Naomi Widowed

1 In the days ^(A)when the judges ruled there was ^(B)a famine in the land, and a man of ^(C)Bethlehem in Judah went to sojourn in the country of Moab, he and 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. They were ^(D)Ephrathites from Bethlehem in Judah. They went into the country of Moab and remained there. ³ But Elimelech, the husband of Naomi, died, and she was left with her two sons. ⁴ These took Moabite wives; the name of the one was Orpah and the name of the other Ruth. They lived there about ten years, ⁵ and both Mahlon and Chilion died, so that the woman was left without her two sons and her husband.

Ruth's Loyalty to Naomi

⁶ Then she arose with her daughters-in-law to return from the country of Moab, for she had heard in the fields of Moab that ^(E)the Lord had visited his people and ^(F)given them food. ⁷ So she set out from the place where she was with her two daughters-in-law, 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 her mother's house. May the Lord ^(G)deal kindly with you, as you have dealt with ^(H)the dead and with me. ⁹ The Lord grant that you may find ^(I)rest, each of you in the house of her husband!” Then she kissed them, and they lifted up their voices and wept. ¹⁰ And they said to her, “No, we will return with you to your people.” ¹¹ But Naomi said, “Turn back, my daughters; why will you go with me? Have I yet sons in my womb ^(J)that they may become your husbands? ¹² Turn back, my daughters; go your way, for I am too old to have a husband. If I should say I have hope, even if I should have a husband this night and should bear sons, ¹³ would you therefore wait till they were grown? Would you therefore refrain from marrying? No, my daughters, for it is exceedingly bitter to me for your sake that ^(K)the hand of the Lord has gone out against me.” ¹⁴ Then they lifted up their voices and wept again. And Orpah kissed her mother-in-law, but Ruth clung to her.

¹⁵ And she said, “See, your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and to ^(L)her gods; return after your sister-in-law.” ¹⁶ But Ruth said, “Do not urge me to leave you or to return from following you. For where you go I will go, and where you lodge I will lodge. ^(M)Your people shall be my people, and your God my God. ¹⁷ Where you die I will die, and there will I be buried. ^(N)May the Lord do so to me and more also if anything but death parts me from you.” ^18 (O)And when Naomi saw that she was determined to go with her, she said no more.

Naomi and Ruth Return

¹⁹ So the two of them went on until they came to Bethlehem. And when they came to Bethlehem, ^(P)the whole town was stirred because of them. And the women said, “Is this Naomi?” ²⁰ She said to them, “Do not call me Naomi;^[a] call me ^(Q)Mara,^[b] for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me. ^21 (R)I went away full, and the Lord has brought me back empty. Why call me Naomi, when the Lord has testified against me and the Almighty has brought calamity upon me?”

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

Ruth Meets Boaz

2 Now Naomi had ^(T)a relative of her husband's, a worthy man of the clan of Elimelech, whose name was ^(U)Boaz. ² And Ruth the Moabite said to Naomi, “Let me go to the field and ^(V)glean among the ears of grain after him ^(W)in whose sight I shall find favor.” And she said to her, “Go, my daughter.” ³ So she set out and went and gleaned in the field after the reapers, and she happened to come to the part of the field belonging to Boaz, who was of the clan of Elimelech. ⁴ And behold, Boaz came from Bethlehem. And he said to the reapers, ^(X)“The Lord be with you!” And they answered, “The Lord bless you.” ⁵ Then Boaz said to his young man who was in charge of the reapers, “Whose young woman is this?” ⁶ And the servant who was in charge of the reapers answered, “She is the young Moabite woman, ^(Y)who came back with Naomi from the country of Moab. ⁷ She said, ‘Please let me glean and gather among the sheaves after the reapers.’ So she came, and she has continued from early morning until now, except for a short rest.”^[c]

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 Let your eyes be on the field that they are reaping, and go after them. Have I not charged the young men not to touch you? And when you are thirsty, go to the vessels and drink what the young men have drawn.” ¹⁰ Then ^(Z)she fell on her face, bowing to the ground, and said to him, “Why have I found favor in your eyes, that you should ^(AA)take notice of me, since I am a foreigner?” ¹¹ But Boaz answered her, ^(AB)“All that you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband has been fully told to me, and how you left your father and mother and your native land and came to a people that you did not know before. ^12 (AC)The Lord repay you for what you have done, and a full reward be given you by the Lord, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge!” ¹³ Then she said, ^(AD)“I have found favor in your eyes, my lord, for you have comforted me and spoken kindly to your servant, though I am not one of your servants.”

