Today our passages are Ruth
2:1–4:22; John 4:43-54; Psalm 105:16-36; and Proverbs
14:26-27. The readings are from the Contemporary English
Version. If you find
these readings helpful, please consider sending an offering directly to Cove
Presbyterian Church, 3404 Main Street, Weirton, West Virginia or
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Ruth 2-4:22 (Contemporary English Version)
Ruth 2
Ruth Meets Boaz
1-3One day, Ruth said to Naomi, "Let me see if I can find someone who will let me pick up the grain left in the fields by the harvest workers." [a] Naomi answered, "Go ahead, my daughter." So right away, Ruth went out to pick up grain in a field owned by Boaz. He was a relative of Naomi's husband Elimelech, as well as a rich and important man. 4When Boaz left Bethlehem and went out to his field, he said to the harvest workers, "The LORD bless you!"They replied, "And may the LORD bless you!"
5Then Boaz asked the man in charge of the harvest workers, "Who is that young woman?"
6The man answered, "She is the one who came back from Moab with Naomi. 7She asked if she could pick up grain left by the harvest workers, and she has been working all morning without a moment's rest." [b] 8Boaz went over to Ruth and said, "I think it would be best for you not to pick up grain in anyone else's field. Stay here with the women 9and follow along behind them, as they gather up what the men have cut. I have warned the men not to bother you, and whenever you are thirsty, you can drink from the water jars they have filled."
10Ruth bowed down to the ground and said, "You know I come from another country. Why are you so good to me?"
11Boaz answered, "I've heard how you've helped your mother-in-law ever since your husband died. You even left your own father and mother to come and live in a foreign land among people you don't know. 12I pray that the LORD God of Israel will reward you for what you have done. And now that you have come to him for protection, I pray that he will bless you."
13Ruth replied, "Sir, it's good of you to speak kindly to me and make me feel so welcome. I'm not even one of your servants."
14At mealtime Boaz said to Ruth, "Come, eat with us. Have some bread and dip it in the sauce." Right away she sat down with the workers, and Boaz handed her some roasted grain. Ruth ate all she wanted and had some left over.
15When Ruth got up to start picking up grain, Boaz told his men, "Don't stop her, even if she picks up grain from where it is stacked. 16Be sure to pull out some stalks of grain from the bundles and leave them on the ground for her. And don't speak harshly to her!"
17Ruth worked in the field until evening. Then after she had pounded the grain off the stalks, she had a large basket full of grain. 18She took the grain to town and showed Naomi how much she had picked up. Ruth also gave her the food left over from her lunch.
19Naomi said, "Where did you work today? Whose field was it? God bless the man who treated you so well!" Then Ruth told her that she had worked in the field of a man named Boaz.
20"The LORD bless Boaz!" Naomi replied. "He [c] has shown that he is still loyal to the living and to the dead. Boaz is a close relative, one of those who is supposed to look after us." 21Ruth told her, "Boaz even said I could stay in the field with his workers until they had finished gathering all his grain."
22Naomi replied, "My daughter, it's good that you can pick up grain alongside the women who work in his field. Who knows what might happen to you in someone else's field!" 23And so, Ruth stayed close to the women, while picking up grain in his field.
Ruth worked in the fields until the barley and wheat were harvested. And all this time she lived with Naomi.
Ruth 3
Naomi Makes Plans for Ruth
1One day, Naomi said to Ruth: It's time I found you a husband, who will give you a home and take care of you.2You have been picking up grain alongside the women who work for Boaz, and you know he is a relative of ours. Tonight he will be threshing the grain. 3Now take a bath and put on some perfume, then dress in your best clothes. Go where he is working, but don't let him see you until he has finished eating and drinking. 4Watch where he goes to spend the night, then when he is asleep, lift the cover and lie down at his feet. [d] He will tell you what to do. 5Ruth answered, "I'll do whatever you say." 6She went out to the place where Boaz was working and did what Naomi had told her.
7After Boaz finished eating and drinking and was feeling happy, he went over and fell asleep near the pile of grain. Ruth slipped over quietly. She lifted the cover and lay down near his feet.
8In the middle of the night, Boaz suddenly woke up and was shocked to see a woman lying at his feet. 9"Who are you?" he asked.
"Sir, I am Ruth," she answered, "and you are the relative who is supposed to take care of me. So spread the edge of your cover over me." [e] 10Boaz replied:
The LORD bless you! This shows how truly loyal you are to your family. You could have looked for a younger man, either rich or poor, but you didn't. 11Don't worry, I'll do what you have asked. You are respected by everyone in town.
