Old/New Testament
1 A long time ago, when judges still ruled over Israel and the land was dried up with famine, a man from Bethlehem, which ironically means “place of bread,” left his home in Judah to live as a foreigner in the land of Moab. He traveled with his wife and their two sons. 2 His name was Elimelech, and his wife was Naomi; their two sons were called Mahlon and Chilion. They were descendants of Ephraim’s tribe from Bethlehem in Judah. They had settled and made lives for themselves in Moab, 3 but soon after, Elimelech died leaving Naomi in the care of her sons. 4 Each son married a woman from Moab—one was named Orpah, the other Ruth—and they lived together for 10 years 5 before Mahlon and Chilion died also. Naomi was left alone, without her husband and two sons.
6-7 Word had reached Moab that the Eternal One had once again brought life back to the land of Israel and blessed His people with food. Naomi prepared to return with her daughters-in-law. With Orpah and Ruth at her side, she began her journey back to Judah, leaving the place where she had lived.
Naomi (to Orpah and Ruth): 8 You have accompanied me far enough; you must both return to Moab. Go home to your mothers’ care and your people. May the Eternal show His loyal love to you just as you demonstrated it to my dead sons and me. 9 I hope He will bring you new husbands and that you will find the rest you deserve in their homes.
She drew close, kissed them, and turned to go on her way, alone. But Orpah and Ruth wailed and sobbed, crying out to her.
Orpah and Ruth: 10 Do not leave us! We insist you take us with you to live with you and your people.
Naomi: 11 Go back to your homes, my daughters. What possible reason would you have for returning with me? Do you think there are more sons inside of me? Will you marry these unborn sons? 12 Listen to me, daughters, and go back. I am too old; I will not marry again because I cannot conceive. But even if I could—if I still believed there was hope for me, or if I had a husband and conceived sons tonight— 13 would you waste a lifetime waiting for them to grow up? Would you let this hope for the future keep you from remarrying now? Of course not, my dear daughters. It is obvious that the Eternal has acted against me. My life is much too bitter for you to share with me.
14 At this Orpah and Ruth wailed and wept again. Then Orpah kissed Naomi, said goodbye, and returned the way she had come. Yet Ruth refused to let go of Naomi.
Naomi: 15 Look at your sister-in-law. She has returned to live with her people and to worship her gods; go and follow her.
16 Ruth: Stop pushing me away,
insisting that I stop following you!
Wherever you go, I will go.
Wherever you live, I will live.
Your people will be my people.
Your God will be my God.
17 Wherever you die, I will also die
and be buried there near you.
May the Eternal One punish me—
and even more so—
if anything besides death comes between us.
18 When Naomi heard this and saw Ruth’s resolve, she stopped trying to talk her out of returning to Judah. 19 The two women went on together to Bethlehem.
News of their arrival spread throughout Bethlehem. In fact, the whole community was humming with the report, with the women exclaiming, “Could it really be the same Naomi who left us so long ago?”
20 Naomi: Do not call me Naomi ever again, for I am no longer pleasant.
Call me Mara instead, for I am filled with bitterness
because the Highest One[a] has treated me bitterly.
There is a Hebrew wordplay here from Naomi, “pleasant,” to Mara, “bitterness.” Even Orpah (“neck”) turns her back on Naomi.
21 I left this place full, in spite of the famine,
but the Eternal has brought me back empty from a plentiful land.
Why would you call me “Pleasant”
when the Eternal has testified against me,
and the Highest One has brought disaster upon me?
Naomi’s story is similar to the story of Job. God tests them, as Job and Naomi have full lives. Then they go from emptiness to vindication, and finally to redemption.
22 This was how Naomi came into Bethlehem with her daughter-in-law, Ruth, from Moab. It was at the beginning of the barley harvest when they returned to the land.
2 Now Naomi’s deceased husband, Elimelech, had a relative in Bethlehem, an honorable, wealthy man named Boaz. 2 One day Ruth (the foreign woman who returned with Naomi from Moab) approached Naomi with a request.
Ruth: Let me go out into the field and pick up whatever grain is left behind the harvesters. Maybe someone will be merciful to me.
