Book of Common Prayer

David's Song of Victory^{[a] (A)}

Ruth Finds a Husband

3 Some time later Naomi said to Ruth, “I must find a husband for you, so that you will have a home of your own. ² Remember that this man Boaz, whose women you have been working with, is our relative. Now listen. This evening he will be threshing the barley. ³ So wash yourself, put on some perfume, and get dressed in your best clothes. Then go where he is threshing, but don't let him know you are there until he has finished eating and drinking. ⁴ Be sure to notice where he lies down, and after he falls asleep, go and lift the covers and lie down at his feet. He will tell you what to do.”

⁵ Ruth answered, “I will do everything you say.”

⁶ So Ruth went to the threshing place and did just what her mother-in-law had told her. ⁷ When Boaz had finished eating and drinking, he was in a good mood. He went to the pile of barley and lay down to sleep. Ruth slipped over quietly, lifted the covers and lay down at his feet. ⁸ During the night he woke up suddenly, turned over, and was surprised to find a woman lying at his feet. ⁹ “Who are you?” he asked.

“It's Ruth, sir,” she answered. “Because you are a close relative, you are responsible for taking care of me. So please marry me.”

¹⁰ “The Lord bless you,” he said. “You are showing even greater family loyalty in what you are doing now than in what you did for your mother-in-law. You might have gone looking for a young man, either rich or poor, but you haven't. ¹¹ Now don't worry, Ruth. I will do everything you ask; as everyone in town knows, you are a fine woman. ^12 (A)It is true that I am a close relative and am responsible for you, but there is a man who is a closer relative than I am. ¹³ Stay here the rest of the night, and in the morning we will find out whether or not he will take responsibility for you. If so, well and good; if not, then I swear by the living Lord that I will take the responsibility. Now lie down and stay here till morning.”

¹⁴ So she lay there at his feet, but she got up before it was light enough for her to be seen, because Boaz did not want anyone to know that she had been there. ¹⁵ Boaz said to her, “Take off your cloak and spread it out here.” She did, and he poured out almost fifty pounds of barley and helped her lift it to her shoulder. Then she returned to town with it. ¹⁶ When she arrived home, her mother-in-law asked her, “How did you get along, daughter?”

Ruth told her everything that Boaz had done for her. ¹⁷ She added, “He told me I must not come back to you empty-handed, so he gave me all this barley.”

¹⁸ Naomi said to her, “Now be patient, Ruth, until you see how this all turns out. Boaz will not rest today until he settles the matter.”

False Teachers

4 The Spirit says clearly that some people will abandon the faith in later times; they will obey lying spirits and follow the teachings of demons. ² Such teachings are spread by deceitful liars, whose consciences are dead, as if burnt with a hot iron. ³ Such people teach that it is wrong to marry and to eat certain foods. But God created those foods to be eaten, after a prayer of thanks, by those who are believers and have come to know the truth. ⁴ Everything that God has created is good; nothing is to be rejected, but everything is to be received with a prayer of thanks, ⁵ because the word of God and the prayer make it acceptable to God.

A Good Servant of Christ Jesus

⁶ If you give these instructions to the believers, you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus, as you feed yourself spiritually on the words of faith and of the true teaching which you have followed. ⁷ But keep away from those godless legends, which are not worth telling. Keep yourself in training for a godly life. ⁸ Physical exercise has some value, but spiritual exercise is valuable in every way, because it promises life both for the present and for the future. ⁹ This is a true saying, to be completely accepted and believed. ¹⁰ We struggle^[a] and work hard, because we have placed our hope in the living God, who is the Savior of all and especially of those who believe.

¹¹ Give them these instructions and these teachings. ¹² Do not let anyone look down on you because you are young, but be an example for the believers in your speech, your conduct, your love, faith, and purity. ¹³ Until I come, give your time and effort to the public reading of the Scriptures and to preaching and teaching. ¹⁴ Do not neglect the spiritual gift that is in you, which was given to you when the prophets spoke and the elders laid their hands on you. ¹⁵ Practice these things and devote yourself to them, in order that your progress may be seen by all. ¹⁶ Watch yourself and watch your teaching. Keep on doing these things, because if you do, you will save both yourself and those who hear you.

Jesus' Love for Jerusalem^(A)

³¹ At that same time some Pharisees came to Jesus and said to him, “You must get out of here and go somewhere else, because Herod wants to kill you.”

³² Jesus answered them, “Go and tell that fox: ‘I am driving out demons and performing cures today and tomorrow, and on the third day I shall finish my work.’ ³³ Yet I must be on my way today, tomorrow, and the next day; it is not right for a prophet to be killed anywhere except in Jerusalem.

^34 (B)“Jerusalem, Jerusalem! You kill the prophets, you stone the messengers God has sent you! How many times I wanted to put my arms around all your people, just as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you would not let me! ^35 (C)And so your Temple will be abandoned. I assure you that you will not see me until the time comes when you say, ‘God bless him who comes in the name of the Lord.’”