Naomi Widowed

1 Now it came about in the days ^(A)when the judges ^[a]governed, that there was ^(B)a famine in the land. And a man ^(C)of Bethlehem in Judah went to reside in the land of Moab ^[b]with his wife and his two sons. ² The name of the man was Elimelech, and the name of his wife, Naomi; and the names of his two sons were Mahlon and Chilion, Ephrathites of Bethlehem in Judah. So they ^(D)entered the land of Moab and remained there. ³ Then Elimelech, Naomi’s husband, died; and she was left with her two sons. ⁴ And they took for themselves Moabite women as wives; the name of the one was Orpah, and the name of the other, Ruth. And they lived there about ten years. ⁵ Then ^[c]both Mahlon and Chilion also died, and the woman was left without her two sons and her husband.

⁶ Then she arose with her daughters-in-law to return from the land of Moab, because she had heard in the land of Moab that the Lord had ^(E)visited His people by ^(F)giving them food. ⁷ So she departed from the place where she was, and her two daughters-in-law with her; and they went on the way to return to the land of Judah. ⁸ But Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, “Go, return each of you to ^[d]your mother’s house. ^(G)May the Lord deal kindly with you as you have dealt with the dead and with me. ⁹ May the Lord grant that you may find a place of rest, each one in the house of her husband.” Then she kissed them, and they raised their voices and wept. ¹⁰ However, they said to her, “No, but we will return with you to your people.” ¹¹ But Naomi said, “Return, my daughters. Why should you go with me? Do I still have sons in my womb, that ^(H)they may be your husbands? ¹² Return, my daughters! Go, for I am too old to have a husband. If I said I have hope, if I were even to have a husband tonight and also give birth to sons, ¹³ would you therefore wait until they were grown? Would you therefore refrain from marrying? No, my daughters; for it is much more bitter for me than for you, because ^(I)the hand of the Lord has come out against me.”

Ruth’s Loyalty

¹⁴ And they raised their voices and wept again; and Orpah kissed her mother-in-law, but Ruth clung to her.

¹⁵ Then she said, “Behold, your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and her ^(J)gods; return after your sister-in-law.” ¹⁶ But Ruth said, “Do not plead with me to leave you or to turn back from following you; for where you go, I will go, and where you sleep, I will sleep. Your people shall be my people, and your God, my God. ¹⁷ Where you die, I will die, and there I will be buried. May ^(K)the Lord do so to me, and worse, if anything but death separates ^[e]me from you.” ¹⁸ When ^(L)she saw that she was determined to go with her, she stopped speaking to her about it.

¹⁹ So they both went on until they came to Bethlehem. And when they had come to Bethlehem, ^(M)all the city was stirred because of them, and ^[f]the women said, “Is this Naomi?” ²⁰ But she said to them, “Do not call me ^[g]Naomi; call me ^[h]Mara, for ^[i](N)the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me. ²¹ I went away full, but ^(O)the Lord has brought me back empty. Why do you call me Naomi, since the Lord has testified against me and ^[j]the Almighty has afflicted me?”

²² So Naomi returned, and with her Ruth the Moabitess, her daughter-in-law, who returned from the land of Moab. And they came to Bethlehem at ^(P)the beginning of barley harvest.

Paul’s Defense before Agrippa

26 ^(A)Now Agrippa said to Paul, “You are permitted to speak for yourself.” Then Paul extended his hand and proceeded to make his defense:

² “Regarding all the things of which I am accused by the Jews, King Agrippa, I consider myself fortunate that I am about to make my defense before you today, ^3 [a]especially because you are an expert in all ^(B)customs and ^[b]questions among the Jews; therefore I beg you to listen to me patiently.

⁴ “So then, all Jews know ^(C)my way of life since my youth, which from the beginning was spent among my own nation and in Jerusalem, ⁵ since they have known about me for a long time, if they are willing to testify, that I lived as a ^(D)Pharisee ^(E)according to the strictest ^(F)sect of our religion. ⁶ And now I am standing trial ^(G)for the hope of ^(H)the promise made by God to our fathers; ⁷ the promise ^(I)to which our twelve tribes hope to attain, as they earnestly serve God night and day. For this ^(J)hope, O king, I am being ^(K)accused by Jews. ⁸ Why is it considered incredible among you people ^(L)if God raises the dead?

