Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

A song from Solomon for going up to the Temple.

Boaz and Naomi’s Close Relative

4 Boaz went to the place where people gather near the city gates. He sat there until the close relative he had told Ruth about passed by. Boaz called to him, “Come and sit here, friend.”

² Boaz also gathered ten of the elders of the city. He told them, “Sit here!” So they sat down.

³ Then Boaz spoke to Naomi’s close relative. He said, “Naomi came back from the hill country of Moab. She wants to sell the land that belonged to our relative Elimelech. ⁴ I decided to tell you about this in front of the people living here and in front of the elders of our people. If you want to pay the widow for the land and keep it in the family, then pay her for it. If you don’t want to buy the land, tell me, because I am the next one in the family who has the right to buy it. If you don’t buy the land from her, I will.”

Naomi’s closest relative said, “I will buy the land from her.”

⁵ Then Boaz said, “If you buy the land from her, you must also marry the dead man’s wife, Ruth, the Moabite woman. Then the first child will get the land, and it will stay in the dead man’s family.”

⁶ The close relative answered, “Then I cannot buy the land. If I do, I might lose my own land. So I cannot do it. You buy the land.” ⁷ Then he gave Boaz something to show that he was serious. During that time in Israel, when people bought property, one person took off a sandal and gave it to the other person. This was like signing an agreement. ⁸ So when the close relative said to Boaz, “You buy the land,” he took off his sandal and gave it to Boaz.^[a]

⁹ Then Boaz said to the elders and all the people, “You are witnesses today that I am buying from Naomi everything that belonged to Elimelech, Kilion, and Mahlon. ¹⁰ I also take Ruth to be my wife. Then the dead man’s property will continue to belong to his family. And he will always be remembered by his family and the people in his hometown. You are all witnesses of what I am doing today.”

⁶ Christ died for us when we were unable to help ourselves. We were living against God, but at just the right time Christ died for us. ⁷ Very few people will die to save the life of someone else, even if it is for a good person. Someone might be willing to die for an especially good person. ⁸ But Christ died for us while we were still sinners, and by this God showed how much he loves us.

⁹ We have been made right with God by the blood sacrifice of Christ. So through Christ we will surely be saved from God’s anger. ¹⁰ I mean that while we were God’s enemies, he made friends with us through his Son’s death. And the fact that we are now God’s friends makes it even more certain that he will save us through his Son’s life. ¹¹ And not only will we be saved, but we also rejoice right now in what God has done for us through our Lord Jesus Christ. It is because of Jesus that we are now God’s friends.