Ruth Meets Boaz in the Grain Field

2 Now Naomi had a relative^(A) on her husband’s side, a man of standing^(B) from the clan of Elimelek,^(C) whose name was Boaz.^(D)

² And Ruth the Moabite^(E) said to Naomi, “Let me go to the fields and pick up the leftover grain^(F) behind anyone in whose eyes I find favor.^(G)”

Naomi said to her, “Go ahead, my daughter.” ³ So she went out, entered a field and began to glean behind the harvesters.^(H) As it turned out, she was working in a field belonging to Boaz, who was from the clan of Elimelek.^(I)

⁴ Just then Boaz arrived from Bethlehem and greeted the harvesters, “The Lord be with you!^(J)”

“The Lord bless you!^(K)” they answered.

⁵ Boaz asked the overseer of his harvesters, “Who does that young woman belong to?”

⁶ The overseer replied, “She is the Moabite^(L) who came back from Moab with Naomi. ⁷ She said, ‘Please let me glean and gather among the sheaves^(M) behind the harvesters.’ She came into the field and has remained here from morning till now, except for a short rest^(N) in the shelter.”

⁸ So Boaz said to Ruth, “My daughter, listen to me. Don’t go and glean in another field and don’t go away from here. Stay here with the women who work for me. ⁹ Watch the field where the men are harvesting, and follow along after the women. I have told the men not to lay a hand on you. And whenever you are thirsty, go and get a drink from the water jars the men have filled.”

¹⁰ At this, she bowed down with her face to the ground.^(O) She asked him, “Why have I found such favor in your eyes that you notice me^(P)—a foreigner?^(Q)”

¹¹ Boaz replied, “I’ve been told all about what you have done for your mother-in-law^(R) since the death of your husband^(S)—how you left your father and mother and your homeland and came to live with a people you did not know^(T) before.^{(U) 12} May the Lord repay you for what you have done. May you be richly rewarded by the Lord,^(V) the God of Israel,^(W) under whose wings^(X) you have come to take refuge.^(Y)”

¹³ “May I continue to find favor in your eyes,^(Z) my lord,” she said. “You have put me at ease by speaking kindly to your servant—though I do not have the standing of one of your servants.”

¹⁴ At mealtime Boaz said to her, “Come over here. Have some bread^(AA) and dip it in the wine vinegar.”

When she sat down with the harvesters,^(AB) he offered her some roasted grain.^(AC) She ate all she wanted and had some left over.^{(AD) 15} As she got up to glean, Boaz gave orders to his men, “Let her gather among the sheaves^(AE) and don’t reprimand her. ¹⁶ Even pull out some stalks for her from the bundles and leave them for her to pick up, and don’t rebuke^(AF) her.”

¹⁷ So Ruth gleaned in the field until evening. Then she threshed^(AG) the barley she had gathered, and it amounted to about an ephah.^{[a](AH) 18} She carried it back to town, and her mother-in-law saw how much she had gathered. Ruth also brought out and gave her what she had left over^(AI) after she had eaten enough.

¹⁹ Her mother-in-law asked her, “Where did you glean today? Where did you work? Blessed be the man who took notice of you!^(AJ)”

Then Ruth told her mother-in-law about the one at whose place she had been working. “The name of the man I worked with today is Boaz,” she said.

²⁰ “The Lord bless him!^(AK)” Naomi said to her daughter-in-law.^(AL) “He has not stopped showing his kindness^(AM) to the living and the dead.” She added, “That man is our close relative;^(AN) he is one of our guardian-redeemers.^[b](AO)”

²¹ Then Ruth the Moabite^(AP) said, “He even said to me, ‘Stay with my workers until they finish harvesting all my grain.’”

²² Naomi said to Ruth her daughter-in-law, “It will be good for you, my daughter, to go with the women who work for him, because in someone else’s field you might be harmed.”

²³ So Ruth stayed close to the women of Boaz to glean until the barley^(AQ) and wheat harvests^(AR) were finished. And she lived with her mother-in-law.

Paul Sails for Rome

27 When it was decided that we^(A) would sail for Italy,^(B) Paul and some other prisoners were handed over to a centurion named Julius, who belonged to the Imperial Regiment.^{(C) 2} We boarded a ship from Adramyttium about to sail for ports along the coast of the province of Asia,^(D) and we put out to sea. Aristarchus,^(E) a Macedonian^(F) from Thessalonica,^(G) was with us.

