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Ruth 4

4. Boaz Marries Ruth

The Marriage of Boaz and Ruth

 4

No sooner had Boaz gone up to the gate and sat down there than the next-of-kin, of whom Boaz had spoken, came passing by. So Boaz said, “Come over, friend; sit down here.” And he went over and sat down.²Then Boaz took ten men of the elders of the city, and said, “Sit down here”; so they sat down.³He then said to the next-of-kin, “Naomi, who has come back from the country of Moab, is selling the parcel of land that belonged to our kinsman Elimelech.⁴So I thought I would tell you of it, and say: Buy it in the presence of those sitting here, and in the presence of the elders of my people. If you will redeem it, redeem it; but if you will not, tell me, so that I may know; for there is no one prior to you to redeem it, and I come after you.” So he said, “I will redeem it.”⁵Then Boaz said, “The day you acquire the field from the hand of Naomi, you are also acquiring Ruth the Moabite, the widow of the dead man, to maintain the dead man’s name on his inheritance.”⁶At this, the next-of-kin said, “I cannot redeem it for myself without damaging my own inheritance. Take my right of redemption yourself, for I cannot redeem it.”

⁷ Now this was the custom in former times in Israel concerning redeeming and exchanging: to confirm a transaction, the one took off a sandal and gave it to the other; this was the manner of attesting in Israel.⁸So when the next-of-kin said to Boaz, “Acquire it for yourself,” he took off his sandal.⁹Then Boaz said to the elders and all the people, “Today you are witnesses that I have acquired from the hand of Naomi all that belonged to Elimelech and all that belonged to Chilion and Mahlon.¹⁰I have also acquired Ruth the Moabite, the wife of Mahlon, to be my wife, to maintain the dead man’s name on his inheritance, in order that the name of the dead may not be cut off from his kindred and from the gate of his native place; today you are witnesses.”¹¹Then all the people who were at the gate, along with the elders, said, “We are witnesses. May the Lord make the woman who is coming into your house like Rachel and Leah, who together built up the house of Israel. May you produce children in Ephrathah and bestow a name in Bethlehem;¹²and, through the children that the Lord will give you by this young woman, may your house be like the house of Perez, whom Tamar bore to Judah.”

The Genealogy of David

¹³ So Boaz took Ruth and she became his wife. When they came together, the Lord made her conceive, and she bore a son.¹⁴Then the women said to Naomi, “Blessed be the Lord, who has not left you this day without next-of-kin; and may his name be renowned in Israel!¹⁵He shall be to you a restorer of life and a nourisher of your old age; for your daughter-in-law who loves you, who is more to you than seven sons, has borne him.”¹⁶Then Naomi took the child and laid him in her bosom, and became his nurse.¹⁷The women of the neighborhood gave him a name, saying, “A son has been born to Naomi.” They named him Obed; he became the father of Jesse, the father of David.

¹⁸ Now these are the descendants of Perez: Perez became the father of Hezron,¹⁹Hezron of Ram, Ram of Amminadab,²⁰Amminadab of Nahshon, Nahshon of Salmon,²¹Salmon of Boaz, Boaz of Obed,²²Obed of Jesse, and Jesse of David.

Ephesians 2:6-10

2. Made Alive in Christ

⁶and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,⁷so that in the ages to come he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.⁸For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God—⁹not the result of works, so that no one may boast.¹⁰For we are what he has made us, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand to be our way of life.

Psalm 66

66. Psalm 66

Psalm 66

Praise for God’s Goodness to Israel

To the leader. A Song. A Psalm.

1

Make a joyful noise to God, all the earth;

2

sing the glory of his name;

give to him glorious praise.

3

Say to God, “How awesome are your deeds!

Because of your great power, your enemies cringe before you.

4

All the earth worships you;

they sing praises to you,

sing praises to your name.”Selah

 

5

Come and see what God has done:

he is awesome in his deeds among mortals.

6

He turned the sea into dry land;

they passed through the river on foot.

There we rejoiced in him,

7

who rules by his might forever,

whose eyes keep watch on the nations—

let the rebellious not exalt themselves.Selah

 

8

Bless our God, O peoples,

let the sound of his praise be heard,

9

who has kept us among the living,

and has not let our feet slip.

10

For you, O God, have tested us;

you have tried us as silver is tried.

11

You brought us into the net;

you laid burdens on our backs;

12

you let people ride over our heads;

we went through fire and through water;

yet you have brought us out to a spacious place.

 

13

I will come into your house with burnt offerings;

I will pay you my vows,

14

those that my lips uttered

and my mouth promised when I was in trouble.

15

I will offer to you burnt offerings of fatlings,

with the smoke of the sacrifice of rams;

I will make an offering of bulls and goats.Selah

 

16

Come and hear, all you who fear God,

and I will tell what he has done for me.

17

I cried aloud to him,

and he was extolled with my tongue.

18

If I had cherished iniquity in my heart,

the Lord would not have listened.

19

But truly God has listened;

he has given heed to the words of my prayer.

 

20

Blessed be God,

because he has not rejected my prayer

or removed his steadfast love from me.