.

²⁰One who has a perverse heart doesn't find prosperity, and one who has a deceitful tongue falls into trouble.

²¹He who becomes the father of a fool grieves. The father of a fool has no joy.

²²A cheerful heart makes good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.

²³A wicked man receives a bribe in secret, to pervert the ways of justice.

²⁴Wisdom is before the face of one who has understanding, but the eyes of a fool wander to the ends of the earth.

²⁵A foolish son brings grief to his father, and bitterness to her who bore him.

²⁶Also to punish the righteous is not good, nor to flog officials for their integrity.

²⁷He who spares his words has knowledge. He who is even tempered is a man of understanding.

²⁸Even a fool, when he keeps silent, is counted wise. When he shuts his lips, he is thought to be discerning.