Naomi: Go ahead, my daughter.
3 Ruth left and went into the fields to pick up the gleanings, the grain that had been left behind by the harvesters. And so it was that the portion of the field she was working in belonged to Boaz, who was a part of Elimelech’s family.
4 As she was working in his field, Boaz happened to arrive from Bethlehem, and he greeted the harvesters.
Boaz: The Eternal One be with you.
Harvesters: May the Eternal bless you!
5 Then seeing Ruth, Boaz spoke to the young man in charge of the harvesters.
Boaz: Whom does this young woman belong to?
Overseer: 6 She is the Moabite woman who came back with Naomi from Moab. 7 She came and asked my permission to pick up the grain our harvesters leave behind and gather it all into sheaves for herself. Except for one small break she has been here all day, working in the field from the morning until now.
When God gives His law to the Israelites, He establishes a culture of generosity. Knowing there will be people such as widows, orphans, and resident aliens who will be too poor to farm for themselves, He set limits on how much each farmer should harvest from his own land. In Leviticus 19:9–10, farmers are told not to harvest the corners of their property or return to already-harvested rows to pick up any grain that may have been left. The remaining grain in the field is called gleanings, and those are left for the poor. In a similar law, Deuteronomy 24:19–22 explains that God does this to remind His people that once they were all poor and resident aliens themselves in Egypt. The gleaners face hard labor every day, so Ruth isn’t expecting the kindness Boaz shows her.
Boaz (to Ruth): 8 Listen to me, my daughter. Do not go and glean in any other field. In fact, do not go outside my property at all but stay with the young women who work for me following the harvesters and bundling the grain into sheaves. 9 Watch the harvesters, and see which field they are working in. Follow along behind these servants of mine. I have warned the young men not to touch you. If you are thirsty, go and get a drink from the water jars my young men have filled for the harvesters.
10 Overwhelmed, Ruth bowed down before Boaz, putting her face to the ground in front of him.
Ruth: I am just a foreigner. Why have you noticed me and treated me as if I’m one of your favorites?
Boaz: 11 I have heard your story. I know about everything you have done for your mother-in-law since your own husband died. I know you left your own mother and father, your home and your country, and you have come to live in a culture that must seem strange to you. 12 May the Eternal repay you for your sacrifices and reward you richly for what you have done. It is under the wings of Israel’s God, the Eternal One, that you have sought shelter.
Ruth: 13 I pray you will continue to look upon me with such favor, my lord. I am comforted by your kind words, even though I am not as worthy of them as even one of your servant girls.
14 Later during the meal, Boaz spoke to Ruth again.
Boaz: Come over here and have some of my food. Dip your piece of bread in the vinegar wine.
So Ruth sat down among the harvesters. Boaz also offered her some roasted grain. She ate as much as she wanted and even had some left over. 15 When her meal was finished, she got back up and returned to work. Then Boaz pulled some of the young harvesters aside and gave them instructions about her.
Boaz: Let her pick up grain from among the sheaves. Do not reprimand or humiliate her for gleaning where it is usually forbidden. 16 Instead, periodically pick out a stalk or two from the sheaves that have already been bound, and leave them for her to gather for herself. Make sure that no one gives her a hard time.
17 So Ruth worked in the field all day until the sun had nearly set. When she finished picking up the leftover ears, she beat her gathered barley grains from the stalks with a stick. All that work resulted in over 20 quarts of grain. 18 Then she carried it back to the city where her mother-in-law saw how much she had gleaned. Ruth took out the leftover food from what she could not eat of her midday meal and gave it to Naomi.
Naomi (to Ruth): 19 Where did you go to work today? Where did you glean all this from? May God bless the person who gave you this kind of attention.
So Ruth told Naomi the story of all that had happened to her that day and on whose land she had worked.
Ruth: The man I worked with today is named Boaz.
Naomi: 20 May the Eternal bless this man. He has not given up showing His covenant love toward the living and the dead.
This man is closely related to us—he is a kinsman-redeemer of our family.
The kinsman-redeemer is the closest relative and has the responsibility to save his family members from any evil or hardship.
