Qoph

Resh

Sin and Shin

Taw

Ruth Meets Boaz

2 Now Naomi had ^(A)a relative of her husband's, a worthy man of the clan of Elimelech, whose name was ^(B)Boaz. ² And Ruth the Moabite said to Naomi, “Let me go to the field and ^(C)glean among the ears of grain after him ^(D)in whose sight I shall find favor.” And she said to her, “Go, my daughter.” ³ So she set out 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 clan of Elimelech. ⁴ And behold, Boaz came from Bethlehem. And he said to the reapers, ^(E)“The Lord be with you!” And they answered, “The Lord bless you.” ⁵ Then Boaz said to his young man who was in charge of the reapers, “Whose young woman is this?” ⁶ And the servant who was in charge of the reapers answered, “She is the young Moabite woman, ^(F)who came back with Naomi from the country of Moab. ⁷ She said, ‘Please let me glean and gather among the sheaves after the reapers.’ So she came, and she has continued from early morning until now, except for a short rest.”^[a]

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. ⁹ Let your eyes be on the field that they are reaping, and go after them. Have I not charged the young men not to touch you? And when you are thirsty, go to the vessels and drink what the young men have drawn.” ¹⁰ Then ^(G)she fell on her face, bowing to the ground, and said to him, “Why have I found favor in your eyes, that you should ^(H)take notice of me, since I am a foreigner?” ¹¹ But Boaz answered her, ^(I)“All that you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband has been fully told to me, and how you left your father and mother and your native land and came to a people that you did not know before. ^12 (J)The Lord repay you for what you have done, and a full reward be given you by the Lord, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge!” ¹³ Then she said, ^(K)“I have found favor in your eyes, my lord, for you have comforted me and spoken kindly to your servant, though I am not one of your servants.”

²³ But ^(A)I call God to witness against me—it was ^(B)to spare you that I refrained from coming again to Corinth. ²⁴ Not that we ^(C)lord it over your faith, but we work with you for your joy, for you stand firm ^(D)in your faith.

2 For I made up my mind ^(E)not to make another painful visit to you. ² For ^(F)if I cause you pain, who is there to make me glad but the one whom I have pained? ³ And I wrote as I did, so that when I came I might not suffer pain from those who should have made me rejoice, ^(G)for I felt sure of all of you, that my joy would be the joy of you all. ⁴ For ^(H)I wrote to you out of much affliction and anguish of heart and with many tears, not to cause you pain but to let you know the abundant love that I have for you.

Forgive the Sinner

⁵ Now ^(I)if anyone has caused pain, ^(J)he has caused it not to me, but ^(K)in some measure—not to put it too severely—to all of you. ⁶ For such a one, ^(L)this punishment by the majority is enough, ⁷ so ^(M)you should rather turn to forgive and comfort him, or he may be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow. ⁸ So I beg you to reaffirm your love for him. ⁹ For this is why I wrote, that I might ^(N)test you and know ^(O)whether you are obedient in everything. ¹⁰ Anyone whom you forgive, I also forgive. Indeed, what I have forgiven, if I have forgiven anything, has been for your sake in the presence of Christ, ¹¹ so that we would not be outwitted by Satan; for ^(P)we are not ignorant of his designs.

Triumph in Christ

¹² When ^(Q)I came to Troas to preach the gospel of Christ, even though ^(R)a door was opened for me in the Lord, ¹³ my spirit ^(S)was not at rest because I did not find my brother Titus there. So I took leave of them and went on to Macedonia.

¹⁴ But ^(T)thanks be to God, who in Christ always ^(U)leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads ^(V)the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere. ¹⁵ For we are the aroma of Christ to God among ^(W)those who are being saved and among ^(X)those who are perishing, ^16 (Y)to one a fragrance from death to death, ^(Z)to the other a fragrance from life to life. ^(AA)Who is sufficient for these things? ¹⁷ For we are not, like so many, peddlers of God's word, but as men of sincerity, as commissioned by God, in the sight of God we speak in Christ.

Anger

^21 (A)“You have heard that it was said to those of old, ^(B)‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable ^(C)to judgment.’ ²² But I say to you that ^(D)everyone who is angry with his brother^[a] will be liable ^(E)to judgment; whoever insults^[b] his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to ^(F)the hell^[c] of fire. ^23 (G)So if ^(H)you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, ²⁴ leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift. ^25 (I)Come to terms quickly with your accuser while you are going with him to court, lest your accuser hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the guard, and you be put in prison. ²⁶ Truly, I say to you, ^(J)you will never get out until you have paid the last penny.^[d]