22 (A)‘When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not wholly reap the corners of your field when you reap, nor shall you gather any gleaning from your harvest. You shall leave them for the poor and for the stranger: I am the Lord your God.’ ”

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22 “‘When you reap the harvest(A) of your land, do not reap to the very edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest.(B) Leave them for the poor and for the foreigner residing among you.(C) I am the Lord your God.’”

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(A)‘When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not wholly reap the corners of your field, nor shall you gather the gleanings of your harvest. 10 And you shall not glean your vineyard, nor shall you gather every grape of your vineyard; you shall leave them for the poor and the stranger: I am the Lord your God.

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“‘When you reap the harvest of your land, do not reap to the very edges(A) of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest.(B) 10 Do not go over your vineyard a second time(C) or pick up the grapes that have fallen.(D) Leave them for the poor and the foreigner.(E) I am the Lord your God.

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19 (A)“When you reap your harvest in your field, and forget a sheaf in the field, you shall not go back to get it; it shall be for the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, that the Lord your God may (B)bless you in all the work of your hands. 20 When you beat your olive trees, you shall not go over the boughs again; it shall be for the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow. 21 When you gather the grapes of your vineyard, you shall not glean it afterward; it shall be for the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow.

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19 When you are harvesting in your field and you overlook a sheaf, do not go back to get it.(A) Leave it for the foreigner,(B) the fatherless and the widow,(C) so that the Lord your God may bless(D) you in all the work of your hands. 20 When you beat the olives from your trees, do not go over the branches a second time.(E) Leave what remains for the foreigner, the fatherless and the widow. 21 When you harvest the grapes in your vineyard, do not go over the vines again. Leave what remains for the foreigner, the fatherless and the widow.

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15 And when she rose up to [a]glean, Boaz commanded his young men, saying, “Let her glean even among the sheaves, and do not [b]reproach her. 16 Also let grain from the bundles fall purposely for her; leave it that she may glean, and do not rebuke her.”

17 So she gleaned in the field until evening, and beat out what she had gleaned, and it was about an ephah of (A)barley. 18 Then she took it up and went into the city, and her mother-in-law saw what she had gleaned. So she brought out and gave to her (B)what she had kept back after she had been satisfied.

19 And her mother-in-law said to her, “Where have you gleaned today? And where did you work? Blessed be the one who (C)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 Then Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, (D)“Blessed be he of the Lord, who (E)has not forsaken His kindness to the living and the dead!” And Naomi said to her, “This man is a relation of ours, (F)one of [c]our close relatives.”

21 Ruth the Moabitess said, “He also said to me, ‘You shall stay 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, and that people do not [d]meet you in any other field.” 23 So she stayed close by the young women of Boaz, to glean until the end of barley harvest and wheat harvest; and she dwelt with her mother-in-law.

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Footnotes

  1. Ruth 2:15 Gather after the reapers
  2. Ruth 2:15 rebuke
  3. Ruth 2:20 our redeemers, Heb. goalenu
  4. Ruth 2:22 encounter

15 As she got up to glean, Boaz gave orders to his men, “Let her gather among the sheaves(A) 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(B) her.”

17 So Ruth gleaned in the field until evening. Then she threshed(C) the barley she had gathered, and it amounted to about an ephah.[a](D) 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(E) 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!(F)

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!(G)” Naomi said to her daughter-in-law.(H) “He has not stopped showing his kindness(I) to the living and the dead.” She added, “That man is our close relative;(J) he is one of our guardian-redeemers.[b](K)

21 Then Ruth the Moabite(L) 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(M) and wheat harvests(N) were finished. And she lived with her mother-in-law.

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Footnotes

  1. Ruth 2:17 That is, probably about 30 pounds or about 13 kilograms
  2. Ruth 2:20 The Hebrew word for guardian-redeemer is a legal term for one who has the obligation to redeem a relative in serious difficulty (see Lev. 25:25-55).

Therefore I thought it necessary to [a]exhort the brethren to go to you ahead of time, and prepare your generous gift beforehand, which you had previously promised, that it may be ready as a matter of generosity and not as a [b]grudging obligation.

The Cheerful Giver

(A)But this I say: He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows [c]bountifully will also reap [d]bountifully. So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, (B)not grudgingly or of [e]necessity; for (C)God loves a cheerful giver. (D)And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work. As it is written:

(E)“He has dispersed abroad,
He has given to the poor;
His righteousness endures forever.”

10 Now [f]may He who (F)supplies seed to the sower, and bread for food, [g]supply and multiply the seed you have sown and increase the fruits of your (G)righteousness, 11 while you are enriched in everything for all liberality, (H)which causes thanksgiving through us to God. 12 For the administration of this service not only (I)supplies the needs of the saints, but also is abounding through many thanksgivings to God,

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Footnotes

  1. 2 Corinthians 9:5 encourage
  2. 2 Corinthians 9:5 Lit. covetousness
  3. 2 Corinthians 9:6 with blessings
  4. 2 Corinthians 9:6 with blessings
  5. 2 Corinthians 9:7 compulsion
  6. 2 Corinthians 9:10 NU omits may
  7. 2 Corinthians 9:10 NU will supply

So I thought it necessary to urge the brothers(A) to visit you in advance and finish the arrangements for the generous gift you had promised. Then it will be ready as a generous gift,(B) not as one grudgingly given.(C)

Generosity Encouraged

Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously.(D) Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give,(E) not reluctantly or under compulsion,(F) for God loves a cheerful giver.(G) And God is able(H) to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need,(I) you will abound in every good work. As it is written:

“They have freely scattered their gifts(J) to the poor;
    their righteousness endures forever.”[a](K)

10 Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food(L) will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness.(M) 11 You will be enriched(N) in every way so that you can be generous(O) on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God.(P)

12 This service that you perform is not only supplying the needs(Q) of the Lord’s people but is also overflowing in many expressions of thanks to God.(R)

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Footnotes

  1. 2 Corinthians 9:9 Psalm 112:9

10 If you extend your soul to the hungry
And satisfy the afflicted soul,
Then your light shall dawn in the darkness,
And your [a]darkness shall be as the noonday.

