Ruth 3 - 4, Titus 1 - 2, Proverbs 6 — Legacy Standard Bible

Boaz Will Redeem Ruth

3Then Naomi her mother-in-law said to her, “My daughter, shall I not seek a state of rest for you, that it may be well with you? ²“And now, is not Boaz ^aour ¹kinsman, with whose young women you were? Behold, he is winnowing barley at the threshing floor tonight. ³“So you shall wash yourself and anoint yourself and put on your best clothes, and you shall go down to the threshing floor; but do not make yourself known to the man until he has finished eating and drinking. ⁴“Let it be that when he lies down, you shall know the place where he lies, and you shall go and uncover his feet and lie down; then he will tell you what you shall do.” ⁵She said to her, “^aAll that you say I will do.”

⁶So she went down to the threshing floor and did according to all that her mother-in-law had commanded her. ⁷And Boaz ate and drank and ^ahis heart was merry, and he went to lie down at the end of the heap of grain; and she came secretly and uncovered his feet and lay down. ⁸Then it happened in the middle of the night that the man was startled and ¹bent forward; and behold, a woman was lying at his feet. ⁹And he said, “Who are you?” And she answered, “I am Ruth your maidservant. So spread your ^awing over your maidservant, for you are a kinsman redeemer.” ¹⁰Then he said, “^aMay you be blessed of Yahweh, my daughter. You have shown your last lovingkindness to be better than the first by not going after young men, whether poor or rich. ¹¹“So now, my daughter, do not fear. All that you say, I will do for you; for all my people within the gates of the city know that you are ^aa woman of excellence. ¹²“But now it is true I am a kinsman redeemer; however, there is a kinsman redeemer closer than I. ¹³“Stay this night, and it will be in the morning that, ^aif he will ¹redeem you, good; let him redeem you. But if he does not desire to ²redeem you, then I will redeem you, ^bas Yahweh lives. Lie down until morning.”

¹⁴So she lay at his feet until morning and rose before one could recognize another; and he said, “^aLet it not be known that the woman came to the threshing floor.” ¹⁵And he said, “Give me the cloak that is on you and hold it.” So she held it, and he measured six measures of barley and placed it on her. Then ¹she went into the city. ¹⁶Then she came to her mother-in-law, and she said, “¹How did it go, my daughter?” And she told her all that the man had done for her. ¹⁷She said, “These six measures of barley he gave to me, for he said, ‘Do not go to your mother-in-law empty.’” ¹⁸Then she said, “Sit, then, my daughter, until you know how the matter falls into place; for the man will not remain quiet until he has finished the matter today.”

Ruth Becomes Boaz’ Wife

4Now Boaz went up to the gate and sat down there, and behold, ^athe kinsman redeemer of whom Boaz spoke was passing by, so he said, “Turn aside, ¹my fellow, sit down here.” And he turned aside and sat down. ²Then he took ten men of the ^aelders of the city and said, “Sit down here.” So they sat down. ³Then he said to the kinsman redeemer, “Naomi, who has come back from the fields of Moab, has to sell the portion of the field ^awhich belonged to our brother Elimelech. ⁴“So I thought to uncover this matter in your hearing, saying, ‘^aAcquire it before those who are sitting here and before the elders of my people. If you will redeem it, redeem it; but if no one redeems it, tell me that I may know; for ^bthere is no one but you to redeem it, and I am after you.’” And he said, “I will redeem it.” ⁵Then Boaz said, “On the day you acquire the field from the hand of Naomi, you must also ¹acquire Ruth the Moabitess, the widow of the one who had died, in order ^ato raise up the name of the one who had died, on behalf of his inheritance.” ⁶^aSo the kinsman redeemer said, “I cannot redeem it for myself, lest I ruin my own inheritance. You redeem my right of redemption for yourself, for I cannot redeem it.”

⁷Now this was ^athe custom in former times in Israel concerning the right of redemption and the exchange of land to establish any matter: a man removed his sandal and gave it to another; and this was the manner of attestation in Israel. ⁸So the kinsman redeemer said to Boaz, “Acquire this for yourself.” And he removed his sandal. ⁹Then Boaz said to the elders and all the people, “You are witnesses today that I have acquired all that belonged to Elimelech and all that belonged to Chilion and Mahlon from the hand of Naomi. ¹⁰“And also, I have acquired Ruth the Moabitess, the widow of Mahlon, to be my wife in order to raise up the name of the one who had died, on behalf of his inheritance, so ^athat the name of the one who had died will not be cut off from his brothers or from the gate of his birth place; you are witnesses today.” ¹¹And all the people who were in the gate, and the elders, said, “We are witnesses. May Yahweh grant the woman who is coming into your home to be ^alike Rachel and Leah, both of whom built the house of Israel, and so you shall ¹achieve ²excellence in Ephrathah and shall ³proclaim your name in Bethlehem. ¹²“Moreover, may your house be like the house of ^aPerez whom Tamar bore to Judah, through the seed which Yahweh will grant you by this young woman.”

