Naomi Widowed

1 Now it came about in the days ^(A)when the judges ^[a]governed, that there was ^(B)a famine in the land. And a man ^(C)of Bethlehem in Judah went to reside in the land of Moab ^[b]with his wife and his two sons. ² The name of the man was Elimelech, and the name of his wife, Naomi; and the names of his two sons were Mahlon and Chilion, Ephrathites of Bethlehem in Judah. So they ^(D)entered the land of Moab and remained there. ³ Then Elimelech, Naomi’s husband, died; and she was left with her two sons. ⁴ And they took for themselves Moabite women as wives; the name of the one was Orpah, and the name of the other, Ruth. And they lived there about ten years. ⁵ Then ^[c]both Mahlon and Chilion also died, and the woman was left without her two sons and her husband.

⁶ Then she arose with her daughters-in-law to return from the land of Moab, because she had heard in the land of Moab that the Lord had ^(E)visited His people by ^(F)giving them food. ⁷ So she departed from the place where she was, and her two daughters-in-law with her; and they went on the way to return to the land of Judah. ⁸ But Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, “Go, return each of you to ^[d]your mother’s house. ^(G)May the Lord deal kindly with you as you have dealt with the dead and with me. ⁹ May the Lord grant that you may find a place of rest, each one in the house of her husband.” Then she kissed them, and they raised their voices and wept. ¹⁰ However, they said to her, “No, but we will return with you to your people.” ¹¹ But Naomi said, “Return, my daughters. Why should you go with me? Do I still have sons in my womb, that ^(H)they may be your husbands? ¹² Return, my daughters! Go, for I am too old to have a husband. If I said I have hope, if I were even to have a husband tonight and also give birth to sons, ¹³ would you therefore wait until they were grown? Would you therefore refrain from marrying? No, my daughters; for it is much more bitter for me than for you, because ^(I)the hand of the Lord has come out against me.”

Ruth’s Loyalty

¹⁴ And they raised their voices and wept again; and Orpah kissed her mother-in-law, but Ruth clung to her.

¹⁵ Then she said, “Behold, your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and her ^(J)gods; return after your sister-in-law.” ¹⁶ But Ruth said, “Do not plead with me to leave you or to turn back from following you; for where you go, I will go, and where you sleep, I will sleep. Your people shall be my people, and your God, my God. ¹⁷ Where you die, I will die, and there I will be buried. May ^(K)the Lord do so to me, and worse, if anything but death separates ^[e]me from you.” ¹⁸ When ^(L)she saw that she was determined to go with her, she stopped speaking to her about it.

¹⁹ So they both went on until they came to Bethlehem. And when they had come to Bethlehem, ^(M)all the city was stirred because of them, and ^[f]the women said, “Is this Naomi?” ²⁰ But she said to them, “Do not call me ^[g]Naomi; call me ^[h]Mara, for ^[i](N)the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me. ²¹ I went away full, but ^(O)the Lord has brought me back empty. Why do you call me Naomi, since the Lord has testified against me and ^[j]the Almighty has afflicted me?”

²² So Naomi returned, and with her Ruth the Moabitess, her daughter-in-law, who returned from the land of Moab. And they came to Bethlehem at ^(P)the beginning of barley harvest.

Ruth Gleans in Boaz’s Field

2 Now Naomi had ^[k]a relative of her husband, a ^[l]man of great wealth, of the family of ^(Q)Elimelech, whose name was Boaz. ² And Ruth the Moabitess said to Naomi, “Please let me go to the field and ^(R)glean among the ears of grain following one in whose eyes I may find favor.” And she said to her, “Go, my daughter.” ³ So she left and went and gleaned in the field after the reapers; and ^[m]she happened to come to the portion of the field belonging to Boaz, who was of the family of Elimelech. ⁴ Now behold, Boaz came from Bethlehem and said to the reapers, “^(S)May the Lord be with you.” And they said to him, “May the Lord bless you.” ⁵ Then Boaz said to his servant who was ^[n]in charge of the reapers, “Whose young woman is this?” ⁶ And the servant ^[o]in charge of the reapers replied, “She is the young Moabite woman who returned with Naomi from the land of Moab. ⁷ And she said, ‘Please let me glean and gather after the reapers among the sheaves.’ So she came and has remained from the morning until now; she has been sitting in the house for a little while.”

⁸ Then Boaz said to Ruth, “^[p]Listen carefully, my daughter. Do not go to glean in another field; furthermore, do not go on from this one, but join my young women here. ⁹ Keep your eyes on the field which they reap, and go after them. Indeed, I have ordered the servants not to touch you. When you are thirsty, go to the ^[q]water jars and drink from what the servants draw.” ¹⁰ Then she ^(T)fell on her face, bowing to the ground, and said to him, “Why have I found favor in your sight that you should take notice of me, since I am a foreigner?” ¹¹ Boaz replied to her, “All that you have done for your mother-in-law after the death of your husband has been fully reported to me, and how you left your father and your mother and the land of your birth, and came to a people that you did not previously know. ^12 (U)May the Lord reward your ^[r]work, and may your wages be full from the Lord, the God of Israel, ^(V)under whose wings you have come to take refuge.” ¹³ Then she said, “I have found favor in your sight, my lord, for you have comforted me and indeed have spoken ^[s]kindly to your servant, though I am not like one of your female servants.”