¹⁴ And at mealtime Boaz said to her, “Come here and eat some bread and dip your morsel in the wine.” So she sat beside the reapers, and he passed to her roasted grain. And she ate until ^(AE)she was satisfied, and she had some left over. ¹⁵ When she rose to glean, Boaz instructed his young men, saying, “Let her glean even among the sheaves, and do not reproach her. ¹⁶ And also pull out some from the bundles for her and leave it 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^[d] of barley. ¹⁸ And she took it up and went into the city. Her mother-in-law saw what she had gleaned. She also brought out and gave her what food she had left over ^(AF)after being satisfied. ¹⁹ And her mother-in-law said to her, “Where did you glean today? And where have you worked? Blessed be the man ^(AG)who took notice of you.” So she told her mother-in-law with whom she had worked and said, “The man's name with whom I worked today is Boaz.” ²⁰ And Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, ^(AH)“May he be blessed by the Lord, whose kindness has not forsaken ^(AI)the living or the dead!” Naomi also said to her, “The man is a close relative of ours, one of ^(AJ)our redeemers.” ²¹ And Ruth the Moabite said, “Besides, he said to me, ‘You shall keep close by my young men until they have finished all my harvest.’” ²² And Naomi said to Ruth, her daughter-in-law, “It is good, my daughter, that you go out with his young women, lest in another field you be assaulted.” ²³ So she kept 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.

My Soul Longs for the Courts of the Lord

To the choirmaster: according to ^(A)The Gittith.^[a] A Psalm of ^(B)the Sons of Korah.

16 “I have said all these things to you to keep you from falling away. ^2 (A)They will put you out of the synagogues. Indeed, ^(B)the hour is coming when ^(C)whoever kills you will think he is offering service to God. ³ And they will do these things ^(D)because they have not known the Father, nor me. ⁴ But ^(E)I have said these things to you, that when ^(F)their hour comes you may remember that I told them to you.

The Work of the Holy Spirit

“I did not say these things to you from the beginning, ^(G)because I was with you. ⁵ But now ^(H)I am going to him who sent me, and ^(I)none of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’ ⁶ But because I have said these things to you, ^(J)sorrow has filled your heart. ⁷ Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for ^(K)if I do not go away, ^(L)the Helper will not come to you. But ^(M)if ^(N)I go, ^(O)I will send him to you. ^8 (P)And when he comes, he will ^(Q)convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment: ⁹ concerning sin, ^(R)because they do not believe in me; ^10 (S)concerning righteousness, ^(T)because I go to the Father, and you will see me no longer; ^11 (U)concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world ^(V)is judged.

¹² “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. ¹³ When ^(W)the Spirit of truth comes, ^(X)he will ^(Y)guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but ^(Z)whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. ¹⁴ He will ^(AA)glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you. ^15 (AB)All that the Father has is mine; ^(AC)therefore I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you.

Your Sorrow Will Turn into Joy

^16 (AD)“A little while, and you will see me no longer; and ^(AE)again a little while, and you will see me.” ¹⁷ So ^(AF)some of his disciples said to one another, “What is this that he says to us, ^(AG)‘A little while, and you will not see me, and again a little while, and you will see me’; and, ^(AH)‘because I am going to the Father’?” ¹⁸ So they were saying, “What does he mean by ‘a little while’? ^(AI)We do not know what he is talking about.” ^19 (AJ)Jesus knew that they wanted to ask him, so he said to them, “Is this what you are asking yourselves, what I meant by saying, ‘A little while and you will not see me, and again a little while and you will see me’? ²⁰ Truly, truly, I say to you, ^(AK)you will weep and lament, but ^(AL)the world will rejoice. You will be sorrowful, but ^(AM)your sorrow will turn into joy. ^21 (AN)When a woman is giving birth, she has sorrow because her hour has come, but when she has delivered the baby, she no longer remembers the anguish, for joy that a human being has been born into the world. ^22 (AO)So also you have sorrow now, but ^(AP)I will see you again, and ^(AQ)your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you. ^23 (AR)In that day you will ^(AS)ask nothing of me. Truly, truly, I say to you, ^(AT)whatever you ask of the Father in my name, ^(AU)he will give it to you. ²⁴ Until now you have asked nothing in my name. ^(AV)Ask, and you will receive, ^(AW)that your joy may be full.

I Have Overcome the World

²⁵ “I have said these things to you in figures of speech. ^(AX)The hour is coming when I will no longer speak to you in figures of speech but will tell you plainly about the Father. ²⁶ In that day you will ask in my name, and I do not say to you that I will ask the Father on your behalf; ^27 (AY)for the Father himself loves you, because ^(AZ)you have loved me and ^(BA)have believed that I came from God.^{[a] 28 (BB)}I came from the Father and have come into the world, and now ^(BC)I am leaving the world and going to the Father.”

²⁹ His disciples said, “Ah, now you are speaking plainly and not ^(BD)using figurative speech! ³⁰ Now we know that ^(BE)you know all things and do not need anyone to question you; this is why we believe that ^(BF)you came from God.” ³¹ Jesus answered them, “Do you now believe? ³² Behold, ^(BG)the hour is coming, indeed it has come, when ^(BH)you will be scattered, each to his own home, and ^(BI)will leave me alone. ^(BJ)Yet I am not alone, for the Father is with me. ³³ I have said these things to you, that ^(BK)in me you may have peace. ^(BL)In the world you will have ^(BM)tribulation. But ^(BN)take heart; ^(BO)I have overcome the world.”