Naomi Widowed

1 Now it came about in the days ^(A)when the judges ^[a]governed, that there was ^(B)a famine in the land. And a man ^(C)of Bethlehem in Judah went to reside in the land of Moab ^[b]with his wife and his two sons. ² The name of the man was Elimelech, and the name of his wife, Naomi; and the names of his two sons were Mahlon and Chilion, Ephrathites of Bethlehem in Judah. So they ^(D)entered the land of Moab and remained there. ³ Then Elimelech, Naomi’s husband, died; and she was left with her two sons. ⁴ And they took for themselves Moabite women as wives; the name of the one was Orpah, and the name of the other, Ruth. And they lived there about ten years. ⁵ Then ^[c]both Mahlon and Chilion also died, and the woman was left without her two sons and her husband.

⁶ Then she arose with her daughters-in-law to return from the land of Moab, because she had heard in the land of Moab that the Lord had ^(E)visited His people by ^(F)giving them food. ⁷ So she departed 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. ⁸ But Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, “Go, return each of you to ^[d]your mother’s house. ^(G)May the Lord deal kindly with you as you have dealt with the dead and with me. ⁹ May the Lord grant that you may find a place of rest, each one in the house of her husband.” Then she kissed them, and they raised their voices and wept. ¹⁰ However, they said to her, “No, but we will return with you to your people.” ¹¹ But Naomi said, “Return, my daughters. Why should you go with me? Do I still have sons in my womb, that ^(H)they may be your husbands? ¹² Return, my daughters! Go, for I am too old to have a husband. If I said I have hope, if I were even to have a husband tonight and also give birth to sons, ¹³ would you therefore wait until they were grown? Would you therefore refrain from marrying? No, my daughters; for it is much more bitter for me than for you, because ^(I)the hand of the Lord has come out against me.”

Ruth’s Loyalty

¹⁴ And they raised their voices and wept again; and Orpah kissed her mother-in-law, but Ruth clung to her.

¹⁵ Then she said, “Behold, your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and her ^(J)gods; return after your sister-in-law.” ¹⁶ But Ruth said, “Do not plead with me to leave you or to turn back from following you; for where you go, I will go, and where you sleep, I will sleep. Your people shall be my people, and your God, my God. ¹⁷ Where you die, I will die, and there I will be buried. May ^(K)the Lord do so to me, and worse, if anything but death separates ^[e]me from you.” ¹⁸ When ^(L)she saw that she was determined to go with her, she stopped speaking to her about it.

The Word Made Flesh

¹⁴ And ^(A)the Word ^(B)became flesh, and ^(C)dwelt among us; and ^(D)we saw His glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of ^(E)grace and ^(F)truth. ¹⁵ John *^(G)testified about Him and called out, saying, “This was He of whom I said, ‘^(H)He who is coming after me has proved to be ^[a]my superior, ^(I)because He existed before me.’” ¹⁶ For of His ^(J)fullness ^[b]we have all received, and ^[c]grace upon grace. ¹⁷ For ^(K)the Law was given through Moses; ^(L)grace and ^(M)truth ^[d]were realized through Jesus Christ. ^18 (N)No one has seen God at any time; ^(O)God the only Son, who is ^(P)in the ^[e]arms of the Father, ^(Q)He has ^[f]explained Him.

¹⁹ So they both went on until they came to Bethlehem. And when they had come to Bethlehem, ^(A)all the city was stirred because of them, and ^[a]the women said, “Is this Naomi?” ²⁰ But she said to them, “Do not call me ^[b]Naomi; call me ^[c]Mara, for ^[d](B)the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me. ²¹ I went away full, but ^(C)the Lord has brought me back empty. Why do you call me Naomi, since the Lord has testified against me and ^[e]the Almighty has afflicted me?”

²² So Naomi returned, and with her Ruth the Moabitess, her daughter-in-law, who returned from the land of Moab. And they came to Bethlehem at ^(D)the beginning of barley harvest.

Ruth Gleans in Boaz’s Field

2 Now Naomi had ^[f]a relative of her husband, a ^[g]man of great wealth, of the family of ^(E)Elimelech, whose name was Boaz. ² And Ruth the Moabitess said to Naomi, “Please let me go to the field and ^(F)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 ^[h]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, “^(G)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 ^[i]in charge of the reapers, “Whose young woman is this?” ⁶ And the servant ^[j]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, “^[k]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 ^[l]water jars and drink from what the servants draw.” ¹⁰ Then she ^(H)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 (I)May the Lord reward your ^[m]work, and may your wages be full from the Lord, the God of Israel, ^(J)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 ^[n]kindly to your servant, though I am not like one of your female servants.”

^2 (A)Now while in prison, ^(B)John heard about the works of Christ, and he sent word by his disciples, ³ and said to Him, “Are You ^(C)the Coming One, or are we to ^[a]look for someone else?” ⁴ Jesus answered and said to them, “Go and report to John what you hear and see: ^5 (D)those who are blind receive sight and those who limp walk, those with leprosy are cleansed and those who are deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the ^(E)poor have the ^[b]gospel preached to them. ⁶ And blessed is ^[c]any person who ^(F)does not ^[d]take offense at Me.”