¹³So Boaz took Ruth, and she became his wife, and he went in to her. And ^aYahweh granted her conception, and she gave birth to a son. ¹⁴Then the ^awomen said to Naomi, “Blessed is Yahweh who has not left you without a ¹kinsman redeemer today, and may his name ²be proclaimed in Israel. ¹⁵“May he also be to you a restorer of your soul and a sustainer of your ¹old age; for your daughter-in-law, who loves you ²^,^aand is better to you than seven sons, has given birth to him.”

The Generations of David

¹⁶Then Naomi took the child ¹and put him on her bosom and became his nurse. ¹⁷The neighbor women gave him a name, saying, “A son has been born to Naomi!” So they named him Obed. He is the father of Jesse, the father of David.

¹⁸Now these are the generations of Perez: ^aPerez became the father of Hezron,

¹⁹and Hezron became the father of Ram, and Ram became the father of Amminadab, ²⁰and Amminadab became the father of Nahshon, and Nahshon became the father of ¹Salmah, ²¹and Salmon became the father of Boaz, and Boaz became the father of Obed, ²²and Obed became the father of Jesse, and Jesse became the father of David.

Footnotes

3:21 Or acquaintance
3:81 Lit twisted himself
3:131 Or act as close relative to
3:132 Or act as close relative to
3:151 As in many mss; M.T. he
3:161 Lit Who are you?
4:11 Lit a certain one
4:51 Or acquire it from Ruth
4:111 Lit do
4:112 Or wealth, valor
4:113 Or have your name called out
4:141 Or closest relative
4:142 Lit be called in
4:151 Or gray hair
4:152 Lit who
4:161 As her own
4:201 A variant spelling of Salmon, cf. 4:21

Cross references

3:2a Deut 25:5-10
3:5a Eph 6:1; Col 3:20
3:7a Judg 19:6; 9; 2 Sam 13:28; 1 Kin 21:7; Esth 1:10
3:9a Ruth 2:12
3:10a Ruth 2:20
3:11a Prov 12:4; 31:10
3:13a Deut 25:5; Matt 22:24
3:13b Judg 8:19; Jer 4:2; 12:16
3:14a Rom 14:16; 2 Cor 8:21
4:1a Ruth 3:12
4:2a 1 Kin 21:8; Prov 31:23
4:3a Lev 25:25
4:4a Jer 32:7f
4:4b Lev 25:25
4:5a Gen 38:8; Deut 25:5f; Matt 22:24
4:6a Lev 25:25
4:7a Deut 25:8-10
4:10a Deut 25:6
4:11a Gen 29:25-30
4:12a Gen 38:29; 46:12; Ruth 4:18
4:13a Gen 29:31; 33:5
4:14a Luke 1:58
4:15a Ruth 1:16; 17; 2:11; 12
4:18a Matt 1:3-6

Greetings and Grace

1Paul, ^aa slave of God and an ^bapostle of Jesus Christ, ¹for the faith of God’s ^celect and ^dthe full knowledge of the truth which is ^eaccording to godliness, ²in ^athe hope of eternal life, which the God ^bwho cannot lie ^cpromised ¹^,^dfrom all eternity, ³but ^aat the proper time manifested His word in ^bpreaching, ^cwith which I was entrusted ^daccording to the commandment of ^eGod our Savior,

⁴To ^aTitus, ^bmy genuine child according to our ^ccommon faith: ^dGrace and peace from God the Father and ^eChrist Jesus our Savior.

Qualifications of Elders

⁵For this reason I left you in ^aCrete, that you would set in order what remains and ^bappoint ^celders in every city as I directed you, ⁶namely, ^aif any man is beyond reproach, the ^bhusband of one wife, having faithful children, who are not accused of ^cdissipation, or ^drebellious. ⁷For the ¹^,^aoverseer must be beyond reproach as ^bGod’s steward, not ^cself-willed, not quick-tempered, not ^daddicted to wine, not pugnacious, ^enot fond of dishonest gain, ⁸but ^ahospitable, ^bloving what is good, sensible, righteous, holy, self-controlled, ⁹^aholding fast the faithful word which is in accordance with the teaching, so that he will be able both to exhort in ^bsound doctrine and to reprove those who contradict.

¹⁰^aFor there are many ^brebellious men, ^cempty talkers and deceivers, especially ^dthose of the circumcision, ¹¹who must be silenced because they are upsetting ^awhole families, teaching ^bthings they should not teach ^cfor the sake of dishonest gain. ¹²One of themselves, a prophet of their own, said, “^aCretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons.” ¹³This testimony is true. For this reason ^areprove them ^bseverely so that they may be ^csound in the faith, ¹⁴not paying attention to Jewish ^amyths and ^bcommandments of men who ^cturn away from the truth. ¹⁵^aTo the pure, all things are pure, but ^bto those who are defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure, but both their ^cmind and their conscience are defiled. ¹⁶^aThey profess to know God, but by their works they ^bdeny Him, being ^cdetestable and ^ddisobedient and ^eunfit ^ffor any good work.

