The Marriage of Ruth

4 Now Boaz went up to the gate and sat down there, and behold, ^(A)the redeemer of whom Boaz spoke was passing by, so he said, “Come over here, ^[a]friend, sit down here.” And he came over and sat down. ² Then he took ten men of the ^(B)elders of the city and said, “Sit down here.” So they sat down. ³ And he said to the redeemer, “Naomi, who has returned from the land of Moab, has to sell the plot of land ^(C)which belonged to our brother Elimelech. ⁴ So I thought that I would ^[b]inform you, saying, ‘^(D)Buy it before those who are sitting here, and before the elders of my people. If you will redeem it, redeem it; but if ^[c]not, tell me so that I may know; for ^(E)there is no one except you to redeem it, and I am after you.’” And he said, “I will redeem it.” ⁵ Then Boaz said, “On the day you buy the field from the hand of Naomi, you must also acquire Ruth the Moabitess, the widow of the deceased, in order ^(F)to raise up the name of the deceased on his inheritance.” ⁶ Then ^(G)the redeemer said, “I cannot redeem it for myself, otherwise I would ^[d]jeopardize my own inheritance. Redeem it for yourself; you may have my right of redemption, since I cannot redeem it.”

⁷ Now this was ^(H)the custom in former times in Israel concerning the redemption and the exchange of land to confirm any matter: a man removed his sandal and gave it to another; and this was the way of confirmation in Israel. ⁸ So the redeemer said to Boaz, “Buy it for yourself.” And he removed his sandal. ⁹ Then Boaz said to the elders and all the people, “You are witnesses today that I have bought from the hand of Naomi all that belonged to Elimelech and all that belonged to Chilion and Mahlon. ¹⁰ Furthermore, I have acquired Ruth the Moabitess, the widow of Mahlon, to be my wife in order to raise up the name of the deceased on his inheritance, so ^(I)that the name of the deceased will not be eliminated from his brothers or from the ^[e]court of his birth place; you are witnesses today.” ¹¹ And all the people who were ^[f]in the court, and the elders, said, “We are witnesses. May the Lord make the woman who is coming into your home ^(J)like Rachel and Leah, both of whom built the house of Israel; and may you achieve ^[g]wealth in Ephrathah and ^[h]become famous in Bethlehem. ¹² Moreover, may your house be like the house of ^(K)Perez whom Tamar bore to Judah, through the ^[i]descendants whom the Lord will give you by this young woman.”

¹³ So Boaz took Ruth, and she became his wife, and he had relations with her. And ^(L)the Lord ^[j]enabled her to conceive, and she gave birth to a son. ¹⁴ Then the ^(M)women said to Naomi, “Blessed is the Lord who has not left you without a redeemer today, and may his name ^[k]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 ^[l](N)and is better to you than seven sons, has given birth to him.”

The Line of David

¹⁶ Then Naomi took the child and ^[m]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.

Words to the Jews

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

^52 (V)Then the Jews ^(W)began to argue with one another, saying, “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 have no life in yourselves. ⁵⁴ The one who eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will ^(Y)raise him up on the last day. ⁵⁵ For My flesh is true food, and My blood is true drink. ⁵⁶ The one who eats My flesh and drinks My blood ^(Z)remains in Me, and I in him. ⁵⁷ Just as the ^(AA)living Father ^(AB)sent Me, and I live because of the Father, the one who eats Me, he also will live because of Me. ⁵⁸ This is the bread that ^(AC)came down out of heaven, not as ^(AD)the fathers ate and died; the one who eats this bread ^(AE)will live forever.”

Birth of the King in Bethlehem

Who Is Greatest

²⁴ And ^(A)a dispute also developed among them as to which one of them was regarded as being the greatest. ^25 (B)And He said to them, “The kings of the Gentiles domineer over them; and those who have authority over them are called ‘Benefactors.’ ²⁶ But it is not this way for you; ^(C)rather, the one who is the greatest among you must become like ^(D)the youngest, and the leader like the servant. ²⁷ For ^(E)who is greater, the one who reclines at the table or the one who serves? Is it not the one who reclines at the table? But ^(F)I am among you as the one who serves.

²⁸ “You are the ones who have stood by Me in My ^(G)trials; ²⁹ and just as My Father has granted Me a ^(H)kingdom, I grant you ³⁰ that you may ^(I)eat and drink at My table in My ^(J)kingdom, and ^(K)you will sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel.