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 certain man ^(C)of Bethlehem in Judah went to sojourn 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. Now 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 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 bereft of her two children and her husband.

⁶ Then she arose with her daughters-in-law that she might return from the land of Moab, for she had heard in the land of Moab that the Lord had ^(E)visited His people in ^(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 And Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, “Go, return each of you to her 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 rest, each in the house of her husband.” Then she kissed them, and they lifted up their voices and wept. ¹⁰ And they said to her, “No, but we will surely return with you to your people.” ¹¹ But Naomi said, “Return, my daughters. Why should you go with me? Have I yet 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 should even have a husband tonight and also bear sons, ¹³ would you therefore wait until they were grown? Would you therefore refrain from marrying? No, my daughters; for it is ^[d]harder for me than for you, for ^(I)the hand of the Lord has gone forth against me.”

Ruth’s Loyalty

¹⁴ And they lifted up 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 urge me to leave you or turn back from following you; for where you go, I will go, and where you lodge, I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God, my God. ¹⁷ Where you die, I will die, and there I will be buried. Thus may ^(K)the Lord do to me, and worse, if anything but death parts you and me.” ¹⁸ When ^(L)she saw that she was determined to go with her, she ^[e]said no more to her.

¹⁹ So they both went until they came to Bethlehem. And when they had come to Bethlehem, ^(M)all the city was stirred because of them, and ^[f]the women said, “Is this Naomi?” ²⁰ She said to them, “Do not call me ^[g]Naomi; call me ^[h]Mara, for ^[i](N)the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me. ²¹ I went out full, but ^(O)the Lord has brought me back empty. Why do you call me Naomi, since the Lord has witnessed against me and ^[j]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 ^(P)the beginning of barley harvest.

Christian Order

11 ^(A)Be imitators of me, just as I also am of Christ.

² Now ^(B)I praise you because you ^(C)remember me in everything and ^(D)hold firmly to the traditions, just as I delivered them to you. ³ But I want you to understand that ^[a]Christ is the ^(E)head of every man, and ^(F)the man is the head of a woman, and God is the ^(G)head of ^[b]Christ. ⁴ Every man who has something on his head while praying or ^(H)prophesying disgraces his head. ⁵ But every ^(I)woman who has her head uncovered while praying or prophesying disgraces her head, for she is one and the same as the woman ^[c]whose head is ^(J)shaved. ⁶ For if a woman does not cover ^[d]her head, let her also ^[e]have her hair cut off; but if it is disgraceful for a woman to ^[f]have her hair cut off or ^[g]her head shaved, let her cover ^[h]her head. ⁷ For a man ought not to have his head covered, since he is the ^(K)image and glory of God; but the woman is the glory of man. ⁸ For ^(L)man ^[i]does not originate from woman, but woman from man; ⁹ for indeed man was not created for the woman’s sake, but ^(M)woman for the man’s sake. ¹⁰ Therefore the woman ought to have a symbol of authority on her head, because of the angels. ¹¹ However, in the Lord, neither is woman ^[j]independent of man, nor is man ^[k]independent of woman. ¹² For as the woman ^[l]originates from the man, so also the man has his birth through the woman; and ^(N)all things ^[m]originate ^(O)from God. ^13 (P)Judge ^[n]for yourselves: is it proper for a woman to pray to God with her head uncovered? ¹⁴ Does not even nature itself teach you that if a man has long hair, it is a dishonor to him, ¹⁵ but if a woman has long hair, it is a glory to her? For her hair is given to her for a covering. ¹⁶ But if one is inclined to be contentious, ^(Q)we have no ^[o]other practice, nor have ^(R)the churches of God.

¹⁷ But in giving this instruction, ^(S)I do not praise you, because you come together not for the better but for the worse. ¹⁸ For, in the first place, when you come together ^[p]as a church, I hear that ^[q](T)divisions exist among you; and in part I believe it. ¹⁹ For there ^(U)must also be factions among you, ^(V)so that those who are approved may become ^[r]evident among you. ²⁰ Therefore when you meet together, it is not to eat the Lord’s Supper, ²¹ for in your eating each one takes his own supper first; and one is hungry and ^(W)another is drunk. ²² What! Do you not have houses in which to eat and drink? Or do you despise the ^(X)church of God and ^(Y)shame those who have nothing? What shall I say to you? Shall ^(Z)I praise you? In this I will not praise you.

The Lord’s Supper

²³ For ^(AA)I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you, that ^(AB)the Lord Jesus in the night in which He was betrayed took bread; ²⁴ and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “This is My body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” ²⁵ In the same way He took ^(AC)the cup also after supper, saying, “This cup is the ^(AD)new covenant in My blood; do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.” ²⁶ For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death ^(AE)until He comes.

²⁷ Therefore whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner, shall be ^(AF)guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord. ²⁸ But a man must ^(AG)examine himself, and in so doing he is to eat of the bread and drink of the cup. ²⁹ For he who eats and drinks, eats and drinks judgment to himself if he does not judge the body rightly. ³⁰ For this reason many among you are weak and sick, and a number ^[s](AH)sleep. ³¹ But if we judged ourselves rightly, we would not be judged. ³² But when we are judged, we are ^(AI)disciplined by the Lord so that we will not be condemned along with ^(AJ)the world.

³³ So then, my brethren, when you come together to eat, wait for one another. ³⁴ If anyone is ^(AK)hungry, let him eat ^(AL)at home, so that you will not come together for judgment. The remaining matters I will ^(AM)arrange ^(AN)when I come.