Naomi Loses Her Husband and Sons

1 In the days when the judges ruled,^[a](A) there was a famine in the land.^(B) So a man from Bethlehem in Judah,^(C) together with his wife and two sons, went to live for a while^(D) in the country of Moab.^{(E) 2} The man’s name was Elimelek,^(F) his wife’s name was Naomi, and the names of his two sons were Mahlon and Kilion.^(G) They were Ephrathites^(H) from Bethlehem,^(I) Judah. And they went to Moab and lived there.

³ Now Elimelek, Naomi’s husband, died, and she was left with her two sons. ⁴ They married Moabite women,^(J) one named Orpah and the other Ruth.^(K) After they had lived there about ten years, ⁵ both Mahlon and Kilion^(L) also died,^(M) and Naomi was left without her two sons and her husband.

Naomi and Ruth Return to Bethlehem

⁶ When Naomi heard in Moab^(N) that the Lord had come to the aid of his people^(O) by providing food^(P) for them, she and her daughters-in-law^(Q) prepared to return home from there. ⁷ With her two daughters-in-law she left the place where she had been living and set out on the road that would take them back to the land of Judah.

⁸ Then Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, “Go back, each of you, to your mother’s home.^(R) May the Lord show you kindness,^(S) as you have shown kindness to your dead husbands^(T) and to me. ⁹ May the Lord grant that each of you will find rest^(U) in the home of another husband.”

Then she kissed^(V) them goodbye and they wept aloud^{(W) 10} and said to her, “We will go back with you to your people.”

¹¹ But Naomi said, “Return home, my daughters. Why would you come with me? Am I going to have any more sons, who could become your husbands?^{(X) 12} Return home, my daughters; I am too old to have another husband. Even if I thought there was still hope for me—even if I had a husband tonight and then gave birth to sons— ¹³ would you wait until they grew up?^(Y) Would you remain unmarried for them? No, my daughters. It is more bitter^(Z) for me than for you, because the Lord’s hand has turned against me!^(AA)”

¹⁴ At this they wept^(AB) aloud again. Then Orpah kissed her mother-in-law^(AC) goodbye,^(AD) but Ruth clung to her.^(AE)

¹⁵ “Look,” said Naomi, “your sister-in-law^(AF) is going back to her people and her gods.^(AG) Go back with her.”

¹⁶ But Ruth replied, “Don’t urge me to leave you^(AH) or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go,^(AI) and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people^(AJ) and your God my God.^{(AK) 17} Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried. May the Lord deal with me, be it ever so severely,^(AL) if even death separates you and me.”^{(AM) 18} When Naomi realized that Ruth was determined to go with her, she stopped urging her.^(AN)

¹⁹ So the two women went on until they came to Bethlehem.^(AO) When they arrived in Bethlehem, the whole town was stirred^(AP) because of them, and the women exclaimed, “Can this be Naomi?”

²⁰ “Don’t call me Naomi,^[b]” she told them. “Call me Mara,^[c] because the Almighty^[d](AQ) has made my life very bitter.^{(AR) 21} I went away full, but the Lord has brought me back empty.^(AS) Why call me Naomi? The Lord has afflicted^[e] me;^(AT) the Almighty has brought misfortune upon me.”

²² So Naomi returned from Moab accompanied by Ruth the Moabite,^(AU) her daughter-in-law,^(AV) arriving in Bethlehem as the barley harvest^(AW) was beginning.^(AX)

Ruth Meets Boaz in the Grain Field

2 Now Naomi had a relative^(AY) on her husband’s side, a man of standing^(AZ) from the clan of Elimelek,^(BA) whose name was Boaz.^(BB)

² And Ruth the Moabite^(BC) said to Naomi, “Let me go to the fields and pick up the leftover grain^(BD) behind anyone in whose eyes I find favor.^(BE)”

Naomi said to her, “Go ahead, my daughter.” ³ So she went out, entered a field and began to glean behind the harvesters.^(BF) As it turned out, she was working in a field belonging to Boaz, who was from the clan of Elimelek.^(BG)

⁴ Just then Boaz arrived from Bethlehem and greeted the harvesters, “The Lord be with you!^(BH)”

“The Lord bless you!^(BI)” they answered.

⁵ Boaz asked the overseer of his harvesters, “Who does that young woman belong to?”

⁶ The overseer replied, “She is the Moabite^(BJ) who came back from Moab with Naomi. ⁷ She said, ‘Please let me glean and gather among the sheaves^(BK) behind the harvesters.’ She came into the field and has remained here from morning till now, except for a short rest^(BL) in the shelter.”

⁸ So Boaz said to Ruth, “My daughter, listen to me. Don’t go and glean in another field and don’t go away from here. Stay here with the women who work for me. ⁹ Watch the field where the men are harvesting, and follow along after the women. I have told the men not to lay a hand on you. And whenever you are thirsty, go and get a drink from the water jars the men have filled.”

¹⁰ At this, she bowed down with her face to the ground.^(BM) She asked him, “Why have I found such favor in your eyes that you notice me^(BN)—a foreigner?^(BO)”

¹¹ Boaz replied, “I’ve been told all about what you have done for your mother-in-law^(BP) since the death of your husband^(BQ)—how you left your father and mother and your homeland and came to live with a people you did not know^(BR) before.^{(BS) 12} May the Lord repay you for what you have done. May you be richly rewarded by the Lord,^(BT) the God of Israel,^(BU) under whose wings^(BV) you have come to take refuge.^(BW)”

¹³ “May I continue to find favor in your eyes,^(BX) my lord,” she said. “You have put me at ease by speaking kindly to your servant—though I do not have the standing of one of your servants.”

