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.

¹⁸ Now these are the generations of Perez: ^(O)Perez fathered Hezron, ¹⁹ Hezron fathered Ram, and Ram fathered Amminadab, ²⁰ and Amminadab fathered Nahshon, and Nahshon fathered Salmon, ²¹ and Salmon fathered Boaz, and Boaz fathered Obed, ²² and Obed fathered Jesse, and Jesse fathered David.

Job Says He Has Become a Proverb

Christ Is Our Advocate

2 ^(A)My little children, I am ^(B)writing these things to you so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, ^(C)we have an ^[a](D)Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; ² and He Himself is ^(E)the ^[b]propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also ^(F)for the sins of the whole world.

^3 (G)By this we know that we have come to ^(H)know Him, if we ^(I)keep His commandments. ⁴ The one who says, “^(J)I have come to ^(K)know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a ^(L)liar, and ^(M)the truth is not in him; ⁵ but whoever ^(N)follows His word, in him the ^(O)love of God has truly been perfected. ^(P)By this we know that we are in Him: ⁶ the one who says that he ^(Q)remains in Him ^(R)ought, himself also, walk just as He walked.

^7 (S)Beloved, I am ^(T)not writing a new commandment to you, but an old commandment which you have had ^(U)from the beginning; the old commandment is the word which you have heard. ^8 [c]On the other hand, I am writing ^(V)a new commandment to you, which is true in Him and in you, because ^(W)the darkness is passing away and ^(X)the true Light is already shining. ⁹ The one who says that he is in the Light and yet ^(Y)hates his ^(Z)brother or sister is in the darkness until now. ^10 (AA)The one who loves his brother and sister remains in the Light, and there is nothing in him to cause stumbling. ¹¹ But the one who ^(AB)hates his brother or sister is in the darkness and ^(AC)walks in the darkness, and does not know where he is going because the darkness has ^(AD)blinded his eyes.

¹² I am writing to you, ^(AE)little children, because ^(AF)your sins have been forgiven you on account of His name. ¹³ I am writing to you, fathers, because you know Him ^(AG)who has been from the beginning. I am writing to you, young men, because ^(AH)you have overcome ^(AI)the evil one. I have written to you, children, because ^(AJ)you know the Father. ¹⁴ I have written to you, fathers, because you know Him ^(AK)who has been from the beginning. I have written to you, young men, because you are ^(AL)strong, and the ^(AM)word of God remains in you, and ^(AN)you have overcome the evil one.

Do Not Love the World

¹⁵ Do not love ^(AO)the world nor the things in the world. ^(AP)If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. ¹⁶ For all that is in the world, ^(AQ)the lust of the flesh and ^(AR)the lust of the eyes and ^(AS)the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world. ^17 (AT)The world is passing away and also its lusts; but the one who ^(AU)does the will of God continues to live forever.

¹⁸ Children, ^(AV)it is the last hour; and just as you heard that ^(AW)antichrist is coming, ^(AX)even now many antichrists have appeared; from this we know that it is the last hour. ^19 (AY)They went out from us, but they were not really of us; for if they had been of us, they would have remained with us; but they went out, ^(AZ)so that ^[d]it would be evident that they all are not of us. ^20 [e]But you have an ^(BA)anointing from ^(BB)the Holy One, and ^(BC)you all know. ²¹ I have not written to you because you do not know the truth, but ^(BD)because you do know it, and ^[f]because no lie is ^(BE)of the truth. ²² Who is the liar except ^(BF)the one who denies that Jesus is the ^[g]Christ? This is ^(BG)the antichrist, the one who denies the Father and the Son. ^23 (BH)Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father; the one who confesses the Son has the Father also. ²⁴ As for you, see that what you heard ^(BI)from the beginning remains in you. If what you heard from the beginning remains in you, you also ^(BJ)will remain in the Son and in the Father.

The Promise Is Eternal Life

^25 (BK)This is the promise which He Himself ^[h]made to us: eternal life.

²⁶ These things I have written to you concerning those who are trying to ^(BL)deceive you. ²⁷ And as for you, the ^(BM)anointing which you received from Him remains in you, and you have no need for anyone to teach you; but as His anointing ^(BN)teaches you about all things, and is ^(BO)true and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, ^[i]you remain in Him.

²⁸ Now, ^(BP)little children, remain in Him, so that when He ^(BQ)appears, we may have ^(BR)confidence and ^(BS)not ^[j]draw back from Him in shame ^[k]at His ^(BT)coming. ²⁹ If you know that ^(BU)He is righteous, you know that everyone who practices righteousness also ^(BV)has been born of Him.