Ruth[b]: 21 That is not all he did. Boaz also instructed me to stay with his young workers for the remainder of his grain harvesting season.
Naomi: 22 It is best that you do as he says. Stay with his young women who bind the sheaves. They will keep you safe from the hostility and danger of working in another’s field.
23 So that is what Ruth did. She kept close to Boaz’s young female servants and picked up everything they dropped. She worked hard throughout the seven weeks of the wheat and barley seasons until the harvest was complete in early summer. And this whole time she lived at her mother-in-law’s home.
3 Naomi (to Ruth): My child, it is my responsibility to find a husband and place of rest for you—a place where you will find rest and contentment. 2 You have been working alongside the young women who serve Boaz. Is he not a part of our family? Early this evening, during the late afternoon wind, he will be on the threshing floor winnowing the barley.
They toss the stalks into the wind with a fork and watch the grain fall at their feet as the stalks blow away.
3 Bathe and perfume yourself. Put on your best dress, then go down onto the threshing floor. Be careful, though. Don’t let him know you are there until he has finished eating and drinking. 4 Once he is relaxed, he will lie down to sleep. Make sure you notice where he is. Once he has lain down, go to him. Uncover his feet and lie down. He will tell you what to do.
The Hebrew euphemism “to uncover the feet” is a sexual expression; but in this context, and in light of the honorable character of Boaz and Ruth, it is clear that she is simply making herself available for marriage.
Ruth: 5 I will do everything you have told me to do.
6 So she went down to the threshing floor and followed through with everything her mother-in-law told her to do. 7 Not much later, Boaz finished eating and drinking and was in good spirits. He made his way to the end of a pile of grain and lay down there to sleep. Then very quietly, Ruth snuck to where he was lying down. She uncovered his feet and lay down at his feet. 8 Later, sometime in the middle of the night, Boaz was startled and woke up. When he rolled over and looked around, he discovered there was a woman lying at his feet!
Boaz: 9 Who are you?
Ruth: I am your servant Ruth. Spread out the hem of your garment so that it covers your servant. You are a near relative of our family.
Boaz: 10 May the Eternal bless you, my daughter, for the loyal love you are showing now is even greater than what you showed before. You have not pursued a younger man—either a rich one or a poor one. 11 You may rest easy. You have nothing to fear, my child. I will do everything you ask. Everyone in this city agrees you are a woman of virtuous character. 12 You are right that I am in line as a near relative of your family. But I am not the only one, nor the most likely. There is another man who is more closely related to you than I am.
If ever a landowner needs to lease out his land for money, then his closest relative, called the “kinsman-redeemer,” is supposed to buy the land back for his relative. The same is true if a man has to sell his family members into indentured servitude—the kinsman-redeemer is to buy back the slave. This system reflects God’s relationship with Israel; God continually saves His people from subservience to other nations. Since both Naomi and Ruth are widows without male sons, they are left in poverty. Naomi will have to lease out her husband’s land to support them, and she may eventually have to sell herself and Ruth just to stay fed. By redeeming Elimelech’s land, marrying Ruth, and eventually giving her a son, Boaz keeps the family intact as it would have been had Elimelech or either of his sons survived.
Boaz: 13 Spend the rest of the night here. In the morning, I will give him the chance to act as your kinsman-redeemer and redeem you and your family. If he is willing to do this, good. But if he is not willing to fulfill his responsibility, then as the Eternal One lives, I promise I will redeem your family by marrying you. Now remain here until morning comes.
14 So Ruth lay at his feet until early morning—then she got up to leave while it was still dark, before she could be recognized by anyone, because Boaz realized no one should know the woman was on the threshing room floor.
Boaz: 15 Now bring me the outer garment you are wearing. Hold it out, and hold on tightly.
She did so, and Boaz filled her garment with six measures of barley grain. He handed it to her; then he[c] left her and went into the town to conduct his business.
16 When Ruth returned to Naomi’s home, her mother-in-law asked her daughter what happened. Ruth related all that Boaz had said and done.
