Ruth 3

• 1. One day Naomi her mother-in-law said to her, "My daughter, should I not try to find a home for you, where you will be well provided for?
• 2. Is not Boaz, with whose servant girls you have been, a kinsman of ours? Tonight he will be winnowing barley on the threshing floor.
• 3. Wash and perfume yourself, and put on your best clothes. Then go down to the threshing floor, but don't let him know you are there until he has finished eating and drinking.
• 4. When he lies down, note the place where he is lying. Then go and uncover his feet and lie down. He will tell you what to do."
• 5. "I will do whatever you say," Ruth answered.
• 6. So she went down to the threshing floor and did everything her mother-in-law told her to do.
• 7. When Boaz had finished eating and drinking and was in good spirits, he went over to lie down at the far end of the grain pile. Ruth approached quietly, uncovered his feet and lay down.
• 8. In the middle of the night something startled the man, and he turned and discovered a woman lying at his feet.
• 9. "Who are you?" he asked. "I am your servant Ruth," she said. "Spread the corner of your garment over me, since you are a kinsman-redeemer."
• 10. "The LORD bless you, my daughter," he replied. "This kindness is greater than that which you showed earlier: You have not run after the younger men, whether rich or poor.
• 11. And now, my daughter, don't be afraid. I will do for you all you ask. All my fellow townsmen know that you are a woman of noble character.
• 12. Although it is true that I am near of kin, there is a kinsman-redeemer nearer than I.
• 13. Stay here for the night, and in the morning if he wants to redeem, good; let him redeem. But if he is not willing, as surely as the LORD lives I will do it. Lie here until morning."
• 14. So she lay at his feet until morning, but got up before anyone could be recognized; and he said, "Don't let it be known that a woman came to the threshing floor."
• 15. He also said, "Bring me the shawl you are wearing and hold it out." When she did so, he poured into it six measures of barley and put it on her. Then he went back to town.
• 16. When Ruth came to her mother-in-law, Naomi asked, "How did it go, my daughter?" Then she told her everything Boaz had done for her
• 17. and added, "He gave me these six measures of barley, saying, 'Don't go back to your mother-in-law empty-handed.'"
• 18. Then Naomi said, "Wait, my daughter, until you find out what happens. For the man will not rest until the matter is settled today."

Ruth 4

• 1. Meanwhile Boaz went up to the town gate and sat there. When the kinsman-redeemer he had mentioned came along, Boaz said, "Come over here, my friend, and sit down." So he went over and sat down.
• 2. Boaz took ten of the elders of the town and said, "Sit here," and they did so.
• 3. Then he said to the kinsman-redeemer, "Naomi, who has come back from Moab, is selling the piece of land that belonged to our brother Elimelech.
• 4. I thought I should bring the matter to your attention and suggest that you buy it in the presence of these seated here and in the presence of the elders of my people. If you will redeem it, do so. But if you will not, tell me, so I will know. For no one has the right to do it except you, and I am next in line.I will redeem it," he said.
• 5. Then Boaz said, "On the day you buy the land from Naomi and from Ruth the Moabitess, you acquire the dead man's widow, in order to maintain the name of the dead with his property."
• 6. At this, the kinsman-redeemer said, "Then I cannot redeem it because I might endanger my own estate. You redeem it yourself. I cannot do it."
• 7. (Now in earlier times in Israel, for the redemption and transfer of property to become final, one party took off his sandal and gave it to the other. This was the method of legalizing transactions in Israel.)
• 8. So the kinsman-redeemer said to Boaz, "Buy it yourself." And he removed his sandal.
• 9. Then Boaz announced to the elders and all the people, "Today you are witnesses that I have bought from Naomi all the property of Elimelech, Kilion and Mahlon.
• 10. I have also acquired Ruth the Moabitess, Mahlon's widow, as my wife, in order to maintain the name of the dead with his property, so that his name will not disappear from among his family or from the town records. Today you are witnesses!"
• 11. Then the elders and all those at the gate said, "We are witnesses. May the LORD make the woman who is coming into your home like Rachel and Leah, who together built up the house of Israel. May you have standing in Ephrathah and be famous in Bethlehem.
• 12. Through the offspring the LORD gives you by this young woman, may your family be like that of Perez, whom Tamar bore to Judah."
• 13. So Boaz took Ruth and she became his wife. Then he went to her, and the LORD enabled her to conceive, and she gave birth to a son.
• 14. The women said to Naomi: "Praise be to the LORD, who this day has not left you without a kinsman-redeemer. May he become famous throughout Israel!
• 15. He will renew your life and sustain you in your old age. For your daughter-in-law, who loves you and who is better to you than seven sons, has given him birth."
• 16. Then Naomi took the child, laid him in her lap and cared for him.
• 17. The women living there said, "Naomi has a son." And they named him Obed. He was the father of Jesse, the father of David.
• 18. This, then, is the family line of Perez: Perez was the father of Hezron,
• 19. Hezron the father of Ram, Ram the father of Amminadab,
• 20. Amminadab the father of Nahshon, Nahshon the father of Salmon,
• 21. Salmon the father of Boaz, Boaz the father of Obed,
• 22. Obed the father of Jesse, and Jesse the father of David.

