²⁰ And Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, ^(A)“May he be blessed by the Lord, whose kindness has not forsaken ^(B)the living or the dead!” Naomi also said to her, “The man is a close relative of ours, one of ^(C)our redeemers.”

⁹ He said, “Who are you?” And she answered, “I am Ruth, your servant. ^(A)Spread your wings^[a] over your servant, for you are ^(B)a redeemer.” ¹⁰ And he said, ^(C)“May you be blessed by the Lord, my daughter. You have made this last kindness greater than ^(D)the first in that you have not gone after young men, whether poor or rich.

⁵ David sent messengers to the men of Jabesh-gilead and said to them, ^(A)“May you be blessed by the Lord, because you showed this loyalty to Saul your lord and buried him.

Laws Concerning Levirate Marriage

^5 (A)“If brothers dwell together, and one of them dies and has no son, the wife of the dead man shall not be married outside the family to a stranger. Her ^(B)husband's brother shall go in to her and take her as his wife and perform the duty of a husband's brother to her. ⁶ And the first son whom she bears shall succeed to the name of his dead brother, that ^(C)his name may not be blotted out of Israel. ⁷ And if the man does not wish to take his brother's wife, then his brother's wife shall ^(D)go up to the gate to the elders and say, ‘My husband's brother refuses to perpetuate his brother's name in Israel; he will not perform the duty of a husband's brother to me.’

²⁵ “If your brother becomes poor and sells part of his property, ^(A)then his nearest redeemer shall come and redeem what his brother has sold.

¹⁶ May the Lord grant mercy to ^(A)the household of Onesiphorus, for he often ^(B)refreshed me and was not ashamed of ^(C)my chains, ¹⁷ but when he arrived in Rome ^(D)he searched for me earnestly and found me— ¹⁸ may the Lord grant him to find mercy from the Lord on ^(E)that day!—and you well know all the service he ^(F)rendered at Ephesus.

God's Provision

¹⁰ I rejoiced in the Lord greatly that now at length ^(A)you have revived your concern for me. You were indeed concerned for me, but you had no opportunity.