Hello, this is Father Paul, and I'm glad we're
taking this journey together to read the Bible
in a year. Today we'll be reading in full the
book of Ruth, all four chapters. Chapter 1 Now
it came to pass in the days when the judges ruled
that there was a famine in the land, and a certain
man of Bethlehem, Judah, went to dwell in the
country of Moab, he and his wife and his two
sons. The name of the man was Eli Malik. The
name of his wife was Naomi. And the names of
his two sons were Mahlon and Kilion, Ephratites
of Bethlehem Judah. And they went to the country
of Moab and remained there. Then Elimelech, Naomi's
husband, died, and she was left and her two sons.
Now they took wives of the women of Moab. The
name of the one was Orpah, and the name of the
other Ruth. And they dwelt there about ten years.
Then both Mahlon and Kilion also died. So the
woman survived her two sons and her husband.
Then she arose with her daughters -in -law, that
she might return from the country of Moab. For
she had heard in the country of Moab that the
Lord had visited his people by giving them bread.
Therefore she went out from the place where she
was and her two daughters -in -law with her,
and they went on the way to return to the land
of Judah. And Naomi said to her two daughters
-in -law, Go return each to her mother's house.
The Lord deal kindly with you, as you have dealt
with the dead and with me. The Lord grant that
you may find rest, each in the house of her husband.
So she kissed them, and they lifted up their
voices and wept. And they said to her, Surely
we will return with you to your people. But Naomi
said, Turn back, my daughters. Why will you go
with me? Are there still sons in my womb, that
they may be your husbands? Turn back, my daughters,
go, for I am too old to have a husband. If I
should say I have hope, if I should have a husband
tonight, and should also bear sons, would you
wait for them till they were grown? Would you
restrain yourselves from having husbands? No,
my daughters, for it grieves me very much for
your sakes that the hand of the Lord has gone
out against me. Then they lifted up their voices
and wept again, and Orpah kissed her mother -in
-law, but Ruth clung to her. And she said, Look,
your sister -in -law has gone back to her people
and to her gods. Return after your sister -in
-law. But Ruth said, Entreat me not to leave
you, or to turn back from following after you.
For wherever you go, I will go, and wherever
you lodge, I will lodge. Your people shall be
my people, and your God my God. Where you die,
I will die, and there will I be buried. The Lord
do so to me, and more also, if anything but death
parts you and me. When she saw that she was determined
to go with her, she stopped speaking to her.
Now the two of them went until they came to Bethlehem,
and it happened when they had come to Bethlehem
that all the city was excited because of them,
and the women said, Is this Naomi? But she said
to them, Do not call me Naomi, call me Mara,
for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with
me. I went out full, and the Lord has brought
me home again empty. Why do you call me Naomi,
since the Lord has testified against me, and
the Almighty has afflicted me? So Naomi returned,
and Ruth the Moabitess, her daughter -in -law
with her, who returned from the country of Moab.
Now they came to Bethlehem at the beginning of
barley harvest. Chapter 2 There was a relative
of Naomi's husband, a man of great wealth, of
the family of Elimelech. His name was Boaz. So
Ruth the Moabitess said to Naomi, Please let
me go to the field and glean heads of grain after
him, in whose sight I may found favor. And she
said to her, Go, my daughter. Then she left,
and went and gleaned in the field after the reapers.
And she happened to come to the part of the field
belonging to Boaz, who was of the family of Elimelech.
Now behold, Boaz came from Bethlehem, and said
to the reapers, The Lord be with you. And they
answered him, The Lord bless you. Then Boaz said
to his servant, who was in charge of the reapers,
Whose young woman is this? So the servant, who
was in charge of the reapers, answered and said,
It is the young Moabite woman who came back with
Naomi from the country of Moab. And she said,
Please let me glean and gather after the reapers
among the sheaves. So she came and has continued
from morning until now, though she rested a little
in the house. Then Boaz said to Ruth, You will
listen, my daughter, will you not? Do not go
to glean in another field, nor go from here.
But stay close by my young women. Let your eyes
be on the field which they reap, and go after
them. Have I not commanded the young men not
to touch you? And when you are thirsty, go to
the vessels and drink from what the young men
have drawn. So she fell on her face, bowed down
to the ground and said to him, Why have I found
favor in your eyes, that you should take notice
of me since I am a foreigner? And Boaz answered
and said to her, It has been fully reported to
me all that you have done for your mother -in
-law since the death of your husband, and how
you have left your father and your mother and
the land of your birth, and have come to a people
whom you do not know before. The Lord repay your
work. and a full reward be given you by the Lord
God of Israel, under whose wings you have come
for refuge. Then she said, Let me find favor
in your sight, my lord, for you have comforted
me and have spoken kindly to your maidservant,
though I am not like one of your maidservants.
Now Boaz said to her at mealtime, Come here and
eat of the bread, and dip your piece of bread
in the vinegar. So she sat beside the reapers,
and he passed parched grain to her. And she ate
and was satisfied, and kept some back. And when
she rose up to glean, Boaz commanded his young
men, saying, Let her glean even among the sheaves,
and do not reproach her. Also let grain from
the bundles fall purposely for her. Leave it
that she may glean, and do not rebuke her. So
she gleaned in the field until evening, and beat
out what she had gleaned, and it was about an
affa of barley. Then she took it up and went
into the city, and her mother -in -law saw what
she had gleaned. So she brought out and gave
to her what she had kept back after she had been
satisfied. And her mother -in -law said to her,
Where have you gleaned today? And where did you
work? Blessed be the one who took notice of you.