12It's true that I am one of the relatives who is supposed to take care of you, but there is someone who is an even closer relative. 13Stay here until morning, then I will find out if he is willing to look after you. If he isn't, I promise by the living God to do it myself. Now go back to sleep until morning.
14Ruth lay down again, but she got up before daylight, because Boaz did not want anyone to know she had been there. 15Then he told her to spread out her cape. And he filled it with a lot of grain and placed it on her shoulder.
When Ruth got back to town, 16Naomi asked her [f] what had happened, and Ruth told her everything. 17She also said, "Boaz gave me this grain, because he didn't want me to come back without something for you." 18Naomi replied, "Just be patient and don't worry about what will happen. He won't rest until everything is settled today!"
Ruth 4
Ruth and Boaz Get Married
1In the meanwhile, Boaz had gone to the meeting place at the town gate and was sitting there when the other close relative came by. So Boaz invited him to come over and sit down, and he did. 2Then Boaz got ten of the town leaders and also asked them to sit down. After they had sat down, 3he said to the man: Naomi has come back from Moab and is selling the land that belonged to her husband Elimelech. 4I am telling you about this, since you are his closest relative and have the right to buy the property. If you want it, you can buy it now. These ten men and the others standing here can be witnesses. But if you don't want the property, let me know, because I am next in line.The man replied, "I will buy it!"
5"If you do buy it from Naomi," Boaz told him, "you must also marry Ruth. Then if you have a son by her, the property will stay in the family of Ruth's first husband."
6The man answered, "If that's the case, I don't want to buy it! That would make problems with the property I already own. [g] You may buy it yourself, because I cannot." 7To make a sale legal in those days, one person would take off a sandal and give it to the other. 8So after the man had agreed to let Boaz buy the property, he took off one of his sandals and handed it to Boaz.
9Boaz told the town leaders and everyone else:
All of you are witnesses that today I have bought from Naomi the property that belonged to Elimelech and his two sons, Chilion and Mahlon. 10You are also witnesses that I have agreed to marry Mahlon's widow Ruth, the Moabite woman. This will keep the property in his family's name, and he will be remembered in this town.
11The town leaders and the others standing there said:
We are witnesses to this. And we pray that the LORD will give your wife many children, just as he did Leah and Rachel, the wives of Jacob. May you be a rich man in the tribe of Ephrath and an important man in Bethlehem. 12May the children you have by this young woman make your family as famous as the family of Perez, [h] the son of Tamar and Judah. 13Boaz married Ruth, and the LORD blessed her with a son. 14After his birth, the women said to Naomi:
Praise the LORD! Today he has given you a grandson to take care of you. We pray that the boy will grow up to be famous everywhere in Israel. 15He will [i] make you happy and take care of you in your old age, because he is the son of your daughter-in-law. And she loves you more than seven sons of your own would love you. 16Naomi loved the boy and took good care of him. 17The neighborhood women named him Obed, but they called him "Naomi's Boy."
When Obed grew up he had a son named Jesse, who later became the father of King David. 18-22Here is a list of the ancestors of David: Jesse, Obed, Boaz, Salmon, Nahshon, Amminadab, Ram, Hezron, and Perez.
Footnotes:
- Ruth 2:1 grain left. . . workers: It was the custom at harvest time to leave some grain in the field for the poor to pick up (see Leviticus 19.10; 23.22).
- Ruth 2:7 she has. . . rest: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
- Ruth 2:20 He: Or "The LORD."
- Ruth 3:4 lift the cover. . . feet: To ask for protection and possibly for marriage.
- Ruth 3:9 So. . . me: To show that he would protect and take care of her.
- Ruth 3:16 When. . . her: Some Hebrew manuscripts and two ancient translations; most Hebrew manuscripts "Boaz went back to town. !sr16Naomi asked Ruth."
- Ruth 4:6 property. . . own: This property would then have to be shared with Ruth and her children as well as with his own family.
- Ruth 4:12 Perez: One of the sons of Judah; he was an ancestor of Boaz and of many others who lived in Bethlehem.
- Ruth 4:15 We pray that. . . famous. . . !sr15 He will: Or "We pray that the LORD will be praised everywhere in Israel. !sr15Your grandson will."
John 4:43-54 (Contemporary English Version)
Jesus Heals an Official's Son
(Matthew 8.5-13; Luke 7.1-10)
43-44Jesus had said, "Prophets are honored everywhere, except in their own country." Then two days later he left 45and went to Galilee. The people there welcomed him, because they had gone to the festival in Jerusalem and had seen everything he had done. 46While Jesus was in Galilee, he returned to the village of Cana, where he had turned the water into wine. There was an official in Capernaum whose son was sick. 47And when the man heard that Jesus had come from Judea, he went and begged him to keep his son from dying.48Jesus told the official, "You won't have faith unless you see miracles and wonders!"
