Wives Provided for the Benjamites

21 Now (A)the men of Israel had sworn an oath at Mizpah, saying, “None of us shall give his daughter to Benjamin as a wife.” Then the people came (B)to [a]the house of God, and remained there before God till evening. They lifted up their voices and wept bitterly, and said, “O Lord God of Israel, why has this come to pass in Israel, that today there should be one tribe missing in Israel?”

So it was, on the next morning, that the people rose early and (C)built an altar there, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. The children of Israel said, “Who is there among all the tribes of Israel who did not come up with the assembly to the Lord?” (D)For they had made a great oath concerning anyone who had not come up to the Lord at Mizpah, saying, “He shall surely be put to death.” And the children of Israel grieved for Benjamin their brother, and said, “One tribe is cut off from Israel today. What shall we do for wives for those who remain, seeing we have sworn by the Lord that we will not give them our daughters as wives?”

And they said, “What one is there from the tribes of Israel who did not come up to Mizpah to the Lord?” And, in fact, no one had come to the camp from (E)Jabesh Gilead to the assembly. For when the people were counted, indeed, not one of the inhabitants of Jabesh Gilead was there. 10 So the congregation sent out there twelve thousand of their most valiant men, and commanded them, saying, (F)“Go and strike the inhabitants of Jabesh Gilead with the edge of the sword, including the women and children. 11 And this is the thing that you shall do: (G)You shall utterly destroy every male, and every woman who has known a man intimately.” 12 So they found among the inhabitants of Jabesh Gilead four hundred young virgins who had not known a man intimately; and they brought them to the camp at (H)Shiloh, which is in the land of Canaan.

13 Then the whole congregation sent word to the children of Benjamin (I)who were at the rock of Rimmon, and announced peace to them. 14 So Benjamin came back at that time, and they gave them the women whom they had saved alive of the women of Jabesh Gilead; and yet they had not found enough for them.

15 And the people (J)grieved for Benjamin, because the Lord had made a void in the tribes of Israel.

16 Then the elders of the congregation said, “What shall we do for wives for those who remain, since the women of Benjamin have been destroyed?” 17 And they said, “There must be an inheritance for the survivors of Benjamin, that a tribe may not be destroyed from Israel. 18 However, we cannot give them wives from our daughters, (K)for the children of Israel have sworn an oath, saying, ‘Cursed be the one who gives a wife to Benjamin.’ ” 19 Then they said, “In fact, there is a yearly (L)feast of the Lord in (M)Shiloh, which is north of Bethel, on the east side of the (N)highway that goes up from Bethel to Shechem, and south of Lebonah.”

20 Therefore they instructed the children of Benjamin, saying, “Go, lie in wait in the vineyards, 21 and watch; and just when the daughters of Shiloh come out (O)to perform their dances, then come out from the vineyards, and every man catch a wife for himself from the daughters of Shiloh; then go to the land of Benjamin. 22 Then it shall be, when their fathers or their brothers come to us to complain, that we will say to them, ‘Be kind to them for our sakes, because we did not take a wife for any of them in the war; for it is not as though you have given the women to them at this time, making yourselves guilty of your oath.’ ”

23 And the children of Benjamin did so; they took enough wives for their number from those who danced, whom they caught. Then they went and returned to their inheritance, and they (P)rebuilt the cities and dwelt in them. 24 So the children of Israel departed from there at that time, every man to his tribe and family; they went out from there, every man to his inheritance.

25 (Q)In those days there was no king in Israel; (R)everyone did what was right in his own eyes.

Elimelech’s Family Goes to Moab

Now it came to pass, in the days when (S)the judges [b]ruled, that there was (T)a famine in the land. And a certain man of (U)Bethlehem, Judah, went to [c]dwell in the country of (V)Moab, he and his wife and his two sons. The name of the man was Elimelech, the name of his wife was Naomi, and the names of his two sons were Mahlon and Chilion—(W)Ephrathites of Bethlehem, Judah. And they went (X)to the country of Moab and remained there. Then Elimelech, Naomi’s husband, died; and she was left, and her two sons. Now they took wives of the women of Moab: the name of the one was Orpah, and the name of the other Ruth. And they [d]dwelt there about ten years. Then both Mahlon and Chilion also died; so the woman survived her two sons and her husband.

