Book of Common Prayer

A Poem by David.

A Prayer by David.

For the Chief Musician; set to “The Doe of the Morning.” A Psalm by David.

4 Now Boaz went up to the gate and sat down there. Behold, the near kinsman of whom Boaz spoke came by. Boaz said to him, “Come over here, friend, and sit down!” He came over, and sat down. ² Boaz took ten men of the elders of the city, and said, “Sit down here,” and they sat down. ³ He said to the near kinsman, “Naomi, who has come back out of the country of Moab, is selling the parcel of land, which was our brother Elimelech’s. ⁴ I thought I should tell you, saying, ‘Buy it before those who sit here, and before the elders of my people.’ If you will redeem it, redeem it; but if you will not redeem it, then tell me, that I may know. For there is no one to redeem it besides you; and I am after you.”

He said, “I will redeem it.”

⁵ Then Boaz said, “On the day you buy the field from the hand of Naomi, you must buy it also from Ruth the Moabitess, the wife of the dead, to raise up the name of the dead on his inheritance.”

⁶ The near kinsman said, “I can’t redeem it for myself, lest I endanger my own inheritance. Take my right of redemption for yourself; for I can’t redeem it.”

⁷ Now this was the custom in former time in Israel concerning redeeming and concerning exchanging, to confirm all things: a man took off his sandal, and gave it to his neighbor; and this was the way of formalizing transactions in Israel. ⁸ So the near kinsman said to Boaz, “Buy it for yourself,” then he took off his sandal.

⁹ Boaz said to the elders and to all the people, “You are witnesses today, that I have bought all that was Elimelech’s, and all that was Chilion’s and Mahlon’s, from the hand of Naomi. ¹⁰ Moreover, Ruth the Moabitess, the wife of Mahlon, I have purchased to be my wife, to raise up the name of the dead on his inheritance, that the name of the dead may not be cut off from among his brothers and from the gate of his place. You are witnesses today.”

¹¹ All the people who were in the gate, and the elders, said, “We are witnesses. May Yahweh make the woman who has come into your house like Rachel and like Leah, which both built the house of Israel; and treat you worthily in Ephrathah, and be famous in Bethlehem. ¹² Let your house be like the house of Perez, whom Tamar bore to Judah, of the offspring^[a] which Yahweh will give you by this young woman.”

¹³ So Boaz took Ruth and she became his wife; and he went in to her, and Yahweh enabled her to conceive, and she bore a son. ¹⁴ The women said to Naomi, “Blessed be Yahweh, who has not left you today without a near kinsman. Let his name be famous in Israel. ¹⁵ He shall be to you a restorer of life and sustain you in your old age; for your daughter-in-law, who loves you, who is better to you than seven sons, has given birth to him.” ¹⁶ Naomi took the child, laid him in her bosom, and became nurse to him. ¹⁷ The women, her neighbors, gave him a name, saying, “A son is born to Naomi”. They named him Obed. He is the father of Jesse, the father of David.

¹⁷ Let the elders who rule well be counted worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in the word and in teaching. ¹⁸ For the Scripture says, “You shall not muzzle the ox when it treads out the grain.”^(A) And, “The laborer is worthy of his wages.”^(B)

¹⁹ Don’t receive an accusation against an elder except at the word of two or three witnesses. ²⁰ Those who sin, reprove in the sight of all, that the rest also may be in fear. ²¹ I command you in the sight of God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, and the chosen angels, that you observe these things without prejudice, doing nothing by partiality. ²² Lay hands hastily on no one. Don’t be a participant in other people’s sins. Keep yourself pure.

²³ Be no longer a drinker of water only, but use a little wine for your stomach’s sake and your frequent infirmities.

²⁴ Some men’s sins are evident, preceding them to judgment, and some also follow later. ²⁵ In the same way also there are good works that are obvious, and those that are otherwise can’t be hidden.

14 When he went into the house of one of the rulers of the Pharisees on a Sabbath to eat bread, they were watching him. ² Behold, a certain man who had dropsy was in front of him. ³ Jesus, answering, spoke to the lawyers and Pharisees, saying, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?”

⁴ But they were silent.

He took him, and healed him, and let him go. ⁵ He answered them, “Which of you, if your son^[a] or an ox fell into a well, wouldn’t immediately pull him out on a Sabbath day?”

⁶ They couldn’t answer him regarding these things.

⁷ He spoke a parable to those who were invited, when he noticed how they chose the best seats, and said to them, ⁸ “When you are invited by anyone to a wedding feast, don’t sit in the best seat, since perhaps someone more honorable than you might be invited by him, ⁹ and he who invited both of you would come and tell you, ‘Make room for this person.’ Then you would begin, with shame, to take the lowest place. ¹⁰ But when you are invited, go and sit in the lowest place, so that when he who invited you comes, he may tell you, ‘Friend, move up higher.’ Then you will be honored in the presence of all who sit at the table with you. ¹¹ For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.”