Book of Common Prayer

3 Na‘omi her mother-in-law said to her, “My daughter, I should be seeking security for you; so that things will go well with you. ² Now there’s Bo‘az our relative — you were with his girls. He’s going to be winnowing barley tonight at the threshing-floor. ³ So bathe, anoint yourself, put on your good clothes, and go down to the threshing-floor; but don’t reveal your presence to the man until he’s finished eating and drinking. ⁴ Then, when he lies down, take note of where he’s lying; later, go in, uncover his feet, and lie down. He will tell you what to do.” ⁵ She responded, “I will do everything you tell me.”

⁶ She went down to the threshing-floor and did everything as her mother-in-law had instructed her. ⁷ After Bo‘az was through eating and drinking and was feeling good, he went to lie down at the end of the pile of grain. She stole in, uncovered his feet and lay down. ⁸ In the middle of the night the man was startled and turned over, and — there was a woman lying at his feet! ⁹ He asked, “Who are you?” and she answered, “I’m your handmaid Rut. Spread your robe over your handmaid, because you are a redeeming kinsman.” ¹⁰ He said, “May Adonai bless you, my daughter. Your latest kindness is even greater than your first, in that you didn’t go after the young men, neither the rich ones nor the poor. ¹¹ And now, my daughter, don’t be afraid. I will do for you everything you say, for all the city leaders among my people know that you are a woman of good character. ¹² Now, it is true that I am a redeeming kinsman; but there is a redeemer who is a closer relative than I am. ¹³ Stay tonight. If, in the morning, he will redeem you, fine! — let him redeem you. But if he doesn’t want to redeem you, then, as Adonai lives, I will redeem you. Now, lie down until morning.”

¹⁴ She lay at his feet until morning; then, before [it was light enough that] people could recognize each other, she got up; because he said, “No one should know that the woman came to the threshing-floor.” ¹⁵ He also said, “Bring the shawl you are wearing, and take hold of it.” She held it while he put six measures of barley into it; then he went into the city.

¹⁶ When she came to her mother-in-law, she asked, “Who are you? My daughter?” She told her everything the man had done for her. ¹⁷ Then she added, “He gave me these six measures of barley; because he said to me, “You shouldn’t return to your mother-in-law with nothing.” ¹⁸ Na‘omi said, “My daughter, just stay where you are, until you learn how the matter comes out; for the man won’t rest unless he resolves the matter today.”

4 The Spirit expressly states that in the acharit-hayamim some people will apostatize from the faith by paying attention to deceiving spirits and things taught by demons. ² Such teachings come from the hypocrisy of liars whose own consciences have been burned, as if with a red-hot branding iron. ³ They forbid marriage and require abstinence from foods which God created to be eaten with thanksgiving by those who have come to trust and to know the truth. ⁴ For everything created by God is good, and nothing received with thanksgiving needs to be rejected, ⁵ because the word of God and prayer make it holy.

⁶ If you present all this to the brothers, you will be serving the Messiah Yeshua well; it will show that you have digested the words of the faith and of the good teaching which you have followed. ⁷ But refuse godless bubbe-meises, and exercise yourself in godliness. ⁸ For although physical exercise does have some value, godliness is valuable for everything, since it holds promise both for the present life and for the life to come. ⁹ Here is a statement you can trust, one that fully deserves to be accepted ¹⁰ (indeed, it is for this that we toil and strive): we have our hope set on a living God who is the deliverer of all humanity, especially of those who trust.

¹¹ Command these things and teach them. ¹² Don’t let anyone look down on you because of your youth; on the contrary, set the believers an example in your speech, behavior, love, trust and purity. ¹³ Until I come, pay attention to the public reading of the Scriptures. ¹⁴ Do not neglect your gift, which you were given through a prophecy when the body of elders gave you s’mikhah. ¹⁵ Be diligent about this work, throw yourself into it, so that your progress may be clear to everyone. ¹⁶ Pay attention to yourself and to the teaching, continue in it, for by so doing you will deliver both yourself and those who hear you.

³¹ Just at that moment, some P’rushim came up and said to Yeshua, “Get out and go away from here, because Herod wants to kill you!” ³² He said to them, “Go, tell that fox, ‘Pay attention: today and tomorrow I am driving out demons and healing people, and on the third day I reach my goal.’ ³³ Nevertheless, I must keep travelling today, tomorrow and the next day; because it is unthinkable that a prophet should die anywhere but in Yerushalayim.

³⁴ “Yerushalayim! Yerushalayim! You kill the prophets! You stone those who are sent to you! How often I wanted to gather your children, just as a hen gathers her chickens under her wings, but you refused! ³⁵ Look! God is abandoning your house to you! I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of Adonai!’”^[a]