Great Is the Lord

^[a] A Song of Praise. Of David.

²¹ For to me ^(A)to live is Christ, and to die is gain. ²² If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. Yet which I shall choose I cannot tell. ^23 (B)I am hard pressed between the two. My desire is ^(C)to depart and ^(D)be with Christ, for that is far better. ²⁴ But to remain in the flesh is more necessary on your account. ^25 (E)Convinced of this, ^(F)I know that I will remain and continue with you all, for your ^(G)progress and ^(H)joy in the faith, ²⁶ so that in me ^(I)you may have ample cause to glory in Christ Jesus, because of my coming to you again.

²⁷ Only ^(J)let your manner of life be ^(K)worthy^[a] of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of you ^(L)that you are standing firm in one spirit, with ^(M)one mind ^(N)striving side by side for the faith of the gospel, ²⁸ and not frightened in anything by your opponents. This is ^(O)a clear sign to them of their destruction, but ^(P)of your salvation, and that from God. ²⁹ For ^(Q)it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also ^(R)suffer for his sake, ³⁰ engaged in the same ^(S)conflict that ^(T)you saw I had and now hear that I still have.

Laborers in the Vineyard

20 “For the kingdom of heaven is like a master of a house who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. ² After agreeing with the laborers for a denarius^[a] a day, he sent them into his vineyard. ³ And going out about the third hour he saw others standing idle in the marketplace, ⁴ and to them he said, ‘You go into the vineyard too, and whatever is right I will give you.’ ⁵ So they went. Going out again about the sixth hour and the ninth hour, he did the same. ⁶ And ^(A)about the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing. And he said to them, ‘Why do you stand here idle all day?’ ⁷ They said to him, ‘Because no one has hired us.’ He said to them, ‘You go into the vineyard too.’ ⁸ And ^(B)when evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his ^(C)foreman, ‘Call the laborers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last, up to the first.’ ⁹ And when those hired about the eleventh hour came, each of them received a denarius. ¹⁰ Now when those hired first came, they thought they would receive more, but each of them also received a denarius. ¹¹ And on receiving it they grumbled at the master of the house, ¹² saying, ‘These last worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the day and ^(D)the scorching heat.’ ¹³ But he replied to one of them, ^(E)‘Friend, I am doing you no wrong. Did you not agree with me for a denarius? ¹⁴ Take ^(F)what belongs to you and go. I choose to give to this last worker as I give to you. ^15 (G)Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or ^(H)do you begrudge my generosity?’^{[b] 16} So ^(I)the last will be first, and the first last.”

Ruth Meets Boaz

2 Now Naomi had ^(A)a relative of her husband's, a worthy man of the clan of Elimelech, whose name was ^(B)Boaz. ² And Ruth the Moabite said to Naomi, “Let me go to the field and ^(C)glean among the ears of grain after him ^(D)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, ^(E)“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, ^(F)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.”^[a]

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 ^(G)she fell on her face, bowing to the ground, and said to him, “Why have I found favor in your eyes, that you should ^(H)take notice of me, since I am a foreigner?” ¹¹ But Boaz answered her, ^(I)“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 (J)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, ^(K)“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 ^(L)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^[b] 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 ^(M)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 ^(N)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, ^(O)“May he be blessed by the Lord, whose kindness has not forsaken ^(P)the living or the dead!” Naomi also said to her, “The man is a close relative of ours, one of ^(Q)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.

^14 (A)The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and ^(B)the love of God and ^(C)the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.