¹⁴ And at mealtime Boaz said to her, “^[a]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 ^(A)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 ^[b]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 ^[c]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 ^(B)gave ^[d]Naomi what she had left after ^[e]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 ^(C)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 ²⁰ Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, “^(D)May he be blessed of the Lord who has not withdrawn His kindness from the living and from the dead.”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 ^(E)redeemers.” ²¹ Then Ruth the Moabitess said, “^[f]Furthermore, he said to me, ‘You are to stay close to my servants until they have finished all my harvest.’” ²² And Naomi said to her daughter-in-law Ruth, “It is good, my daughter, that you go out with his young women, so that others do not assault you in another field.” ²³ So she stayed close by the young women of Boaz in order to glean until ^(F)the end of the barley harvest and the wheat harvest. And she lived with her mother-in-law.

¹⁶ “For God so ^(A)loved the world, that He ^(B)gave His ^(C)only Son, so that everyone who ^(D)believes in Him will not perish, but have eternal life. ¹⁷ For God ^(E)did not send the Son into the world ^(F)to judge the world, but so that the world might be saved through Him. ^18 (G)The one who believes in Him is not judged; the one who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of ^(H)the only Son of God. ¹⁹ And this is the judgment, that ^(I)the Light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the Light; for ^(J)their deeds were evil. ^20 (K)For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light, so that his deeds will not be exposed. ²¹ But the one who ^(L)practices the truth comes to the Light, so that his deeds will be revealed ^[a]as having been performed in God.”

Boaz Will Redeem Ruth

3 Then her mother-in-law Naomi said to her, “My daughter, shall I not seek ^[a]security for you, that it may go well for you? ² Now then, is Boaz not ^(A)our relative, with whose young women you were? Behold, he is winnowing barley at the threshing floor tonight. ³ Wash yourself therefore, and anoint yourself, and put on your best clothes, and go down to the threshing floor; but do not reveal yourself to the man until he has finished eating and drinking. ⁴ And it shall be when he lies down, that you shall ^[b]take notice of the place where he lies, and you shall go and uncover his feet and lie down; then he will tell you what you should do.” ⁵ And she said to her, “^(B)All that you say I will do.”

⁶ So she went down to the threshing floor and did according to all that her mother-in-law had commanded her. ⁷ When Boaz had eaten and drunk and ^(C)his heart was cheerful, he went to lie down at the end of the heap of grain; and she came secretly, and uncovered his feet and lay down. ⁸ And it happened in the middle of the night that the man was startled and ^[c]bent forward; and behold, a woman was lying at his feet. ⁹ So he said, “Who are you?” And she answered, “I am Ruth your slave. Now spread your garment over your slave, for you are a redeemer.” ¹⁰ Then he said, “^(D)May you be blessed of the Lord, my daughter. You have shown your last kindness to be better than the first, by not going after young men, whether poor or rich. ¹¹ So now, my daughter, do not fear. I will do for you whatever you say, for all ^[d]my people in the city know that you are ^(E)a woman of excellence. ¹² But now, although it is true that I am a redeemer, yet there is also a redeemer more closely related than I. ¹³ Remain this night, and when morning comes, ^(F)if he will ^[e]redeem you, good; let him redeem you. But if he does not wish to ^[f]redeem you, then I will redeem you, ^(G)as the Lord lives. Lie down until morning.”

¹⁴ So she lay at his feet until morning, and got up before one person could recognize another; and he said, “^(H)Do not let it be known that the woman came to the threshing floor.” ¹⁵ Again he said, “Give me the shawl that is on you and hold it.” So she held it, and he measured six measures of barley and laid it on her. Then ^[g]she went into the city. ¹⁶ When she came to her mother-in-law, she said, “^[h]How did it go, my daughter?” And she told her all that the man had done for her. ¹⁷ She also said, “These six measures of barley he gave to me, for he said, ‘Do not go to your mother-in-law empty-handed.’” ¹⁸ Then she said, “Wait, my daughter, until you know how the matter ^[i]turns out; for the man will not rest until he has ^[j]settled it today.”

Peter’s Confession of Christ

^13 (A)Now when Jesus came into the region of ^(B)Caesarea Philippi, He was asking His disciples, “Who do people say that ^(C)the Son of Man is?” ¹⁴ And they said, “Some say ^(D)John the Baptist; and others, ^[a](E)Elijah; and still others, ^[b]Jeremiah, or one of the other prophets.” ¹⁵ He *said to them, “But who do you yourselves say that I am?” ¹⁶ Simon Peter answered, “You are ^(F)the ^[c]Christ, ^(G)the Son of ^(H)the living God.” ¹⁷ And Jesus said to him, “Blessed are you, ^(I)Simon ^[d]Barjona, because ^(J)flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. ¹⁸ And I also say to you that you are ^[e](K)Peter, and upon this ^[f]rock I will build My church; and the gates of ^(L)Hades will not overpower it. ¹⁹ I will give you ^(M)the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and ^(N)whatever you ^[g]bind on earth ^[h]shall have been bound in heaven, and whatever you ^[i]loose on earth ^[j]shall have been loosed in heaven.” ^20 (O)Then He gave the disciples strict orders that they were to tell no one that He was ^(P)the ^[k]Christ.