The Commendation of Wisdom

Ruth Gleans in Boaz’s Field

2 Now Naomi had ^[a]a relative of her husband, a ^[b]man of great wealth, of the family of ^(A)Elimelech, whose name was Boaz. ² And Ruth the Moabitess said to Naomi, “Please let me go to the field and ^(B)glean among the ears of grain following one in whose eyes I may find favor.” And she said to her, “Go, my daughter.” ³ So she left and went and gleaned in the field after the reapers; and ^[c]she happened to come to the portion of the field belonging to Boaz, who was of the family of Elimelech. ⁴ Now behold, Boaz came from Bethlehem and said to the reapers, “^(C)May the Lord be with you.” And they said to him, “May the Lord bless you.” ⁵ Then Boaz said to his servant who was ^[d]in charge of the reapers, “Whose young woman is this?” ⁶ And the servant ^[e]in charge of the reapers replied, “She is the young Moabite woman who returned with Naomi from the land of Moab. ⁷ And she said, ‘Please let me glean and gather after the reapers among the sheaves.’ So she came and has remained from the morning until now; she has been sitting in the house for a little while.”

⁸ Then Boaz said to Ruth, “^[f]Listen carefully, my daughter. Do not go to glean in another field; furthermore, do not go on from this one, but join my young women here. ⁹ Keep your eyes on the field which they reap, and go after them. Indeed, I have ordered the servants not to touch you. When you are thirsty, go to the ^[g]water jars and drink from what the servants draw.” ¹⁰ Then she ^(D)fell on her face, bowing to the ground, and said to him, “Why have I found favor in your sight that you should take notice of me, since I am a foreigner?” ¹¹ Boaz replied to her, “All that you have done for your mother-in-law after the death of your husband has been fully reported to me, and how you left your father and your mother and the land of your birth, and came to a people that you did not previously know. ^12 (E)May the Lord reward your ^[h]work, and may your wages be full from the Lord, the God of Israel, ^(F)under whose wings you have come to take refuge.” ¹³ Then she said, “I have found favor in your sight, my lord, for you have comforted me and indeed have spoken ^[i]kindly to your servant, though I am not like one of your female servants.”

¹⁴ And at mealtime Boaz said to her, “^[j]Come here, that you may eat of the bread and dip your piece of bread in the vinegar.” So she sat beside the reapers; and he served her roasted grain, and she ate and was satisfied ^(G)and had some left. ¹⁵ When she got up to glean, Boaz commanded his servants, saying, “Let her glean even among the sheaves, and do not ^[k]insult her. ¹⁶ Also you are to purposely slip out for her some grain from the bundles and leave it so that she may 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 ^[l]ephah of barley. ¹⁸ And she picked it up and went into the city, and her mother-in-law saw what she had gleaned. She also took some out and ^(H)gave ^[m]Naomi what she had left after ^[n]she was satisfied. ¹⁹ Her mother-in-law then said to her, “Where did you glean today and where did you work? May he who ^(I)took notice of you be blessed.” So she told her mother-in-law with whom she had worked, and said, “The name of the man with whom I worked today is Boaz.” ²⁰ Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, “^(J)May he be blessed of the Lord who has not withdrawn His kindness from the living and from the dead.” Again Naomi said to her, “The man is our relative; he is one of our ^(K)redeemers.”

¹³ So Boaz took Ruth, and she became his wife, and he had relations with her. And ^(A)the Lord ^[a]enabled her to conceive, and she gave birth to a son. ¹⁴ Then the ^(B)women said to Naomi, “Blessed is the Lord who has not left you without a redeemer today, and may his name ^[b]become famous in Israel. ¹⁵ May he also be to you one who restores life and sustains your old age; for your daughter-in-law, who loves you ^[c](C)and is better to you than seven sons, has given birth to him.”

The Line of David

¹⁶ Then Naomi took the child and ^[d]laid him in her lap, and became his nurse. ¹⁷ And the neighbor women gave him a name, saying, “A son has been born to Naomi!” So they named him Obed. He is the father of Jesse, the father of David.

The Unrepenting Cities

²⁰ Then He began to reprimand the cities in which most of His ^[a](A)miracles were done, because they did not repent. ²¹ “^(B)Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, ^(C)Bethsaida! For if the ^[b]miracles that occurred in you had occurred in ^(D)Tyre and ^(E)Sidon, they would have repented long ago in ^[c](F)sackcloth and ashes. ²² Nevertheless I say to you, ^(G)it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon on ^(H)the day of judgment than for you. ²³ And you, ^(I)Capernaum, will not be exalted to heaven, will you? You will be ^(J)brought down to ^(K)Hades! For if the ^[d]miracles that occurred in you had occurred in ^(L)Sodom, it would have remained to this day. ²⁴ Nevertheless I say to you that ^(M)it will be more tolerable for the land of ^(N)Sodom on the day of judgment, than for you.”

Come to Me

^25 [e](O)At that time Jesus said, “I praise You, ^(P)Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that ^(Q)You have hidden these things from the wise and intelligent, and have revealed them to infants. ²⁶ Yes, ^(R)Father, for this way was well pleasing in Your sight. ^27 (S)All things have been handed over to Me by My Father; and no one knows the Son except the Father; nor does anyone know the Father ^(T)except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son determines to reveal Him.

²⁸ “^(U)Come to Me, all ^[f]who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. ²⁹ Take My yoke upon you and ^(V)learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and ^(W)you will find ^[g]rest for your souls. ³⁰ For ^(X)My yoke is comfortable, and My burden is light.”

Be like Christ

2 Therefore if there is any encouragement in Christ, if any consolation of love, if any ^(A)fellowship of the Spirit, if any ^[a](B)affection and compassion, ^2 (C)make my joy complete ^[b]by ^(D)being of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose. ³ Do nothing ^[c]from ^[d](E)selfishness or ^(F)empty conceit, but with humility ^(G)consider one another as more important than yourselves; ^4 (H)do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others. ^5 (I)Have this attitude ^[e]in yourselves which was also in ^(J)Christ Jesus, ⁶ who, as He already ^(K)existed in the ^(L)form of God, ^(M)did not consider equality with God something to be ^[f]grasped, ⁷ but ^[g](N)emptied Himself by taking the form of a ^(O)bond-servant and ^[h](P)being born in the likeness of men. ⁸ And being found in appearance as a man, ^(Q)He humbled Himself by becoming ^(R)obedient to the point of death: ^(S)death ^[i]on a cross. ^9 (T)For this reason also God ^(U)highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him ^(V)the name which is above every name, ¹⁰ so that at the name of Jesus ^(W)every knee will bow, of ^(X)those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, ¹¹ and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is ^(Y)Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

¹² So then, my beloved, ^(Z)just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own ^(AA)salvation with ^(AB)fear and trembling; ¹³ for it is ^(AC)God who is at work in you, both to ^[j]desire and to work ^(AD)for His good pleasure.

¹⁴ Do all things without ^(AE)complaining or arguments; ¹⁵ so that you will ^[k]prove yourselves to be ^(AF)blameless and innocent, ^(AG)children of God above reproach in the midst of a ^(AH)crooked and perverse generation, among whom you ^[l](AI)appear as ^[m]lights in the world, ¹⁶ holding firmly the word of life, so that on ^(AJ)the day of Christ I can take pride because I did not ^(AK)run in vain nor ^(AL)labor in vain. ¹⁷ But even if I am being ^(AM)poured out as a drink offering upon ^(AN)the sacrifice and service of your faith, I rejoice and share my joy with you all. ¹⁸ You too, I urge you, rejoice in the same way and share your joy with me.