So she told her mother -in -law with whom she
had worked and said, The man's name with whom
I work today is Boaz. Then Naomi said to her
daughter -in -law, Blessed be he of the Lord
who has not forsaken his kindness to the living
and the dead. And Naomi said to her, This man
is a relation of ours, one of our close relatives.
Ruth the Moabitess said, He also said to me,
You shall stay close by my young men until they
have finished all my harvest. And Naomi said
to Ruth her daughter -in -law, It is good, my
daughter, that you go out with his young women,
and that people do not meet you in any other
field. So she stayed close by the young women
of Boaz to glean until the end of barley harvest
and wheat harvest, and she dwelt with her mother
-in -law. Chapter 3 Then Naomi her mother -in
-law said to her, My daughter, shall I not seek
security for you, that it may be well with you?
Now Boaz, whose young women you were with, is
he not our relative? In fact, he is winnowing
barley tonight at the threshing floor. Therefore
wash yourself and anoint yourself, put on your
best garment, and go down to the threshing floor.
But do not make yourself known to the man until
he has finished eating and drinking. Then it
shall be, when he lies down, that you shall notice
the place where he lies, and you shall go in,
uncover his feet, and lie down. And he will tell
you what you should do. And she said to her,
All that you say to me I will do. So she went
down to the threshing floor and did according
to all that her mother -in -law instructed her.
And after Boaz had eaten and drunk, and his heart
was cheerful, he went to lie down at the end
of the heap of grain, and she came softly, uncovered
his feet, and lay down. Now it happened at midnight
that the man was startled and turned himself,
and there a woman was lying at his feet, and
he said, Who are you? So she answered, I am Ruth,
your maidservant. Take your maidservant under
your wing, for you are a close relative. Then
he said, Blessed are you of the Lord, my daughter,
for you have shown more kindness at the end than
at the beginning, in that you did not go after
young men, whether poor or rich. And now, my
daughter, do not fear. I will do for you all
that you request, for all the people of my town
know that you are a virtuous woman. Now it is
true that I am a close relative. However, there
is a relative closer than I. stay this night
and in the morning it shall be that if he will
perform the duty of a close relative for you
good let him do it but if he does not want to
perform the duty for you then i will perform
the duty for you as the lord lives lie down until
morning so she lay at his feet until morning
and she arose before one could recognize another
Then he said, Do not let it be known that the
woman came to the threshing floor. Also he said,
Bring the shawl that is on you and hold it. And
when she held it, he measured six affas of barley
and laid it on her. Then she went into the city.
When she came to her mother -in -law, she said,
Is that you, my daughter? Then she told her all
that the man had done for her. And she said,
These six affas of barley he gave me, for he
said to me, Do not go empty -handed to your mother
-in -law. Then she said, Sit still, my daughter,
until you know how the matter will turn out,
for the man will not rest until he has concluded
the matter this day. Chapter 4 Now Boaz went
up to the gate and sat down there, and behold,
the close relative of whom Boaz had spoken came
by. So Boaz said, Come aside, friend, sit down
here. So he came aside and sat down. And he took
ten men of the elders of the city and said, Sit
down here. So they sat down. Then he said to
the close relative, Naomi, who has come back
from the country of Moab, sold the piece of land
which belonged to our brother Elimelech. And
I thought to inform you, saying, Buy it back
in the presence of the inhabitants and 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 but you to redeem
it, and I am next after you. And he said, I will
redeem it. Lemboa said, On the day you buy the
field from the hand of Naomi, you must also buy
it from Ruth the Moabitess, the wife of the dead,
to perpetuate the name of the dead through his
inheritance. And the close relative said, I cannot
redeem it for myself, lest I ruin my own inheritance.
You redeem my right of redemption for yourself,
for I cannot redeem it. Now this was the custom
in former times in Israel concerning redeeming
and exchanging. To confirm anything, one man
took off his sandal and gave it to the other,
and this was a confirmation in Israel. Therefore
the close relative said to Boaz, Buy it for yourself.
So he took off his sandal. Amboa said to the
elders and all the people, You are witnesses
this day that I have bought all that was Ali
Malik's and all that was Kilion's and Mahlon's
from the hand of Naomi. Moreover, Ruth the Moabitess,
the widow of Mahlon, I have acquired as my wife
to perpetuate the name of the dead through his
inheritance, that the name of the dead may not
be cut off from among his brethren and from his
position at the gate. You are witnesses this
day. And all the people who were at the gate
and the elders said, We are witnesses. The Lord
make the woman who is coming to your house like
Rachel and Leah, the two who built the house
of Israel. And may you prosper in Ephrathah and
be famous in Bethlehem. May your house be like
the house of Paris, whom Tamar bore to Judah,
because of the offspring which the Lord will
give you from this young woman. So Boaz took
Ruth and she became his wife. And when he went
into her, the Lord gave her conception and she
bore a son. Then the woman said to Naomi, Blessed
be the Lord, who has not left you this day without
a close relative, and may his name be famous
in Israel, and may he be to you a restorer of
life and a nourisher of your old age. For your
daughter -in -law, who loves you, who is better
to you than seven sons, has born him. Then Naomi
took the child and laid him on her bosom, and
became a nurse to him. Also the neighbor women
gave him a name, saying, There is a son born
to Naomi. And they called his name Obed. He is
the father of Jesse, the father of David. Now
this is the genealogy of Perez. Perez begot Hezron.
Hezron begot Ram, and Ram begot Aminadab. Aminadab
begot Nashon, and Nashon begot Salmon. Salmon
begot Boaz, and Boaz begot Obed. Obed begot Jesse,
and Jesse begot David. I hope you enjoyed today's
reading as much as I did. And I look forward
to seeing you again tomorrow to continue on our
journey. God bless you and have a great day.