Boaz Assumes Responsibility for Ruth

4 Boaz went to the city gate and sat there. Just then, the relative about whom he had spoken was passing by. Boaz said, “Please come over here and sit, my friend.” So the man came over and sat down.

² Then Boaz chose ten men who were leaders of that city and said, “Sit here.” So they also sat down.

³ Boaz said to the man, “Naomi, who has come back from the country of Moab, is selling the field that belonged to our relative Elimelech. ⁴ So I said that I would inform you. Buy it in the presence of these men sitting here and in the presence of the leaders of our people. If you wish to buy back the property, you can buy back the property. But if you do not wish to buy back the property, tell me. Then I will know that I am next in line because there is no other relative except me.”

The man said, “I’ll buy back the property.”

⁵ Boaz continued, “When you buy the field from Naomi, you will also assume responsibility for the Moabite Ruth, the dead man’s widow. This keeps the inheritance in the dead man’s name.”

⁶ The man replied, “In that case I cannot assume responsibility for her. If I did, I would ruin my inheritance. Take all my rights to buy back the property for yourself, because I cannot assume that responsibility.”

⁷ (This is the way it used to be in Israel concerning buying back property and exchanging goods: In order to make every matter legal, a man would take off his sandal and give it to the other man. This was the way a contract was publicly approved in Israel.) ⁸ So when the man said to Boaz, “Buy it for yourself,” he took off his sandal.

⁹ Then Boaz said to the leaders and to all the people, “Today you are witnesses that I have bought from Naomi all that belonged to Elimelech and all that belonged to Chilion and Mahlon. ¹⁰ In addition, I have bought as my wife the Moabite Ruth, Mahlon’s widow, to keep the inheritance in the dead man’s name. In this way the dead man’s name will not be cut off from his relatives or from the public records. Today you are witnesses.”

¹¹ All the people who were at the gate, including the leaders, said, “We are witnesses. May the Lord make this wife, who is coming into your home, like Rachel and Leah, both of whom built our family of Israel. So show your strength of character in Ephrathah and make a name for yourself in Bethlehem. ¹² Also, from the descendant whom the Lord will give you from this young woman, may your family become like the family of Perez, the son whom Tamar gave birth to for Judah.”

Paul’s Final Instructions for the Thessalonians

3 Finally, brothers and sisters, pray that we spread the Lord’s word rapidly and that it will be honored the way it was among you. ² Also pray that we may be rescued from worthless and evil people, since not everyone shares our faith. ³ But the Lord is faithful and will strengthen you and protect you against the evil one.

⁴ The Lord gives us confidence that you are doing and will continue to do what we ordered you to do. ⁵ May the Lord direct your lives as you show God’s love and Christ’s endurance.

⁶ Brothers and sisters, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ we order you not to associate with any believer who doesn’t live a disciplined life and doesn’t follow the tradition you received from us. ⁷ You know what you must do to imitate us. We lived a disciplined life among you. ⁸ We didn’t eat anyone’s food without paying for it. Instead, we worked hard and struggled night and day in order not to be a burden to any of you. ⁹ It’s not as though we didn’t have a right to receive support. Rather, we wanted to set an example for you to follow. ¹⁰ While we were with you, we gave you the order: “Whoever doesn’t want to work shouldn’t be allowed to eat.”

¹¹ We hear that some of you are not living disciplined lives. You’re not working, so you go around interfering in other people’s lives. ¹² We order and encourage such people by the Lord Jesus Christ to pay attention to their own work so they can support themselves. ¹³ Brothers and sisters, we can’t allow ourselves to get tired of doing what is right.

The Family Line of Jesus Christ

1 This is the list of ancestors of Jesus Christ, descendant of David and Abraham.

¹⁷ So there were