Acts 28

• 1. Once safely on shore, we found out that the island was called Malta.
• 2. The islanders showed us unusual kindness. They built a fire and welcomed us all because it was raining and cold.
• 3. Paul gathered a pile of brushwood and, as he put it on the fire, a viper, driven out by the heat, fastened itself on his hand.
• 4. When the islanders saw the snake hanging from his hand, they said to each other, "This man must be a murderer; for though he escaped from the sea, Justice has not allowed him to live."
• 5. But Paul shook the snake off into the fire and suffered no ill effects.
• 6. The people expected him to swell up or suddenly fall dead, but after waiting a long time and seeing nothing unusual happen to him, they changed their minds and said he was a god.
• 7. There was an estate nearby that belonged to Publius, the chief official of the island. He welcomed us to his home and for three days entertained us hospitably.
• 8. His father was sick in bed, suffering from fever and dysentery. Paul went in to see him and, after prayer, placed his hands on him and healed him.
• 9. When this had happened, the rest of the sick on the island came and were cured.
• 10. They honored us in many ways and when we were ready to sail, they furnished us with the supplies we needed.
• 11. After three months we put out to sea in a ship that had wintered in the island. It was an Alexandrian ship with the figurehead of the twin gods Castor and Pollux.
• 12. We put in at Syracuse and stayed there three days.
• 13. From there we set sail and arrived at Rhegium. The next day the south wind came up, and on the following day we reached Puteoli.
• 14. There we found some brothers who invited us to spend a week with them. And so we came to Rome.
• 15. The brothers there had heard that we were coming, and they traveled as far as the Forum of Appius and the Three Taverns to meet us. At the sight of these men Paul thanked God and was encouraged.
• 16. When we got to Rome, Paul was allowed to live by himself, with a soldier to guard him.
• 17. Three days later he called together the leaders of the Jews. When they had assembled, Paul said to them: "My brothers, although I have done nothing against our people or against the customs of our ancestors, I was arrested in Jerusalem and handed over to the Romans.
• 18. They examined me and wanted to release me, because I was not guilty of any crime deserving death.
• 19. But when the Jews objected, I was compelled to appeal to Caesar--not that I had any charge to bring against my own people.
• 20. For this reason I have asked to see you and talk with you. It is because of the hope of Israel that I am bound with this chain."
• 21. They replied, "We have not received any letters from Judea concerning you, and none of the brothers who have come from there has reported or said anything bad about you.
• 22. But we want to hear what your views are, for we know that people everywhere are talking against this sect."
• 23. They arranged to meet Paul on a certain day, and came in even larger numbers to the place where he was staying. From morning till evening he explained and declared to them the kingdom of God and tried to convince them about Jesus from the Law of Moses and from the Prophets.
• 24. Some were convinced by what he said, but others would not believe.
• 25. They disagreed among themselves and began to leave after Paul had made this final statement: "The Holy Spirit spoke the truth to your forefathers when he said through Isaiah the prophet:
• 26. "'Go to this people and say, "You will be ever hearing but never understanding; you will be ever seeing but never perceiving."
• 27. For this people's heart has become calloused; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts and turn, and I would heal them.'
• 28. "Therefore I want you to know that God's salvation has been sent to the Gentiles, and they will listen!"
• 29. See Footnote
• 30. For two whole years Paul stayed there in his own rented house and welcomed all who came to see him.
• 31. Boldly and without hindrance he preached the kingdom of God and taught about the Lord Jesus Christ.

