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Ruth 2

2. Ruth Meets Boaz

Ruth Meets Boaz

 2

Now Naomi had a kinsman on her husband’s side, a prominent rich man, of the family of Elimelech, whose name was Boaz.²And Ruth the Moabite said to Naomi, “Let me go to the field and glean among the ears of grain, behind someone in whose sight I may find favor.” She said to her, “Go, my daughter.”³So she went. She came and gleaned in the field behind the reapers. As it happened, she came to the part of the field belonging to Boaz, who was of the family of Elimelech.⁴Just then Boaz came from Bethlehem. He said to the reapers, “The Lord be with you.” They answered, “The Lord bless you.”⁵Then Boaz said to his servant who was in charge of the reapers, “To whom does this young woman belong?”⁶The servant who was in charge of the reapers answered, “She is the Moabite who came back with Naomi from the country of Moab.⁷She said, ‘Please, let me glean and gather among the sheaves behind the reapers.’ So she came, and she has been on her feet from early this morning until now, without resting even for a moment.”

⁸ Then Boaz said to Ruth, “Now listen, my daughter, do not go to glean in another field or leave this one, but keep close to my young women.⁹Keep your eyes on the field that is being reaped, and follow behind them. I have ordered the young men not to bother you. If you get thirsty, go to the vessels and drink from what the young men have drawn.”¹⁰Then she fell prostrate, with her face to the ground, and said to him, “Why have I found favor in your sight, that you should take notice of me, when I am a foreigner?”¹¹But Boaz answered her, “All that you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband has been fully told me, and how you left your father and mother and your native land and came to a people that you did not know before.¹²May the Lord reward you for your deeds, and may you have a full reward from the Lord, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come for refuge!”¹³Then she said, “May I continue to find favor in your sight, my lord, for you have comforted me and spoken kindly to your servant, even though I am not one of your servants.”

¹⁴ At mealtime Boaz said to her, “Come here, and eat some of this bread, and dip your morsel in the sour wine.” So she sat beside the reapers, and he heaped up for her some parched grain. She ate until she was satisfied, and she had some left over.¹⁵When she got up to glean, Boaz instructed his young men, “Let her glean even among the standing sheaves, and do not reproach her.¹⁶You must also pull out some handfuls for her from the bundles, and leave them for her to glean, and do not rebuke her.”

¹⁷ So she gleaned in the field until evening. Then she beat out what she had gleaned, and it was about an ephah of barley.¹⁸She picked it up and came into the town, and her mother-in-law saw how much she had gleaned. Then she took out and gave her what was left over after she herself had been satisfied.¹⁹Her mother-in-law said to her, “Where did you glean today? And where have you worked? Blessed be the man who took notice of you.” So she told her mother-in-law with whom she had worked, and said, “The name of the man with whom I worked today is Boaz.”²⁰Then Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, “Blessed be he by the Lord, whose kindness has not forsaken the living or the dead!” Naomi also said to her, “The man is a relative of ours, one of our nearest kin.”²¹Then Ruth the Moabite said, “He even said to me, ‘Stay close by my servants, until they have finished all my harvest.’ ”²²Naomi said to Ruth, her daughter-in-law, “It is better, my daughter, that you go out with his young women, otherwise you might be bothered in another field.”²³So she stayed close to the young women of Boaz, gleaning until the end of the barley and wheat harvests; and she lived with her mother-in-law.

Ephesians 1:20-23

1. Spiritual Blessings in Christ

²⁰God put this power to work in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places,²¹far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the age to come.²²And he has put all things under his feet and has made him the head over all things for the church,²³which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.

Psalm 64

64. Psalm 64

Psalm 64

Prayer for Protection from Enemies

To the leader. A Psalm of David.

1

Hear my voice, O God, in my complaint;

preserve my life from the dread enemy.

2

Hide me from the secret plots of the wicked,

from the scheming of evildoers,

3

who whet their tongues like swords,

who aim bitter words like arrows,

4

shooting from ambush at the blameless;

they shoot suddenly and without fear.

5

They hold fast to their evil purpose;

they talk of laying snares secretly,

thinking, “Who can see us?

6

Who can search out our crimes?

We have thought out a cunningly conceived plot.”

For the human heart and mind are deep.

 

7

But God will shoot his arrow at them;

they will be wounded suddenly.

8

Because of their tongue he will bring them to ruin;

all who see them will shake with horror.

9

Then everyone will fear;

they will tell what God has brought about,

and ponder what he has done.

 

10

Let the righteous rejoice in the Lord

and take refuge in him.

Let all the upright in heart glory.