¹⁴ At mealtime Boaz said to her, “Come over here. Have some bread^(BY) and dip it in the wine vinegar.”

When she sat down with the harvesters,^(BZ) he offered her some roasted grain.^(CA) She ate all she wanted and had some left over.^{(CB) 15} As she got up to glean, Boaz gave orders to his men, “Let her gather among the sheaves^(CC) and don’t reprimand her. ¹⁶ Even pull out some stalks for her from the bundles and leave them for her to pick up, and don’t rebuke^(CD) her.”

¹⁷ So Ruth gleaned in the field until evening. Then she threshed^(CE) the barley she had gathered, and it amounted to about an ephah.^{[f](CF) 18} She carried it back to town, and her mother-in-law saw how much she had gathered. Ruth also brought out and gave her what she had left over^(CG) after she had eaten enough.

¹⁹ Her mother-in-law asked her, “Where did you glean today? Where did you work? Blessed be the man who took notice of you!^(CH)”

Then Ruth told her mother-in-law about the one at whose place she had been working. “The name of the man I worked with today is Boaz,” she said.

²⁰ “The Lord bless him!^(CI)” Naomi said to her daughter-in-law.^(CJ) “He has not stopped showing his kindness^(CK) to the living and the dead.” She added, “That man is our close relative;^(CL) he is one of our guardian-redeemers.^[g](CM)”

²¹ Then Ruth the Moabite^(CN) said, “He even said to me, ‘Stay with my workers until they finish harvesting all my grain.’”

²² Naomi said to Ruth her daughter-in-law, “It will be good for you, my daughter, to go with the women who work for him, because in someone else’s field you might be harmed.”

²³ So Ruth stayed close to the women of Boaz to glean until the barley^(CO) and wheat harvests^(CP) were finished. And she lived with her mother-in-law.

Psalm 53^[a](A)

For the director of music. According to mahalath.^[b] A maskil^[c] of David.

Psalm 54^[d]

For the director of music. With stringed instruments. A maskil^[e] of David. When the Ziphites^(M) had gone to Saul and said, “Is not David hiding among us?”

Psalm 55^[g]

For the director of music. With stringed instruments. A maskil^[h] of David.

Psalm 56^[j]

For the director of music. To the tune of “A Dove on Distant Oaks.” Of David. A miktam.^[k] When the Philistines had seized him in Gath.

Psalm 57^[n](CR)

For the director of music. To the tune of “Do Not Destroy.” Of David. A miktam.^[o] When he had fled from Saul into the cave.^(CS)

Psalm 58^[q]

For the director of music. To the tune of “Do Not Destroy.” Of David. A miktam.^[r]

Psalm 59^[t]

For the director of music. To the tune of “Do Not Destroy.” Of David. A miktam.^[u] When Saul had sent men to watch David’s house^(EF) in order to kill him.

Psalm 60^[x](FQ)

For the director of music. To the tune of “The Lily of the Covenant.” A miktam^[y] of David. For teaching. When he fought Aram Naharaim^[z] and Aram Zobah,^[aa] and when Joab returned and struck down twelve thousand Edomites in the Valley of Salt.^(FR)

Psalm 61^[ac]

For the director of music. With stringed instruments. Of David.

Awaiting the New Body

5 For we know that if the earthly^(A) tent^(B) we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands. ² Meanwhile we groan,^(C) longing to be clothed instead with our heavenly dwelling,^{(D) 3} because when we are clothed, we will not be found naked. ⁴ For while we are in this tent, we groan^(E) and are burdened, because we do not wish to be unclothed but to be clothed instead with our heavenly dwelling,^(F) so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. ⁵ Now the one who has fashioned us for this very purpose is God, who has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.^(G)

⁶ Therefore we are always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord. ⁷ For we live by faith, not by sight.^{(H) 8} We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord.^{(I) 9} So we make it our goal to please him,^(J) whether we are at home in the body or away from it. ¹⁰ For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each of us may receive what is due us^(K) for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.

The Ministry of Reconciliation

¹¹ Since, then, we know what it is to fear the Lord,^(L) we try to persuade others. What we are is plain to God, and I hope it is also plain to your conscience.^{(M) 12} We are not trying to commend ourselves to you again,^(N) but are giving you an opportunity to take pride in us,^(O) so that you can answer those who take pride in what is seen rather than in what is in the heart. ¹³ If we are “out of our mind,”^(P) as some say, it is for God; if we are in our right mind, it is for you. ¹⁴ For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died.^{(Q) 15} And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves^(R) but for him who died for them^(S) and was raised again.

¹⁶ So from now on we regard no one from a worldly^(T) point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. ¹⁷ Therefore, if anyone is in Christ,^(U) the new creation^(V) has come:^[a] The old has gone, the new is here!^{(W) 18} All this is from God,^(X) who reconciled us to himself through Christ^(Y) and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: ¹⁹ that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them.^(Z) And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. ²⁰ We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors,^(AA) as though God were making his appeal through us.^(AB) We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God.^{(AC) 21} God made him who had no sin^(AD) to be sin^[b] for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.^(AE)