³ The next day we landed at Sidon;^(H) and Julius, in kindness to Paul,^(I) allowed him to go to his friends so they might provide for his needs.^{(J) 4} From there we put out to sea again and passed to the lee of Cyprus because the winds were against us.^{(K) 5} When we had sailed across the open sea off the coast of Cilicia^(L) and Pamphylia,^(M) we landed at Myra in Lycia. ⁶ There the centurion found an Alexandrian ship^(N) sailing for Italy^(O) and put us on board. ⁷ We made slow headway for many days and had difficulty arriving off Cnidus. When the wind did not allow us to hold our course,^(P) we sailed to the lee of Crete,^(Q) opposite Salmone. ⁸ We moved along the coast with difficulty and came to a place called Fair Havens, near the town of Lasea.

⁹ Much time had been lost, and sailing had already become dangerous because by now it was after the Day of Atonement.^[a](R) So Paul warned them, ¹⁰ “Men, I can see that our voyage is going to be disastrous and bring great loss to ship and cargo, and to our own lives also.”^{(S) 11} But the centurion, instead of listening to what Paul said, followed the advice of the pilot and of the owner of the ship. ¹² Since the harbor was unsuitable to winter in, the majority decided that we should sail on, hoping to reach Phoenix and winter there. This was a harbor in Crete,^(T) facing both southwest and northwest.

The Storm

¹³ When a gentle south wind began to blow, they saw their opportunity; so they weighed anchor and sailed along the shore of Crete. ¹⁴ Before very long, a wind of hurricane force,^(U) called the Northeaster, swept down from the island. ¹⁵ The ship was caught by the storm and could not head into the wind; so we gave way to it and were driven along. ¹⁶ As we passed to the lee of a small island called Cauda, we were hardly able to make the lifeboat^(V) secure, ¹⁷ so the men hoisted it aboard. Then they passed ropes under the ship itself to hold it together. Because they were afraid they would run aground^(W) on the sandbars of Syrtis, they lowered the sea anchor^[b] and let the ship be driven along. ¹⁸ We took such a violent battering from the storm that the next day they began to throw the cargo overboard.^{(X) 19} On the third day, they threw the ship’s tackle overboard with their own hands. ²⁰ When neither sun nor stars appeared for many days and the storm continued raging, we finally gave up all hope of being saved.

²¹ After they had gone a long time without food, Paul stood up before them and said: “Men, you should have taken my advice^(Y) not to sail from Crete;^(Z) then you would have spared yourselves this damage and loss. ²² But now I urge you to keep up your courage,^(AA) because not one of you will be lost; only the ship will be destroyed. ²³ Last night an angel^(AB) of the God to whom I belong and whom I serve^(AC) stood beside me^{(AD) 24} and said, ‘Do not be afraid, Paul. You must stand trial before Caesar;^(AE) and God has graciously given you the lives of all who sail with you.’^{(AF) 25} So keep up your courage,^(AG) men, for I have faith in God that it will happen just as he told me.^{(AH) 26} Nevertheless, we must run aground^(AI) on some island.”^(AJ)

The Shipwreck

²⁷ On the fourteenth night we were still being driven across the Adriatic^[c] Sea, when about midnight the sailors sensed they were approaching land. ²⁸ They took soundings and found that the water was a hundred and twenty feet^[d] deep. A short time later they took soundings again and found it was ninety feet^[e] deep. ²⁹ Fearing that we would be dashed against the rocks, they dropped four anchors from the stern and prayed for daylight. ³⁰ In an attempt to escape from the ship, the sailors let the lifeboat^(AK) down into the sea, pretending they were going to lower some anchors from the bow. ³¹ Then Paul said to the centurion and the soldiers, “Unless these men stay with the ship, you cannot be saved.”^{(AL) 32} So the soldiers cut the ropes that held the lifeboat and let it drift away.