Naomi Returns with Ruth

Then she arose with her daughters-in-law that she might return from the country of Moab, for she had heard in the country of Moab that the Lord had (Y)visited[e] His people by (Z)giving them bread. Therefore she went out 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. And Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, (AA)“Go, return each to her mother’s house. (AB)The Lord deal kindly with you, as you have dealt (AC)with the dead and with me. The Lord grant that you may find (AD)rest, each in the house of her husband.”

So she kissed them, and they lifted up their voices and wept. 10 And they said to her, “Surely we will return with you to your people.”

11 But Naomi said, “Turn back, my daughters; why will you go with me? Are there still sons in my womb, (AE)that they may be your husbands? 12 Turn back, my daughters, go—for I am too old to have a husband. If I should say I have hope, if I should have a husband tonight and should also bear sons, 13 would you wait for them till they were grown? Would you restrain yourselves from having husbands? No, my daughters; for it grieves me very much for your sakes that (AF)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 (AG)clung to her.

15 And she said, “Look, your sister-in-law has gone back to (AH)her people and to her gods; (AI)return after your sister-in-law.”

16 But Ruth said:

(AJ)“Entreat[f] me not to leave you,
Or to turn back from following after you;
For wherever you go, I will go;
And wherever you lodge, I will lodge;
(AK)Your people shall be my people,
And your God, my God.
17 Where you die, I will die,
And there will I be buried.
(AL)The Lord do so to me, and more also,
If anything but death parts you and me.”

18 (AM)When she saw that she [g]was determined to go with her, she stopped speaking to her.

19 Now the two of them went until they came to Bethlehem. And it happened, when they had come to Bethlehem, that (AN)all the city was excited because of them; and the women said, (AO)Is this Naomi?”

20 But she said to them, “Do not call me [h]Naomi; call me [i]Mara, for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me. 21 I went out full, (AP)and the Lord has brought me home again 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 Ruth the Moabitess her daughter-in-law with her, who returned from the country of Moab. Now they came to Bethlehem (AQ)at the beginning of barley harvest.

Footnotes

  1. Judges 21:2 Or Bethel
  2. Ruth 1:1 Lit. judged
  3. Ruth 1:1 As a resident alien
  4. Ruth 1:4 lived
  5. Ruth 1:6 attended to
  6. Ruth 1:16 Urge me not
  7. Ruth 1:18 Lit. made herself strong to go
  8. Ruth 1:20 Lit. Pleasant
  9. Ruth 1:20 Lit. Bitter
  10. Ruth 1:21 Heb. Shaddai

But He needed to go through Samaria.

So He came to a city of Samaria which is called Sychar, near the plot of ground that (A)Jacob (B)gave to his son Joseph. Now Jacob’s well was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied from His journey, sat thus by the well. It was about the sixth hour.

A woman of Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give Me a drink.” For His disciples had gone away into the city to buy food.

Then the woman of Samaria said to Him, “How is it that You, being a Jew, ask a drink from me, a Samaritan woman?” For (C)Jews have no dealings with (D)Samaritans.

10 Jesus answered and said to her, “If you knew the (E)gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you (F)living water.”

11 The woman said to Him, “Sir, You have nothing to draw with, and the well is deep. Where then do You get that living water? 12 Are You greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well, and drank from it himself, as well as his sons and his livestock?”

13 Jesus answered and said to her, “Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, 14 but (G)whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him (H)will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.”

15 (I)The woman said to Him, “Sir, give me this water, that I may not thirst, nor come here to draw.”