49The man replied, "Lord, please come before my son dies!"
50Jesus then said, "Your son will live. Go on home to him." The man believed Jesus and started back home.
51Some of the official's servants met him along the road and told him, "Your son is better!" 52He asked them when the boy got better, and they answered, "The fever left him yesterday at one o'clock."
53The boy's father realized that at one o'clock the day before, Jesus had told him, "Your son will live!" So the man and everyone in his family put their faith in Jesus.
54This was the second miracle [a] that Jesus worked after he left Judea and went to Galilee.
Footnotes:
- John 4:54 miracle: See the note at 2.11.
Psalm 105:16-36 (Contemporary English Version)
16God kept crops from growing
until food was scarce
everywhere in the land.
17But he had already sent Joseph,
sold as a slave into Egypt,
18with chains of iron
around his legs and neck.
19Joseph remained a slave
until his own words
had come true,
and the LORD had finished
testing him.
20Then the king of Egypt
set Joseph free
21and put him in charge
of everything he owned.
22Joseph was in command
of the officials,
and he taught the leaders
how to use wisdom.
23Jacob and his family
came
and settled in Egypt
as foreigners.
24They were the LORD's people,
so he let them grow stronger
than their enemies.
25They served the LORD,
and he made the Egyptians plan
hateful things against them.
26God sent his servant Moses.
He also chose and sent Aaron
27to his people in Egypt,
and they worked miracles
and wonders there.
28Moses and Aaron obeyed God,
and he sent darkness
to cover Egypt.
29God turned their rivers
into streams of blood,
and the fish all died.
30Frogs were everywhere,
even in the royal palace.
31When God gave the command,
flies and gnats
swarmed all around.
32In place of rain,
God sent hailstones
and flashes of lightning.
33He destroyed their grapevines
and their fig trees,
and he made splinters
of all the other trees.
34God gave the command,
and more grasshoppers came
than could be counted.
35They ate every green plant
and all the crops that grew
in the land of Egypt.
36Then God took the life
of every first-born son.
until food was scarce
everywhere in the land.
17But he had already sent Joseph,
sold as a slave into Egypt,
18with chains of iron
around his legs and neck.
19Joseph remained a slave
until his own words
had come true,
and the LORD had finished
testing him.
20Then the king of Egypt
set Joseph free
21and put him in charge
of everything he owned.
22Joseph was in command
of the officials,
and he taught the leaders
how to use wisdom.
23Jacob and his family
came
and settled in Egypt
as foreigners.
24They were the LORD's people,
so he let them grow stronger
than their enemies.
25They served the LORD,
and he made the Egyptians plan
hateful things against them.
26God sent his servant Moses.
He also chose and sent Aaron
27to his people in Egypt,
and they worked miracles
and wonders there.
28Moses and Aaron obeyed God,
and he sent darkness
to cover Egypt.
29God turned their rivers
into streams of blood,
and the fish all died.
30Frogs were everywhere,
even in the royal palace.
31When God gave the command,
flies and gnats
swarmed all around.
32In place of rain,
God sent hailstones
and flashes of lightning.
33He destroyed their grapevines
and their fig trees,
and he made splinters
of all the other trees.
34God gave the command,
and more grasshoppers came
than could be counted.
35They ate every green plant
and all the crops that grew
in the land of Egypt.
36Then God took the life
of every first-born son.
Proverbs 14:26-27 (Contemporary English Version)
26If you respect the LORD,
you and your children
have
a strong fortress
27and a life-giving fountain
that keeps you safe
from deadly traps.
Verse of the Day
“If you have sinned, you should tell each other what you have done. Then you can pray for one another and be healed. The prayer of an innocent person is powerful, and it can help a lot.” - James 5:16
you and your children
have
a strong fortress
27and a life-giving fountain
that keeps you safe
from deadly traps.
Verse of the Day
“If you have sinned, you should tell each other what you have done. Then you can pray for one another and be healed. The prayer of an innocent person is powerful, and it can help a lot.” - James 5:16
Today's passage is from the Contemporary
English Version.
Thought
for the Day
American actor, director, writer, and producer who worked in theatre,
radio, and film, Orson Welles wrote, “If
you want a happy ending, that depends, of course, on where you stop your
story.”
A Joke for the Day
My sister-in-law was teaching Sunday school class. The topic for the day:
Easter Sunday and the resurrection of Christ.
“What did Jesus do on this day?” she asked. There was no response, so she
gave her students a hint: “It starts with the letter R.”
One boy blurted, “Recycle!”
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