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Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 58:10 Or gloom

10 and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry
    and satisfy the needs of the oppressed,(A)
then your light(B) will rise in the darkness,
    and your night will become like the noonday.(C)

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Then she left, 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 family of Elimelech.

Now behold, Boaz came from (A)Bethlehem, and said to the reapers, (B)“The Lord be with you!”

And they answered him, “The Lord bless you!”

Then Boaz said to his servant who was in charge of the reapers, “Whose young woman is this?”

So the servant who was in charge of the reapers answered and said, “It is the young Moabite woman (C)who came back with Naomi from the country of Moab. And she said, ‘Please let me glean and gather after the reapers among the sheaves.’ So she came and has continued from morning until now, though she rested a little in the house.”

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So she went out, entered a field and began to glean behind the harvesters.(A) As it turned out, she was working in a field belonging to Boaz, who was from the clan of Elimelek.(B)

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

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

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

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

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11 (A)You shall rejoice before the Lord your God, you and your son and your daughter, your male servant and your female servant, the Levite who is within your gates, the stranger and the fatherless and the widow who are among you, at the place where the Lord your God chooses to make His name abide. 12 (B)And you shall remember that you were a slave in Egypt, and you shall be careful to observe these statutes.

The Feast of Tabernacles Reviewed(C)

13 (D)“You shall observe the Feast of Tabernacles seven days, when you have gathered from your threshing floor and from your winepress. 14 And (E)you shall rejoice in your feast, you and your son and your daughter, your male servant and your female servant and the Levite, the stranger and the fatherless and the widow, who are within your [a]gates.

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Footnotes

  1. Deuteronomy 16:14 towns

11 And rejoice(A) before the Lord your God at the place he will choose as a dwelling for his Name(B)—you, your sons and daughters, your male and female servants, the Levites(C) in your towns, and the foreigners,(D) the fatherless and the widows living among you.(E) 12 Remember that you were slaves in Egypt,(F) and follow carefully these decrees.

The Festival of Tabernacles(G)

13 Celebrate the Festival of Tabernacles for seven days after you have gathered the produce of your threshing floor(H) and your winepress.(I) 14 Be joyful(J) at your festival—you, your sons and daughters, your male and female servants, and the Levites, the foreigners, the fatherless and the widows who live in your towns.

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41 (A)But rather give alms of [a]such things as you have; then indeed all things are clean to you.

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Footnotes

  1. Luke 11:41 Or what is inside

41 But now as for what is inside you—be generous to the poor,(A) and everything will be clean for you.(B)

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Is it not (A)to share your bread with the hungry,
And that you bring to your house the poor who are [a]cast out;
(B)When you see the naked, that you cover him,
And not hide yourself from (C)your own flesh?
(D)Then your light shall break forth like the morning,
Your healing shall spring forth speedily,
And your righteousness shall go before you;
(E)The glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard.

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Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 58:7 wandering

Is it not to share your food with the hungry(A)
    and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter(B)
when you see the naked, to clothe(C) them,
    and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?(D)
Then your light will break forth like the dawn,(E)
    and your healing(F) will quickly appear;
then your righteousness[a](G) will go before you,
    and the glory of the Lord will be your rear guard.(H)

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Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 58:8 Or your righteous One

24 There is one who (A)scatters, yet increases more;
And there is one who withholds more than is right,
But it leads to poverty.
25 (B)The generous soul will be made rich,
(C)And he who waters will also be watered himself.

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24 One person gives freely, yet gains even more;
    another withholds unduly, but comes to poverty.

25 A generous(A) person will prosper;
    whoever refreshes others will be refreshed.(B)

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He has dispersed abroad,
He has given to the poor;
His righteousness endures forever;
His [a]horn will be exalted with honor.

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Footnotes

  1. Psalm 112:9 Strength

They have freely scattered their gifts to the poor,(A)
    their righteousness endures(B) forever;
    their horn[a] will be lifted(C) high in honor.

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Footnotes

  1. Psalm 112:9 Horn here symbolizes dignity.

The Blessing and Suffering of the Godly

To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David.

41 Blessed is he who considers the [a]poor;
The Lord will deliver him in time of trouble.
The Lord will preserve him and keep him alive,
And he will be blessed on the earth;
(A)You will not deliver him to the will of his enemies.
The Lord will strengthen him on his bed of illness;
You will [b]sustain him on his sickbed.

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Footnotes

  1. Psalm 41:1 helpless or powerless
  2. Psalm 41:3 restore

Psalm 41[a]

For the director of music. A psalm of David.

Blessed(A) are those who have regard for the weak;(B)
    the Lord delivers them in times of trouble.(C)
The Lord protects(D) and preserves them—(E)
    they are counted among the blessed in the land—(F)
    he does not give them over to the desire of their foes.(G)
The Lord sustains them on their sickbed(H)
    and restores them from their bed of illness.(I)

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Footnotes

  1. Psalm 41:1 In Hebrew texts 41:1-13 is numbered 41:2-14.