Boaz Redeems Ruth

4 Now Boaz went up to the gate and sat down there; and behold, ^(A)the close relative of whom Boaz had spoken came by. So Boaz said, “Come aside, ^[a]friend, sit down here.” So he came aside and sat down. ² And he took ten men of ^(B)the elders of the city, and said, “Sit down here.” So they sat down. ³ Then he said to the close relative, “Naomi, who has come back from the country of Moab, sold the piece of land ^(C)which belonged to our brother Elimelech. ⁴ And I thought to ^[b]inform you, saying, ^(D)‘Buy it back ^(E)in the presence of the inhabitants and the elders of my people. If you will redeem it, redeem it; but if ^[c]you will not redeem it, then tell me, that I may know; ^(F)for there is no one but you to redeem it, and I am next 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 buy it from Ruth the Moabitess, the wife of the dead, ^(G)to ^[d]perpetuate the name of the dead through his inheritance.”

^6 (H)And the close relative said, “I cannot redeem it for myself, lest I ruin my own inheritance. You redeem my right of redemption for yourself, for I cannot redeem it.”

^7 (I)Now this was the custom in former times in Israel concerning redeeming and exchanging, to confirm anything: one man took off his sandal and gave it to the other, and this was a confirmation in Israel.

⁸ Therefore the close relative said to Boaz, “Buy it for yourself.” So he took off his sandal. ⁹ And Boaz said to the elders and all the people, “You are witnesses this day that I have bought all that was Elimelech’s, and all that was Chilion’s and Mahlon’s, from the hand of Naomi. ¹⁰ Moreover, Ruth the Moabitess, the widow of Mahlon, I have acquired as my wife, to perpetuate the name of the dead through his inheritance, ^(J)that the name of the dead may not be cut off from among his brethren and from ^[e]his position at the gate. You are witnesses this day.”

¹¹ And all the people who were at the gate, and the elders, said, “We are witnesses. ^(K)The Lord make the woman who is coming to your house like Rachel and Leah, the two who ^(L)built the house of Israel; and may you prosper in ^(M)Ephrathah and be famous in ^(N)Bethlehem. ¹² May your house be like the house of ^(O)Perez, ^(P)whom Tamar bore to Judah, because of ^(Q)the offspring which the Lord will give you from this young woman.”

Descendants of Boaz and Ruth^(R)

¹³ So Boaz ^(S)took Ruth and she became his wife; and when he went in to her, ^(T)the Lord gave her conception, and she bore a son. ¹⁴ Then ^(U)the women said to Naomi, “Blessed be the Lord, who has not left you this day without a ^[f]close relative; and may his name be famous in Israel! ¹⁵ And may he be to you a restorer of life and a ^[g]nourisher of your old age; for your daughter-in-law, who loves you, who is ^(V)better to you than seven sons, has borne him.” ¹⁶ Then Naomi took the child and laid him on her bosom, and became a nurse to him. ^17 (W)Also the neighbor women gave him a name, saying, “There is a son born to Naomi.” And they called his name Obed. He is the father of Jesse, the father of David.

Rejected by His Own

⁴¹ The Jews then ^[a]complained about Him, because He said, “I am the bread which came down from heaven.” ⁴² And they said, ^(A)“Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How is it then that He says, ‘I have come down from heaven’?”

⁴³ Jesus therefore answered and said to them, ^[b]“Do not murmur among yourselves. ^44 (B)No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me ^(C)draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day. ⁴⁵ It is written in the prophets, ^(D)‘And they shall all be taught by God.’ ^(E)Therefore everyone who ^[c]has heard and learned from the Father comes to Me. ^46 (F)Not that anyone has seen the Father, ^(G)except He who is from God; He has seen the Father. ⁴⁷ Most assuredly, I say to you, ^(H)he who believes ^[d]in Me has everlasting life. ^48 (I)I am the bread of life. ^49 (J)Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and are dead. ^50 (K)This is the bread which comes down from heaven, that one may eat of it and not die. ⁵¹ I am the living bread ^(L)which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and ^(M)the bread that I shall give is My flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world.”

⁵² The Jews therefore ^(N)quarreled among themselves, saying, “How can this Man give us His flesh to eat?”

⁵³ Then Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless ^(O)you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you. ^54 (P)Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. ⁵⁵ For My flesh is ^[e]food indeed, and My blood is ^[f]drink indeed. ⁵⁶ He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood ^(Q)abides in Me, and I in him. ⁵⁷ As the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so he who feeds on Me will live because of Me. ^58 (R)This is the bread which came down from heaven—not ^(S)as your fathers ate the manna, and are dead. He who eats this bread will live forever.”

The Messiah Will Be Born at Bethlehem

The Coming Messiah

The Disciples Argue About Greatness

^24 (A)Now there was also a dispute among them, as to which of them should be considered the greatest. ^25 (B)And He said to them, “The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them, and those who exercise authority over them are called ‘benefactors.’ ^26 (C)But not so among you; on the contrary, ^(D)he who is greatest among you, let him be as the younger, and he who governs as he who serves. ^27 (E)For who is greater, he who sits at the table, or he who serves? Is it not he who sits at the table? Yet ^(F)I am among you as the One who serves.

²⁸ “But you are those who have continued with Me in ^(G)My trials. ²⁹ And ^(H)I bestow upon you a kingdom, just as My Father bestowed one upon Me, ³⁰ that ^(I)you may eat and drink at My table in My kingdom, ^(J)and sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel.”