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.”

²⁷ Now when the seven days were almost ended, ^(A)the Jews from Asia, seeing him in the temple, stirred up the whole crowd and ^(B)laid hands on him, ²⁸ crying out, “Men of Israel, help! This is the man ^(C)who teaches all men everywhere against the people, the law, and this place; and furthermore he also brought Greeks into the temple and has defiled this holy place.” ²⁹ (For they had ^[a]previously seen ^(D)Trophimus the Ephesian with him in the city, whom they supposed that Paul had brought into the temple.)

³⁰ And ^(E)all the city was disturbed; and the people ran together, seized Paul, and dragged him out of the temple; and immediately the doors were shut. ³¹ Now as they were ^(F)seeking to kill him, news came to the commander of the ^[b]garrison that all Jerusalem was in an uproar. ^32 (G)He immediately took soldiers and centurions, and ran down to them. And when they saw the commander and the soldiers, they stopped beating Paul. ³³ Then the ^(H)commander came near and took him, and ^(I)commanded him to be bound with two chains; and he asked who he was and what he had done. ³⁴ And some among the multitude cried one thing and some another.

So when he could not ascertain the truth because of the tumult, he commanded him to be taken into the barracks. ³⁵ When he reached the stairs, he had to be carried by the soldiers because of the violence of the mob. ³⁶ For the multitude of the people followed after, crying out, ^(J)“Away with him!”

Addressing the Jerusalem Mob^(K)

³⁷ Then as Paul was about to be led into the barracks, he said to the commander, “May I speak to you?”

He replied, “Can you speak Greek? ^38 (L)Are you not the Egyptian who some time ago stirred up a rebellion and led the four thousand assassins out into the wilderness?”

³⁹ But Paul said, ^(M)“I am a Jew from Tarsus, in Cilicia, a citizen of no ^[c]mean city; and I implore you, permit me to speak to the people.”

⁴⁰ So when he had given him permission, Paul stood on the stairs and ^(N)motioned with his hand to the people. And when there was a great silence, he spoke to them in the ^(O)Hebrew language, saying,

Paul’s Defense at Jerusalem

22 “Brethren^(A) and fathers, hear my defense before you now.” ² And when they heard that he spoke to them in the ^(B)Hebrew language, they kept all the more silent.

Then he said: ^3 (C)“I am indeed a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but brought up in this city ^(D)at the feet of ^(E)Gamaliel, taught ^(F)according to the strictness of our fathers’ law, and ^(G)was zealous toward God ^(H)as you all are today. ^4 (I)I persecuted this Way to the death, binding and delivering into prisons both men and women, ⁵ as also the high priest bears me witness, and ^(J)all the council of the elders, ^(K)from whom I also received letters to the brethren, and went to Damascus ^(L)to bring in chains even those who were there to Jerusalem to be punished.

⁶ “Now ^(M)it happened, as I journeyed and came near Damascus at about noon, suddenly a great light from heaven shone around me. ⁷ And I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?’ ⁸ So I answered, ‘Who are You, Lord?’ And He said to me, ‘I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom you are persecuting.’

⁹ “And ^(N)those who were with me indeed saw the light ^[a]and were afraid, but they did not hear the voice of Him who spoke to me. ¹⁰ So I said, ‘What shall I do, Lord?’ And the Lord said to me, ‘Arise and go into Damascus, and there you will be told all things which are appointed for you to do.’ ¹¹ And since I could not see for the glory of that light, being led by the hand of those who were with me, I came into Damascus.

¹² “Then ^(O)a certain Ananias, a devout man according to the law, ^(P)having a good testimony with all the ^(Q)Jews who dwelt there, ¹³ came to me; and he stood and said to me, ‘Brother Saul, receive your sight.’ And at that same hour I looked up at him. ¹⁴ Then he said, ^(R)‘The God of our fathers ^(S)has chosen you that you should ^(T)know His will, and ^(U)see the Just One, ^(V)and hear the voice of His mouth. ^15 (W)For you will be His witness to all men of ^(X)what you have seen and heard. ¹⁶ And now why are you waiting? Arise and be baptized, ^(Y)and wash away your sins, ^(Z)calling on the name of the Lord.’

¹⁷ “Now ^(AA)it happened, when I returned to Jerusalem and was praying in the temple, that I was in a trance ¹⁸ and ^(AB)saw Him saying to me, ^(AC)‘Make haste and get out of Jerusalem quickly, for they will not receive your testimony concerning Me.’ ¹⁹ So I said, ‘Lord, ^(AD)they know that in every synagogue I imprisoned and ^(AE)beat those who believe on You. ^20 (AF)And when the blood of Your martyr Stephen was shed, I also was standing by ^(AG)consenting ^[b]to his death, and guarding the clothes of those who were killing him.’ ²¹ Then He said to me, ‘Depart, ^(AH)for I will send you far from here to the Gentiles.’ ”

Paul’s Roman Citizenship

²² And they listened to him until this word, and then they raised their voices and said, ^(AI)“Away with such a fellow from the earth, for ^(AJ)he is not fit to live!”