Book of Common Prayer

Aleph^[a]

Beth

Gimel

To the director: With the sheminith. A song of David.

To the director: A song of David.

To the director: A song of David.

¹⁴ At mealtime, Boaz told Ruth, “Come and eat some of our bread. Here, dip your bread in our vinegar.”

So Ruth sat down with the workers. Boaz gave her some roasted grain. Ruth ate until she was full, and there was some food left. ¹⁵ Then Ruth got up and went back to work.

Then Boaz told his servants, “Let Ruth gather even around the piles of grain. Don’t stop her. ¹⁶ And make her work easier by dropping some full heads of grain for her. Let her gather that grain. Don’t tell her to stop.”

Naomi Hears About Boaz

¹⁷ Ruth worked in the fields until evening. Then she separated the grain from the chaff. There was about one-half bushel^[a] of barley. ¹⁸ Ruth carried the grain into town to show her mother-in-law what she had gathered. She also gave her the food that was left from lunch.

¹⁹ Her mother-in-law asked her, “Where did you gather all this grain? Where did you work? Bless the man who noticed you.”

Then Ruth told her who she had worked with. She said, “The man I worked with today is a man named Boaz.”

²⁰ Naomi told her daughter-in-law, “The Lord bless him! He has continued showing his kindness to the living as well as the dead.” Then Naomi told her daughter-in-law, “Boaz is one of our relatives. He is one of our protectors.^[b]”

²¹ Then Ruth said, “Boaz also told me to come back and continue working. He said that I should work closely with his servants until the harvest is finished.”

²² Then Naomi said to her daughter-in-law Ruth, “It is good for you to continue working with his women servants. If you work in another field, some man might hurt you.” ²³ So Ruth continued working closely with the women servants of Boaz. She gathered grain until the barley harvest was finished. She also worked there through the end of the wheat harvest. Ruth continued living with her mother-in-law Naomi.

Leaders in the Church

3 It is a true statement that anyone whose goal is to serve as an elder^[a] has his heart set on a good work. ² An elder^[b] must be such a good man that no one can rightly criticize him. He must be faithful to his wife.^[c] He must have self-control and be wise. He must be respected by others. He must be ready to help people by welcoming them into his home. He must be a good teacher. ³ He must not drink too much, and he must not be someone who likes to fight. He must be gentle and peaceful. He must not be someone who loves money. ⁴ He must be a good leader of his own family. This means that his children obey him with full respect. ⁵ If a man does not know how to lead his own family, he will not be able to take care of God’s church.

⁶ An elder must not be a new believer. It might make him too proud of himself. Then he would be condemned for his pride the same as the devil was. ⁷ An elder must also have the respect of people who are not part of the church. Then he will not be criticized by others and be caught in the devil’s trap.

Special Servants

⁸ In the same way, the men who are chosen to be special servants must have the respect of others. They must not be men who say things they don’t mean or who spend their time drinking too much. They must not be men who will do almost anything for money. ⁹ They must follow the true faith that God has now made known to us and always do what they know is right. ¹⁰ You should test them first. Then, if you find that they have done nothing wrong, they can be special servants.

¹¹ In the same way, the women^[d] must have the respect of others. They must not be women who speak evil about other people. They must have self-control and be women who can be trusted in everything.

¹² The men who are special servants must be faithful in marriage.^[e] They must be good leaders of children and their own families. ¹³ Those who do well as special servants are making an honorable place for themselves. And they will feel very sure of their faith in Christ Jesus.

The Secret of Our Life

¹⁴ I hope I can come to you soon. But I am writing this to you now, ¹⁵ so that, even if I cannot come soon, you will know how people should live in the family^[f] of God. That family is the church of the living God. And God’s church is the support and foundation of the truth. ¹⁶ Without a doubt, the secret of our life of worship is great:

What Is God’s Kingdom Like?^(A)

¹⁸ Then Jesus said, “What is God’s kingdom like? What can I compare it to? ¹⁹ God’s kingdom is like the seed of the mustard plant. Someone plants this seed in their garden. The seed grows and becomes a tree, and the birds build nests on its branches.”

²⁰ Jesus said again, “What can I compare God’s kingdom with? ²¹ It is like yeast that a woman mixes into a big bowl of flour to make bread. The yeast makes all the dough rise.”

The Narrow Door^(B)

²² Jesus was teaching in every town and village. He continued to travel toward Jerusalem. ²³ Someone said to him, “Lord, how many people will be saved? Only a few?”

Jesus said, ²⁴ “The door to heaven is narrow. Try hard to enter it. Many people will want to enter there, but they will not be able to go in. ²⁵ If a man locks the door of his house, you can stand outside and knock on the door, but he won’t open it. You can say, ‘Sir, open the door for us.’ But he will answer, ‘I don’t know you. Where did you come from?’ ²⁶ Then you will say, ‘We ate and drank with you. You taught in the streets of our town.’ ²⁷ Then he will say to you, ‘I don’t know you. Where did you come from? Get away from me! You are all people who do wrong!’

²⁸ “You will see Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and all the prophets in God’s kingdom. But you will be left outside. There you will cry and grind your teeth with pain. ²⁹ People will come from the east, west, north, and south. They will sit down at the table in God’s kingdom. ³⁰ People who have the lowest place in life now will have the highest place in God’s kingdom. And people who have the highest place now will have the lowest place in God’s kingdom.”