Ruth: 17 He even gave me these six measures of barley grain saying to me, “You can’t go back to your mother-in-law empty-handed.”
Naomi: 18 Now you must wait, daughter. We must wait and see what happens. Be at peace. That man will not rest today until this is resolved.
4 At that same time, Boaz went to the city gate and he sat down. Just then, the kinsman-redeemer of the family he had told Ruth about walked by.
Normally the city gate is where the business of the city is conducted.
Boaz: My friend, come and sit down with me for awhile. We have some business.
So the man came and sat down beside Boaz. 2 Before he spoke further to the man, he gathered together 10 elders from the city and asked them to preside there, which they did.
Boaz (to the kinsman-redeemer): 3 You have heard of Naomi? She is the woman who recently returned from Moab. She is transferring her rights to the plot of land belonging to her deceased husband—our relative—Elimelech. 4 I wanted you to know about it because as a close family member, you have the first right to purchase it. If you want to do so, we have enough elders sitting here to witness the transaction. If you want to become the guardian and redeem this land, it is yours. But if you[d] are not interested in doing this, tell me now. The right belongs to you, but if you refuse it, I am next in line.
Kinsman-Redeemer: Of course, I exercise my option to redeem this land.
Boaz: 5 Now, just so you know, on the day you buy this plot of land [from Naomi, you will also acquire Ruth the Moabitess; she is][e] the dead man’s widow. It will be your responsibility to make sure she has children so that they can carry on her dead husband’s name with the inheritance.
Kinsman-Redeemer: 6 Then I will not be able to redeem it. I will not put my own property at risk. I relinquish my right to redeem the land. You do it.
7 Now in the old days of Israel when this story was playing out, land was redeemed and property was transferred legally when a man involved in the sale removed one of his sandals and gave it to the other. This was how contracts were sealed in Israel. 8 So the kinsman-redeemer took off his sandal and handed it to Boaz.
Kinsman-Redeemer: It’s now your responsibility.
Boaz (to the elders and all the people): 9 Every one of you have witnessed what happened here today. I secured the rights to everything that belonged to Elimelech and his sons, Mahlon and Chilion, from Naomi. 10 I have also taken responsibility for Ruth—the woman from Moab who was married to Mahlon. She will become my wife. I will see to it that his family and this city remember Mahlon. I will raise children who will bear his name and make sure his property stays in the family. You are all witnesses to this today.
Elders and People: 11 We are witnesses of what has happened here today. May the Eternal take this woman who is becoming a part of your family today and make her like Rachel and Leah, the two women responsible for building the nation of Israel with their children. And may your reputation become well known and well respected throughout Ephrathah and Bethlehem. 12 May the children the Eternal gives you and this woman make your family like the family of Perez, who was born from a Levirate union between Judah and Tamar.[f]
13 Then Boaz took responsibility of Ruth, and they married. After they came together, Ruth conceived by the Eternal’s provision, and later she gave birth to a son.
Women (to Naomi): 14 Praise the Eternal One. He has not abandoned you. He did not leave you without a redeeming guardian. May your offspring become famous all through Israel. 15 May this child give you a new life. May he strengthen you and provide for you in your old age. Look at your daughter-in-law, Ruth. She loves you. This one devoted daughter is better to you than seven sons would be. She is the one who gave you this child.
16 Then Naomi held the child tightly in her arms and cared for him. 17 All around her, friends cried out, “Naomi has a son!” They named the child Obed because he would provide for his grandmother. Obed grew up and became the father of Jesse. Jesse, too, became a father one day, the father of David.
18 Here is the genealogy of Perez’s family: Perez was Hezron’s father. 19 Hezron was Ram’s father. Ram was Amminadab’s father. 20 Amminadab was Nahshon’s father. Nahshon was Salmon’s[g] father. 21 Salmon was Boaz’s father. Boaz was Obed’s father. 22 Obed was Jesse’s father. And Jesse was the father of David.
