Ruth’s Redemption Assured

3 Then Naomi her mother-in-law said to her, “My daughter, ^(A)shall I not seek ^(B)security^[a] for you, that it may be well with you? ² Now Boaz, ^(C)whose young women you were with, is he not our relative? In fact, he is winnowing barley tonight at the threshing floor. ³ Therefore wash yourself and ^(D)anoint yourself, put on your best garment and go down to the threshing floor; but do not make yourself known to the man until he has finished eating and drinking. ⁴ Then it shall be, when he lies down, that you shall notice the place where he lies; and you shall go in, uncover his feet, and lie down; and he will tell you what you should do.”

⁵ And she said to her, “All that you say to me I will do.”

⁶ So she went down to the threshing floor and did according to all that her mother-in-law instructed her. ⁷ And after Boaz had eaten and drunk, and ^(E)his heart was cheerful, he went to lie down at the end of the heap of grain; and she came softly, uncovered his feet, and lay down.

⁸ Now it happened at midnight that the man was startled, and turned himself; and there, a woman was lying at his feet. ⁹ And he said, “Who are you?”

So she answered, “I am Ruth, your maidservant. ^(F)Take^[b] your maidservant under your wing, for you are ^(G)a ^[c]close relative.”

¹⁰ Then he said, ^(H)“Blessed are you of the Lord, my daughter! For you have shown more kindness at the end than ^(I)at the beginning, in that you did not go after young men, whether poor or rich. ¹¹ And now, my daughter, do not fear. I will do for you all that you request, for all the people of my town know that you are a ^(J)virtuous woman. ¹² Now it is true that I am a ^(K)close relative; however, ^(L)there is a relative closer than I. ¹³ Stay this night, and in the morning it shall be that if he will ^(M)perform the duty of a close relative for you—good; let him do it. But if he does not want to perform the duty for you, then I will perform the duty for you, ^(N)as the Lord lives! Lie down until morning.”

¹⁴ So she lay at his feet until morning, and she arose before one could recognize another. Then he said, ^(O)“Do not let it be known that the woman came to the threshing floor.” ¹⁵ Also he said, “Bring the ^[d]shawl that is on you and hold it.” And when she held it, he measured six ephahs of barley, and laid it on her. Then ^[e]she went into the city.

¹⁶ When she came to her mother-in-law, she said, ^[f]“Is that you, my daughter?”

Then she told her all that the man had done for her. ¹⁷ And she said, “These six ephahs of barley he gave me; for he said to me, ‘Do not go empty-handed to your mother-in-law.’ ”

¹⁸ Then she said, ^(P)“Sit still, my daughter, until you know how the matter will turn out; for the man will not rest until he has concluded the matter this day.”

Vision of the Flying Scroll

5 Then I turned and raised my eyes, and saw there a flying ^(A)scroll.

² And he said to me, “What do you see?”

So I answered, “I see a flying scroll. Its length is twenty cubits and its width ten cubits.”

³ Then he said to me, “This is the ^(B)curse that goes out over the face of the whole earth: ‘Every thief shall be expelled,’ according to this side of the scroll; and, ‘Every perjurer shall be expelled,’ according to that side of it.”

Vision of the Woman in a Basket

⁵ Then the angel who talked with me came out and said to me, “Lift your eyes now, and see what this is that goes forth.”

⁶ So I asked, “What is it?” And he said, “It is a ^[a]basket that is going forth.”

He also said, “This is their resemblance throughout the earth: ⁷ Here is a lead disc lifted up, and this is a woman sitting inside the basket”; ⁸ then he said, “This is Wickedness!” And he thrust her down into the basket, and threw the lead ^[b]cover over its mouth. ⁹ Then I raised my eyes and looked, and there were two women, coming with the wind in their wings; for they had wings like the wings of a ^(F)stork, and they lifted up the basket between earth and heaven.

¹⁰ So I said to the ^(G)angel who talked with me, “Where are they carrying the basket?”

¹¹ And he said to me, “To ^(H)build a house for it in ^(I)the land of ^[c]Shinar; when it is ready, the basket will be set there on its base.”

Cornelius Sends a Delegation

10 There was a certain man in ^(A)Caesarea called Cornelius, a centurion of what was called the Italian ^[a]Regiment, ^2 (B)a devout man and one who ^(C)feared God with all his household, who gave ^[b]alms generously to the people, and prayed to God always. ³ About ^[c]the ninth hour of the day ^(D)he saw clearly in a vision an angel of God coming in and saying to him, “Cornelius!”

⁴ And when he observed him, he was afraid, and said, “What is it, lord?”

So he said to him, “Your prayers and your alms have come up for a memorial before God. ⁵ Now ^(E)send men to Joppa, and send for Simon whose surname is Peter. ⁶ He is lodging with ^(F)Simon, a tanner, whose house is by the sea. ^(G)He^[d] will tell you what you must do.” ⁷ And when the angel who spoke to him had departed, Cornelius called two of his household servants and a devout soldier from among those who waited on him continually. ⁸ So when he had explained all these things to them, he sent them to Joppa.

Peter’s Vision

⁹ The next day, as they went on their journey and drew near the city, ^(H)Peter went up on the housetop to pray, about ^[e]the sixth hour. ¹⁰ Then he became very hungry and wanted to eat; but while they made ready, he fell into a trance ¹¹ and ^(I)saw heaven opened and an object like a great sheet bound at the four corners, descending to him and let down to the earth. ¹² In it were all kinds of four-footed animals of the earth, wild beasts, creeping things, and birds of the air. ¹³ And a voice came to him, “Rise, Peter; kill and eat.”

¹⁴ But Peter said, “Not so, Lord! ^(J)For I have never eaten anything common or unclean.”

¹⁵ And a voice spoke to him again the second time, ^(K)“What God has ^[f]cleansed you must not call common.” ¹⁶ This was done three times. And the object was taken up into heaven again.