Boaz Redeems Ruth

4 Now Boaz had gone up to ^(A)the gate and sat down there. And behold, ^(B)the redeemer, of whom Boaz had spoken, came by. So Boaz said, “Turn aside, friend; sit down here.” And he turned aside and sat down. ² And he took ten men ^(C)of the elders of the city and said, “Sit down here.” So they sat down. ³ Then he said to the redeemer, “Naomi, who has come back from the country of Moab, is selling the parcel of land that belonged to our relative Elimelech. ⁴ So I thought I would tell you of it and say, ^(D)‘Buy it in the presence of those sitting here and in the presence of the elders of my people.’ If you will redeem it, redeem it. But if you^[a] will not, tell me, that I may know, for there is no one besides you to redeem it, and I come after you.” And he said, “I will redeem it.” ⁵ Then Boaz said, “The day you buy the field from the hand of Naomi, you also acquire Ruth^[b] the Moabite, the widow of the dead, in order ^(E)to perpetuate the name of the dead in his inheritance.” ^6 (F)Then the redeemer said, “I cannot redeem it for myself, lest I impair my own inheritance. Take my right of redemption yourself, for I cannot redeem it.”

^7 (G)Now this was the custom in former times in Israel concerning redeeming and exchanging: to confirm a transaction, the one drew off his sandal and gave it to the other, and this was the manner of attesting in Israel. ⁸ So when the redeemer said to Boaz, “Buy it for yourself,” he drew off his sandal. ⁹ Then Boaz said to the elders and all the people, “You are witnesses this day that I have bought from the hand of Naomi all that belonged to Elimelech and all that belonged to ^(H)Chilion and to Mahlon. ¹⁰ Also Ruth the Moabite, the widow of Mahlon, I have bought to be my wife, ^(I)to perpetuate the name of the dead in his inheritance, that the name of the dead may not be cut off from among his brothers and from the gate of his native place. You are witnesses this day.” ¹¹ Then all the people who were ^(J)at the gate and the elders said, “We are witnesses. May the Lord make the woman, who is coming into your house, like Rachel and Leah, ^(K)who together ^(L)built up the house of Israel. May you act worthily in ^(M)Ephrathah and ^(N)be renowned in Bethlehem, ¹² and may your house be like the house of Perez, ^(O)whom Tamar bore to Judah, because ^(P)of the offspring that the Lord will give you by this young woman.”

Ruth and Boaz Marry

¹³ So Boaz took Ruth, and she became his wife. And he went in to her, ^(Q)and the Lord gave her conception, and she bore a son. ^14 (R)Then the women said to Naomi, “Blessed be the Lord, who has not left you this day without ^(S)a redeemer, and may his name ^(T)be renowned in Israel! ¹⁵ He shall be to you a restorer of life and a nourisher of your old age, for your daughter-in-law who loves you, ^(U)who is more to you than seven sons, has given birth to him.” ¹⁶ Then Naomi took the child and laid him on her lap and became his nurse. ^17 (V)And the women of the neighborhood gave him a name, saying, “A son has been born to Naomi.” They named him Obed. He was the father of Jesse, the father of David.

⁴¹ So the Jews grumbled about him, because he said, ^(A)“I am the bread that came down from heaven.” ⁴² They said, ^(B)“Is not this Jesus, ^(C)the son of Joseph, whose father and mother ^(D)we know? How does he now say, ‘I have come down from heaven’?” ⁴³ Jesus answered them, “Do not grumble among yourselves. ⁴⁴ No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me ^(E)draws him. And ^(F)I will raise him up on the last day. ⁴⁵ It is written in the Prophets, ^(G)‘And they will all be ^(H)taught by God.’ ^(I)Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me— ^46 (J)not that anyone has seen the Father except ^(K)he who is from God; he ^(L)has seen the Father. ⁴⁷ Truly, truly, I say to you, ^(M)whoever believes has eternal life. ^48 (N)I am the bread of life. ^49 (O)Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and ^(P)they died. ^50 (Q)This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it ^(R)and not die. ⁵¹ I am the living bread ^(S)that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give ^(T)for the life of the world is ^(U)my flesh.”

⁵² The Jews then ^(V)disputed among themselves, saying, ^(W)“How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” ⁵³ So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of ^(X)the Son of Man and drink his blood, you ^(Y)have no life in you. ⁵⁴ Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood ^(Z)has eternal life, and ^(AA)I will raise him up on the last day. ⁵⁵ For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. ⁵⁶ Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood ^(AB)abides in me, and I in him. ⁵⁷ As ^(AC)the living Father ^(AD)sent me, and ^(AE)I live because of the Father, so whoever feeds on me, he also will live because of me. ^58 (AF)This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like the bread^[a] the fathers ate, and died. Whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.”

The Ruler to Be Born in Bethlehem

Who Is the Greatest?

^24 (A)A dispute also arose among them, as to which of them was to be regarded as the greatest. ^25 (B)And he said to them, “The kings of the Gentiles ^(C)exercise lordship over them, and those in authority over them are called benefactors. ^26 (D)But not so with you. Rather, let ^(E)the greatest among you become as the youngest, and the leader as one who serves. ²⁷ For who is the greater, ^(F)one who reclines at table or one who serves? Is it not the one who reclines at table? But ^(G)I am among you as the one who serves.

²⁸ “You are those who have stayed with me ^(H)in my trials, ²⁹ and ^(I)I assign to you, as my Father assigned to me, a kingdom, ^30 (J)that you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom and ^(K)sit on thrones judging ^(L)the twelve tribes of Israel.