⁹ “So ^(M)I thought to myself that I had to act in strong opposition to ^(N)the name of Jesus ^[c]of Nazareth. ¹⁰ And this is ^[d]just what I ^(O)did in Jerusalem; not only did I lock up many of the ^[e]saints in prisons, after ^(P)receiving authority from the chief priests, but I also ^(Q)cast my vote against them when they were being put to death. ¹¹ And ^(R)as I punished them often in all the synagogues, I tried to force them to blaspheme; and since I was ^(S)extremely enraged at them, I kept pursuing them ^(T)even to ^[f]foreign cities.

¹² “^[g]While so engaged, ^(U)as I was journeying to Damascus with the authority and commission of the chief priests, ¹³ at midday, O king, I saw on the way a light from heaven, ^[h]brighter than the sun, shining around me and those who were journeying with me. ¹⁴ And when we had ^(V)all fallen to the ground, I heard a voice saying to me in the ^[i](W)Hebrew dialect, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me? ^[j]It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’ ¹⁵ And I said, ‘Who are You, Lord?’ And the Lord said, ‘I am Jesus whom you are persecuting. ¹⁶ But get up and ^(X)stand on your feet; for this purpose I have appeared to you, to ^(Y)appoint you as a ^(Z)servant and ^(AA)a witness not only to the things in which you have seen Me, but also to the things in which I will appear to you, ^17 (AB)rescuing you ^(AC)from the Jewish people and from the Gentiles, to whom I am sending you, ¹⁸ to ^(AD)open their eyes so that they may turn from ^(AE)darkness to light, and from the ^[k]power of ^(AF)Satan to God, that they may receive ^(AG)forgiveness of sins and an ^(AH)inheritance among those who have been sanctified by ^(AI)faith in Me.’

¹⁹ “For that reason, King Agrippa, I did not prove disobedient to the heavenly vision, ²⁰ but continually proclaimed ^(AJ)to those in Damascus first, and ^(AK)in Jerusalem, and then all the region of Judea, and even ^(AL)to the Gentiles, that they are to ^(AM)repent and turn to God, performing deeds ^(AN)consistent with repentance. ²¹ For these reasons some Jews ^(AO)seized me in the temple and tried ^(AP)to murder me. ²² So, having obtained help from God, I stand to this day ^(AQ)testifying both to small and great, stating nothing but what ^(AR)the Prophets and Moses said was going to take place, ²³ as to ^(AS)whether the ^[l]Christ was ^[m]to suffer, and whether, as ^(AT)first from the resurrection of the dead, He would proclaim ^(AU)light both to the Jewish people and to the Gentiles.”

²⁴ While ^[n]Paul was stating these things in his defense, Festus *said in a loud voice, “Paul, you are out of your mind! ^[o]Your great ^(AV)learning is ^[p]driving you insane.” ²⁵ But Paul *said, “I am not insane, ^(AW)most excellent Festus; on the contrary, I am speaking out with ^[q]truthful and rational words. ²⁶ For the king ^[r](AX)knows about these matters, and I also speak to him with confidence, since I am persuaded that none of these things escape his notice; for this has not been done in a ^[s]corner. ²⁷ King Agrippa, do you believe the Prophets? I know that you believe.” ²⁸ Agrippa replied to Paul, “^[t]In a short time you are going to persuade me to ^[u]make a ^(AY)Christian of myself.” ²⁹ And Paul said, “I would ^[v]wish to God that even ^[w]in a short or long time not only you, but also all who hear me this day would become such as I myself am, except for these ^(AZ)chains.”

^30 (BA)The king stood up and the governor and Bernice, and those who were sitting with them, ³¹ and when they had gone out, they began talking to one another, saying, “^(BB)This man is not doing anything deserving death or ^[x]imprisonment.” ³² And Agrippa said to Festus, “This man could have been ^(BC)set free if he had not ^(BD)appealed to Caesar.”