³³ Just before dawn Paul urged them all to eat. “For the last fourteen days,” he said, “you have been in constant suspense and have gone without food—you haven’t eaten anything. ³⁴ Now I urge you to take some food. You need it to survive. Not one of you will lose a single hair from his head.”^{(AM) 35} After he said this, he took some bread and gave thanks to God in front of them all. Then he broke it^(AN) and began to eat. ³⁶ They were all encouraged^(AO) and ate some food themselves. ³⁷ Altogether there were 276 of us on board. ³⁸ When they had eaten as much as they wanted, they lightened the ship by throwing the grain into the sea.^(AP)

³⁹ When daylight came, they did not recognize the land, but they saw a bay with a sandy beach,^(AQ) where they decided to run the ship aground if they could. ⁴⁰ Cutting loose the anchors,^(AR) they left them in the sea and at the same time untied the ropes that held the rudders. Then they hoisted the foresail to the wind and made for the beach. ⁴¹ But the ship struck a sandbar and ran aground. The bow stuck fast and would not move, and the stern was broken to pieces by the pounding of the surf.^(AS)

⁴² The soldiers planned to kill the prisoners to prevent any of them from swimming away and escaping. ⁴³ But the centurion wanted to spare Paul’s life^(AT) and kept them from carrying out their plan. He ordered those who could swim to jump overboard first and get to land. ⁴⁴ The rest were to get there on planks or on other pieces of the ship. In this way everyone reached land safely.^(AU)

Jeremiah in Prison

37 Zedekiah^(A) son of Josiah was made king^(B) of Judah by Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon; he reigned in place of Jehoiachin^[a](C) son of Jehoiakim. ² Neither he nor his attendants nor the people of the land paid any attention^(D) to the words the Lord had spoken through Jeremiah the prophet.

³ King Zedekiah, however, sent^(E) Jehukal^(F) son of Shelemiah with the priest Zephaniah^(G) son of Maaseiah to Jeremiah the prophet with this message: “Please pray^(H) to the Lord our God for us.”

⁴ Now Jeremiah was free to come and go among the people, for he had not yet been put in prison.^{(I) 5} Pharaoh’s army had marched out of Egypt,^(J) and when the Babylonians^[b] who were besieging Jerusalem heard the report about them, they withdrew^(K) from Jerusalem.^(L)

⁶ Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah the prophet: ⁷ “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: Tell the king of Judah, who sent you to inquire^(M) of me, ‘Pharaoh’s army, which has marched^(N) out to support you, will go back to its own land, to Egypt.^{(O) 8} Then the Babylonians will return and attack this city; they will capture^(P) it and burn^(Q) it down.’

⁹ “This is what the Lord says: Do not deceive^(R) yourselves, thinking, ‘The Babylonians will surely leave us.’ They will not! ¹⁰ Even if you were to defeat the entire Babylonian^[c] army that is attacking you and only wounded men were left in their tents, they would come out and burn^(S) this city down.”

¹¹ After the Babylonian army had withdrawn^(T) from Jerusalem because of Pharaoh’s army, ¹² Jeremiah started to leave the city to go to the territory of Benjamin to get his share of the property^(U) among the people there. ¹³ But when he reached the Benjamin Gate,^(V) the captain of the guard, whose name was Irijah son of Shelemiah, the son of Hananiah, arrested him and said, “You are deserting to the Babylonians!”^(W)

¹⁴ “That’s not true!” Jeremiah said. “I am not deserting to the Babylonians.” But Irijah would not listen to him; instead, he arrested^(X) Jeremiah and brought him to the officials. ¹⁵ They were angry with Jeremiah and had him beaten^(Y) and imprisoned^(Z) in the house^(AA) of Jonathan the secretary, which they had made into a prison.

¹⁶ Jeremiah was put into a vaulted cell in a dungeon, where he remained a long time. ¹⁷ Then King Zedekiah sent^(AB) for him and had him brought to the palace, where he asked^(AC) him privately,^(AD) “Is there any word from the Lord?”

“Yes,” Jeremiah replied, “you will be delivered^(AE) into the hands of the king of Babylon.”

¹⁸ Then Jeremiah said to King Zedekiah, “What crime^(AF) have I committed against you or your attendants or this people, that you have put me in prison? ¹⁹ Where are your prophets^(AG) who prophesied to you, ‘The king of Babylon will not attack you or this land’? ²⁰ But now, my lord the king, please listen. Let me bring my petition before you: Do not send me back to the house of Jonathan the secretary, or I will die there.”^(AH)

²¹ King Zedekiah then gave orders for Jeremiah to be placed in the courtyard of the guard and given a loaf of bread from the street of the bakers each day until all the bread^(AI) in the city was gone.^(AJ) So Jeremiah remained in the courtyard of the guard.^(AK)

Psalm 10^[a]