Jeremiah 38

• 1. Shephatiah son of Mattan, Gedaliah son of Pashhur, Jehucal son of Shelemiah, and Pashhur son of Malkijah heard what Jeremiah was telling all the people when he said,
• 2. "This is what the LORD says: 'Whoever stays in this city will die by the sword, famine or plague, but whoever goes over to the Babylonians will live. He will escape with his life; he will live.'
• 3. And this is what the LORD says: 'This city will certainly be handed over to the army of the king of Babylon, who will capture it.'"
• 4. Then the officials said to the king, "This man should be put to death. He is discouraging the soldiers who are left in this city, as well as all the people, by the things he is saying to them. This man is not seeking the good of these people but their ruin."
• 5. "He is in your hands," King Zedekiah answered. "The king can do nothing to oppose you."
• 6. So they took Jeremiah and put him into the cistern of Malkijah, the king's son, which was in the courtyard of the guard. They lowered Jeremiah by ropes into the cistern; it had no water in it, only mud, and Jeremiah sank down into the mud.
• 7. But Ebed-Melech, a Cushite, an official in the royal palace, heard that they had put Jeremiah into the cistern. While the king was sitting in the Benjamin Gate,
• 8. Ebed-Melech went out of the palace and said to him,
• 9. "My lord the king, these men have acted wickedly in all they have done to Jeremiah the prophet. They have thrown him into a cistern, where he will starve to death when there is no longer any bread in the city."
• 10. Then the king commanded Ebed-Melech the Cushite, "Take thirty men from here with you and lift Jeremiah the prophet out of the cistern before he dies."
• 11. So Ebed-Melech took the men with him and went to a room under the treasury in the palace. He took some old rags and worn-out clothes from there and let them down with ropes to Jeremiah in the cistern.
• 12. Ebed-Melech the Cushite said to Jeremiah, "Put these old rags and worn-out clothes under your arms to pad the ropes." Jeremiah did so,
• 13. and they pulled him up with the ropes and lifted him out of the cistern. And Jeremiah remained in the courtyard of the guard.
• 14. Then King Zedekiah sent for Jeremiah the prophet and had him brought to the third entrance to the temple of the LORD. "I am going to ask you something," the king said to Jeremiah. "Do not hide anything from me."
• 15. Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, "If I give you an answer, will you not kill me? Even if I did give you counsel, you would not listen to me."
• 16. But King Zedekiah swore this oath secretly to Jeremiah: "As surely as the LORD lives, who has given us breath, I will neither kill you nor hand you over to those who are seeking your life."
• 17. Then Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, "This is what the LORD God Almighty, the God of Israel, says: 'If you surrender to the officers of the king of Babylon, your life will be spared and this city will not be burned down; you and your family will live.
• 18. But if you will not surrender to the officers of the king of Babylon, this city will be handed over to the Babylonians and they will burn it down; you yourself will not escape from their hands.'"
• 19. King Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, "I am afraid of the Jews who have gone over to the Babylonians, for the Babylonians may hand me over to them and they will mistreat me."
• 20. "They will not hand you over," Jeremiah replied. "Obey the LORD by doing what I tell you. Then it will go well with you, and your life will be spared.
• 21. But if you refuse to surrender, this is what the LORD has revealed to me:
• 22. All the women left in the palace of the king of Judah will be brought out to the officials of the king of Babylon. Those women will say to you: "'They misled you and overcame you- those trusted friends of yours. Your feet are sunk in the mud; your friends have deserted you.'
• 23. "All your wives and children will be brought out to the Babylonians. You yourself will not escape from their hands but will be captured by the king of Babylon; and this city will be burned down."
• 24. Then Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, "Do not let anyone know about this conversation, or you may die.
• 25. If the officials hear that I talked with you, and they come to you and say, 'Tell us what you said to the king and what the king said to you; do not hide it from us or we will kill you,'
• 26. then tell them, 'I was pleading with the king not to send me back to Jonathan's house to die there.'"
• 27. All the officials did come to Jeremiah and question him, and he told them everything the king had ordered him to say. So they said no more to him, for no one had heard his conversation with the king.
• 28. And Jeremiah remained in the courtyard of the guard until the day Jerusalem was captured.

New International Version

217 | 218 | 219 | 220 | 221 | Day 222 | 223 | 224 | 225 | 226 | 227 |