Instructions for the Older and Younger

2But as for you, speak the things which are proper for ^asound doctrine. ²^aOlder men are to be ^btemperate, dignified, sensible, ^csound ^din faith, in love, in ¹perseverance.

³Older women likewise are to be reverent in their behavior, ^anot malicious gossips nor ^benslaved to much wine, teaching what is good, ⁴so that they may instruct the young women in sensibility: to love their husbands, to love their children, ⁵to be sensible, pure, ^aworkers at home, kind, being ^bsubject to their own husbands, ^cso that the word of God will not be slandered.

⁶Likewise urge ^athe younger men to be ¹sensible; ⁷in all things show yourself to be ^aa model of good works, with ¹purity in doctrine, dignified, ⁸sound in word which is irreproachable, so ^athat the opponent will be put to shame, having nothing bad to say about us.

⁹Urge ^aslaves to be subject to their own masters in everything, to be pleasing, not contradicting, ¹⁰not pilfering, but demonstrating all good faith so that they will adorn the doctrine of ^aGod our Savior in everything.

¹¹For the grace of God has ^aappeared, ¹^,^bbringing salvation to all men, ¹²¹instructing us that, denying ungodliness and ^aworldly desires, we should ^blive sensibly, righteously, and godly ^cin the present age, ¹³looking for the blessed hope and the ^aappearing of the glory of ¹^,^bour great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, ¹⁴who ^agave Himself for us ^bthat He might redeem us from all lawlessness, and ^cpurify for Himself a ^dpeople for His own possession, ^ezealous for good works.

¹⁵These things speak and ^aexhort and ^breprove with all ¹authority. ^cLet no one disregard you.

Practical Warnings

6My son, if you have become a ^aguarantor for your neighbor,Have struck your ¹hands in pledge for a stranger,²If you have been snared with the words of your mouth,Have been caught with the words of your mouth,³Do this then, my son, and deliver yourself;Since you have come into the ¹hand of your neighbor,Go, humble yourself, and badger your neighbor.⁴Give no ^asleep to your eyes,Nor slumber to your eyelids;⁵Deliver yourself like a gazelle from the hunter’s handAnd like a ^abird from the hand of the fowler.⁶Go to the ^aant, O ^bsluggard,Observe her ways and be wise,⁷Which, having ^ano chief,Officer or ruler,⁸Prepares her food ^ain the summerAnd gathers her provision in the harvest.⁹How long will you lie down, O sluggard?When will you arise from your sleep?¹⁰“^aA little sleep, a little slumber,A little folding of the hands to ¹rest”—¹¹^aYour poverty will come in like ¹a vagabondAnd your want like ²an armed man.¹²A ^avile person, a wicked man,Is the one who walks with a ^bperverse mouth,¹³Who ^awinks with his eyes, who ¹signals with his feet,Who ²points with his fingers;¹⁴Who with ^aperversity in his heart continually ^bdevises evil,Who ¹^,^cspreads contentions.¹⁵Therefore ^ahis disaster will come suddenly;^bInstantly he will be broken and there will be ^cno healing.¹⁶There are six things which Yahweh hates,Even seven which are an abomination ¹to Him:¹⁷^aHaughty eyes, a ^blying tongue,And hands that ^cshed innocent blood,¹⁸A heart that devises ^awicked thoughts,^bFeet that hasten to run to evil,¹⁹A ^afalse witness who breathes out lies,And one who ¹^,^bspreads strife among brothers.

Warning Against Adultery

²⁰^aMy son, observe the commandment of your fatherAnd do not abandon the ¹law of your mother;²¹^aBind them continually on your heart;Tie them around your neck.²²When you ^awalk about, ¹they will lead you;When you sleep, ²they will keep watch over you;And when you awake, ³they will speak to you.²³For ^athe commandment is a lamp and the ¹law is light;And reproofs for discipline are the way of life²⁴To ^akeep you from the evil woman,From the smooth tongue of the foreign woman.²⁵^aDo not desire her beauty in your heart,Nor let her capture you with her ^beyelids.²⁶For ^aon account of ¹a harlot one is reduced to a loaf of bread,And ²an adulteress ^bhunts for the precious ³life.²⁷Can a man ¹take fire in his bosomAnd his clothes not be burned?²⁸Or can a man walk on hot coalsAnd his feet not be scorched?²⁹So is the one who ^agoes in to his neighbor’s wife;Whoever touches her ^bwill not ¹go unpunished.³⁰¹Men do not despise a thief if he stealsTo ^afill ²himself when he is hungry;³¹But when he is found, he must ^arepay sevenfold;He must give all the ¹substance of his house.³²The one who commits adultery with a woman is ^alacking a heart of wisdom;He who would ^bdestroy his soul does it.³³Wounds and disgrace he will find,And his reproach will not be blotted out.³⁴For ^ajealousy ¹enrages a man,And he will not spare in the ^bday of vengeance.³⁵He will not ¹accept any ransom,He will not be willing though you give many bribes.