¹⁴ And at mealtime Boaz said to her, “^[t]Come here, that you may eat of the bread and dip your piece of bread in the vinegar.” So she sat beside the reapers; and he served her roasted grain, and she ate and was satisfied ^(W)and had some left. ¹⁵ When she got up to glean, Boaz commanded his servants, saying, “Let her glean even among the sheaves, and do not ^[u]insult her. ¹⁶ Also you are to purposely slip out for her some grain from the bundles and leave it so that she may 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 ^[v]ephah of barley. ¹⁸ And she picked it up and went into the city, and her mother-in-law saw what she had gleaned. She also took some out and ^(X)gave ^[w]Naomi what she had left after ^[x]she was satisfied. ¹⁹ Her mother-in-law then said to her, “Where did you glean today and where did you work? May he who ^(Y)took notice of you be blessed.” So she told her mother-in-law with whom she had worked, and said, “The name of the man with whom I worked today is Boaz.” ²⁰ Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, “^(Z)May he be blessed of the Lord who has not withdrawn His kindness from the living and from the dead.” Again Naomi said to her, “The man is our relative; he is one of our ^(AA)redeemers.” ²¹ Then Ruth the Moabitess said, “^[y]Furthermore, he said to me, ‘You are to stay close to my servants until they have finished all my harvest.’” ²² And Naomi said to her daughter-in-law Ruth, “It is good, my daughter, that you go out with his young women, so that others do not assault you in another field.” ²³ So she stayed close by the young women of Boaz in order to glean until ^(AB)the end of the barley harvest and the wheat harvest. And she lived with her mother-in-law.

Healing the Beggar Who Was Unable to Walk

3 Now ^(A)Peter and John were going up to the temple at the ^[a]ninth hour, ^(B)the hour of prayer. ² And ^(C)a man who had been unable to walk from ^[b]birth was being carried, whom they ^(D)used to set down every day at the gate of the temple which is called Beautiful, ^(E)in order for him to beg for charitable gifts from those entering the temple grounds. ³ When he saw ^(F)Peter and John about to go into the temple grounds, he began asking to receive a charitable gift. ⁴ But Peter, along with John, ^(G)looked at him intently and said, “Look at us!” ⁵ And he gave them his attention, expecting to receive something from them. ⁶ But Peter said, “I do not have silver and gold, but what I do have I give to you: ^(H)In the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, walk!” ⁷ And grasping him by the right hand, he raised him up; and immediately his feet and his ankles were strengthened. ⁸ And ^(I)leaping up, he stood and began to walk; and he entered the temple with them, walking and leaping and praising God. ⁹ And ^(J)all the people saw him walking and praising God; ¹⁰ and they recognized him as being the very one who used to ^(K)sit at the Beautiful Gate of the temple to beg for charitable gifts, and they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him.

Peter’s Second Sermon

¹¹ While he was clinging to ^(L)Peter and John, all the people ran together to them at the ^[c](M)portico named Solomon’s, completely astonished. ¹² But when Peter saw this, he replied to the people, “Men of Israel, why are you amazed at this, or why are you staring at us, as though by our own power or godliness we had made him walk? ^13 (N)The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, ^(O)the God of our fathers, has glorified His ^[d](P)servant Jesus, the one whom ^(Q)you handed over and disowned in the presence of ^(R)Pilate, when he had ^(S)decided to release Him. ¹⁴ But you disowned ^(T)the Holy and Righteous One, and ^(U)asked for a murderer to be granted to you, ¹⁵ but put to death the ^[e](V)Prince of life, whom ^(W)God raised from the dead, ^[f]a fact to which we are ^(X)witnesses. ¹⁶ And on the basis of faith ^(Y)in His name, it is ^[g]the name of Jesus which has strengthened this man whom you see and know; and the faith which comes through Him has given him this perfect health in the presence of you all.

¹⁷ “And now, brothers, I know that you acted ^(Z)in ignorance, just as your ^(AA)rulers also did. ¹⁸ But the things which ^(AB)God previously announced by the mouths of all the prophets, ^(AC)that His ^[h]Christ would suffer, He has fulfilled in this way. ¹⁹ Therefore ^(AD)repent and return, so that your sins may be wiped away, in order that ^(AE)times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord; ²⁰ and that He may send Jesus, the ^[i]Christ appointed for you, ^21 (AF)whom heaven must receive until the ^[j]period of ^(AG)restoration of all things, about which ^(AH)God spoke by the mouths of His holy prophets from ancient times. ²² Moses said, ‘^(AI)The Lord God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your countrymen; to Him you shall listen regarding everything He says to you. ^23 (AJ)And it shall be that every ^(AK)soul that does not listen to that prophet ^(AL)shall be utterly destroyed from among the people.’ ²⁴ And likewise, ^(AM)all the prophets who have spoken from Samuel and his successors onward, have also announced these days. ²⁵ It is you who are ^(AN)the sons of the prophets and of the ^(AO)covenant which God ordained with your fathers, saying to Abraham, ‘^(AP)And in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed.’ ²⁶ God ^(AQ)raised up His ^[k]Servant for you ^(AR)first, and sent Him to bless you by turning every one of you from your wicked ways.”