8 Soon after this incident, Jesus preached from city to city, village to village, carrying the good news of the kingdom of God. He was accompanied by a group called “the twelve,” 2 and also by a larger group including some women who had been rescued from evil spirits and healed of diseases. There was Mary, called Magdalene, who had been released from seven demons. 3 There were others like Susanna and Joanna, who was married to Chuza, a steward of King Herod. And there were many others too. These women played an important role in Jesus’ ministry, using their wealth to provide for Him and His other companions.
4 While a huge crowd gathered with people from many surrounding towns streaming to hear Jesus, He told them a parable.
Parables are works of art, specifically, works of short fiction. They are intricately constructed and complex in their intent. In some ways, they are intended to hide the truth; they don’t reduce truth to simple statements or formulae. Instead, they force the reader to take things to a deeper level, to engage the imagination, to think and think again. In this way, they invite people to ask questions; they stir curiosity; they create intrigue.
Jesus: 5 Once a farmer went out to scatter seed in his fields. Some seeds fell along a trail where they were crushed underfoot by people walking by. Birds flew in and ate those seeds. 6 Other seeds fell on gravel. Those seeds sprouted but soon withered, depleted of moisture under the scorching sun. 7 Still other seeds landed among thorns where they grew for a while, but eventually the thorns stunted them so they couldn’t thrive or bear fruit. 8 But some seeds fell into good soil—soft, moist, free from thorns. These seeds not only grew, but they also produced more seeds, a hundred times what the farmer originally planted. If you have ears, hear My meaning!
9 His disciples heard the words, but the deeper meaning eluded them.
Disciples: What were You trying to say?
10 Jesus: The kingdom of God contains many secrets.
They keep listening, but do not comprehend;
keep observing, but do not understand.[a]
I want you to understand, so 11 here’s the interpretation: The voice of God falls on human hearts like seeds scattered across a field. 12 Some people hear that message, but the devil opposes the liberation that would come to them by believing. So he swoops in and steals the message from their hard hearts like birds stealing the seeds from the footpath. 13 Others receive the message enthusiastically, but their vitality is short-lived because the message cannot be deeply rooted in their shallow hearts. In the heat of temptation, their faith withers, like the seeds that sprouted in gravelly soil. 14 A third group hears the message, but as time passes, the daily anxieties, the pursuit of wealth, and life’s addicting delights outpace the growth of the message in their hearts. Even if the message blossoms and fruit begins to form, the fruit never fully matures because the thorns choke out the plants’ vitality.
15 But some people hear the message and let it take root deeply in receptive hearts made fertile by honesty and goodness. With patient dependability, they bear good fruit.
16 You wouldn’t light a lamp and cover it with a clay pot. You’re not going to hide it under your bed. No, when you light it, you’re going to put it out in the open so your guests can feel welcome and see where they’re going.
17 Hidden things will always come out into the open. Secret things will come to light and be exposed. 18 I hope you’re still listening. And I hope you’re listening carefully. If you get what I’m saying, you’ll get more. If you miss My meaning, even the understanding you think you have will be taken from you.
19 Around this time, Jesus was speaking to a crowd of people gathered in a house. His mother and brothers arrived to see Him, but the crowd around Him was so huge that they couldn’t even get through the door. 20 Word spread through the crowd.
Someone from the Crowd: Jesus, Your mother and brothers are outside the house hoping to see You.
Jesus: 21 Do you want to know who My mother and brothers are? They’re the ones who truly understand God’s message and obey it.
22 Picture this:
One day Jesus and His disciples get into a boat.
Jesus: Let’s cross the lake.
So they push off from shore and begin sailing to the far side. 23 As they progress across the lake, Jesus falls sound asleep. Soon a raging storm blows in. The waves wash over the sides of the boat, and the boat starts filling up with water. Every second the situation becomes more dangerous.
24 The disciples shake Jesus and wake Him.
Disciples (shouting): Master! Master! We’re all going to die!
Jesus wakes up and tells the wind to stop whipping them around, and He tells the furious waves to calm down. They do just that. 25 Then Jesus turns to the disciples.
Jesus: What happened to your faith?
The disciples had been terrified during the storm, but now they’re afraid in another way. They turn to each other and start whispering, chattering, and wondering.
Disciples: Who is this man? How can He command wind and water so they do what He says?
The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.