16 Jesus said to her, “Go, call your husband, and come here.”

17 The woman answered and said, “I have no husband.”

Jesus said to her, “You have well said, ‘I have no husband,’ 18 for you have had five husbands, and the one whom you now have is not your husband; in that you spoke truly.”

19 The woman said to Him, “Sir, (J)I perceive that You are a prophet. 20 Our fathers worshiped on (K)this mountain, and you Jews say that in (L)Jerusalem is the place where one ought to worship.”

21 Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe Me, the hour is coming (M)when you will neither on this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, worship the Father. 22 You worship (N)what you do not know; we know what we worship, for (O)salvation is of the Jews. 23 But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will (P)worship the Father in (Q)spirit (R)and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. 24 (S)God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”

25 The woman said to Him, “I know that Messiah (T)is coming” (who is called Christ). “When He comes, (U)He will tell us all things.”

26 Jesus said to her, (V)“I who speak to you am He.

The Whitened Harvest

27 And at this point His disciples came, and they marveled that He talked with a woman; yet no one said, “What do You seek?” or, “Why are You talking with her?”

28 The woman then left her waterpot, went her way into the city, and said to the men, 29 “Come, see a Man (W)who told me all things that I ever did. Could this be the Christ?” 30 Then they went out of the city and came to Him.

31 In the meantime His disciples urged Him, saying, “Rabbi, eat.”

32 But He said to them, “I have food to eat of which you do not know.”

33 Therefore the disciples said to one another, “Has anyone brought Him anything to eat?”

34 Jesus said to them, (X)“My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to (Y)finish His work. 35 Do you not say, ‘There are still four months and then comes (Z)the harvest’? Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look at the fields, (AA)for they are already white for harvest! 36 (AB)And he who reaps receives wages, and gathers fruit for eternal life, that (AC)both he who sows and he who reaps may rejoice together. 37 For in this the saying is true: (AD)‘One sows and another reaps.’ 38 I sent you to reap that for which you have not labored; (AE)others have labored, and you have entered into their labors.”

The Savior of the World

39 And many of the Samaritans of that city believed in Him (AF)because of the word of the woman who testified, “He told me all that I ever did.” 40 So when the Samaritans had come to Him, they urged Him to stay with them; and He stayed there two days. 41 And many more believed because of His own (AG)word.

42 Then they said to the woman, “Now we believe, not because of what you said, for (AH)we ourselves have heard Him and we know that this is indeed [a]the Christ, the Savior of the world.”

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Footnotes

  1. John 4:42 NU omits the Christ

The Eternal Faithfulness of the Lord(A)

105 Oh, (B)give thanks to the Lord!
Call upon His name;
(C)Make known His deeds among the peoples!
Sing to Him, sing psalms to Him;
(D)Talk of all His wondrous works!
Glory in His holy name;
Let the hearts of those rejoice who seek the Lord!
Seek the Lord and His strength;
(E)Seek His face evermore!
(F)Remember His marvelous works which He has done,
His wonders, and the judgments of His mouth,
O seed of Abraham His servant,
You children of Jacob, His chosen ones!

He is the Lord our God;
(G)His judgments are in all the earth.
He (H)remembers His covenant forever,
The word which He commanded, for a thousand generations,
(I)The covenant which He made with Abraham,
And His oath to Isaac,
10 And confirmed it to Jacob for a statute,
To Israel as an everlasting covenant,
11 Saying, (J)“To you I will give the land of Canaan
As the allotment of your inheritance,”
12 (K)When they were few in number,
Indeed very few, (L)and strangers in it.

13 When they went from one nation to another,
From one kingdom to another people,
14 (M)He permitted no one to do them wrong;
Yes, (N)He rebuked kings for their sakes,
15 Saying, “Do not touch My anointed ones,
And do My prophets no harm.”

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25 A true witness [a]delivers (A)souls,
But a deceitful witness speaks lies.

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Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 14:25 saves lives

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