One Year Bible.

Ruth’s Redemption Assured

¹One day Ruth’s mother-in-law Naomi said to her, “My daughter, should I not seek a resting place for you, that it may be well with you? ²Now is not Boaz, with whose servant girls you have been working, a relative of ours? In fact, tonight he is winnowing barley on the threshing floor. ³Therefore wash yourself, put on perfume, and wear your best clothes. Go down to the threshing floor, but do not let the man know you are there until he has finished eating and drinking. ⁴When he lies down, note the place where he lies. Then go in and uncover his feet, and lie down, and he will explain to you what you should do.”

⁵“I will do everything you say,” Ruth answered. ⁶So she went down to the threshing floor and did everything her mother-in-law had instructed her to do.

⁷After Boaz had finished eating and drinking and was in good spirits, he went to lie down at the end of the heap of grain. Then Ruth went in secretly, uncovered his feet, and lay down.

⁸At midnight, Boaz was startled, turned over, and there lying at his feet was a woman!

⁹“Who are you?” he asked.

“I am your servant Ruth,” she replied. “Spread the corner of your garment over me, for you are a kinsman-redeemer.”

¹⁰Then Boaz said, “May the LORD bless you, my daughter. You have shown more kindness now than before, because you have not run after the younger men, whether rich or poor. ¹¹And now do not be afraid, my daughter. I will do for you whatever you request, since all my fellow townspeople know that you are a woman of noble character. ¹²Yes, it is true that I am a kinsman-redeemer, but there is a redeemer nearer than I. ¹³Stay here tonight, and in the morning, if he wants to redeem you, good. Let him redeem you. But if he does not want to redeem you, as surely as the LORD lives, I will. Now lie here until morning.”

¹⁴So she lay down at his feet until morning, but she got up before anyone else could recognize her.

Then Boaz said, “Do not let it be known that a woman came to the threshing floor.” ¹⁵And he told her, “Bring the shawl you are wearing and hold it out.” When she did so, he poured in six measures of barley and placed it on her. Then he went into the city.

¹⁶When Ruth returned to her mother-in-law, Naomi asked her, “How did it go, my daughter?”

Then Ruth told her all that Boaz had done for her. ¹⁷And she said, “He gave me these six measures of barley, for he said, ‘Do not go back to your mother-in-law empty-handed.’”

¹⁸“Wait, my daughter,” said Naomi, “until you find out how things go, for he will not rest unless he has resolved the matter today.”

Boaz Redeems Ruth

¹Meanwhile, Boaz went to the gate and sat down there. Soon the kinsman-redeemer of whom he had spoken came along, and Boaz said, “Come over here, my friend, and sit down.” So he went over and sat down.

²Then Boaz took ten of the elders of the city and said, “Sit here,” and they did so.

³And he said to the kinsman-redeemer, “Naomi, who has returned from the land of Moab, is selling the piece of land that belonged to our brother Elimelech. ⁴I thought I should inform you that you may buy it back in the presence of those seated here and in the presence of the elders of my people. If you want to redeem it, do so. But if you will not redeem it, tell me so I may know, because there is no one but you to redeem it, and I am next after you.”

“I will redeem it,” he replied.

⁵Then Boaz said, “On the day you buy the land from Naomi and also from Ruth the Moabitess, you must also acquire the widow of the deceased in order to raise up the name of the deceased on his inheritance.”

⁶The kinsman-redeemer replied, “I cannot redeem it myself, or I would jeopardize my own inheritance. Take my right of redemption, because I cannot redeem it.”

⁷Now in former times in Israel, concerning the redemption or exchange of property, to make any matter legally binding a man would remove his sandal and give it to the other party, and this was a confirmation in Israel. ⁸So the kinsman-redeemer removed his sandal and said to Boaz, “Buy it for yourself.”

⁹At this, Boaz said to the elders and all the people, “You are witnesses today that I am buying from Naomi all that belonged to Elimelech, Chilion, and Mahlon. ¹⁰Moreover, I have acquired Ruth the Moabitess, Mahlon’s widow, as my wife, to raise up the name of the deceased through his inheritance, so that his name will not disappear from among his brothers or from the gate of his home. You are witnesses today.”

¹¹“We are witnesses,” said the elders and all the people at the gate. “May the LORD make the woman entering your home like Rachel and Leah, who together built up the house of Israel. May you be prosperous in Ephrathah and famous in Bethlehem. ¹²And may your house become like the house of Perez, whom Tamar bore to Judah, because of the offspring the LORD will give you by this young woman.”

Boaz Marries Ruth

¹³So Boaz took Ruth, and she became his wife. And when he had relations with her, the LORD enabled her to conceive, and she gave birth to a son.

¹⁴Then the women said to Naomi, “Blessed be the LORD, who has not left you this day without a kinsman-redeemer. May his name become famous in Israel. ¹⁵He will renew your life and sustain you in your old age. For your daughter-in-law, who loves you and is better to you than seven sons, has given him birth.”

¹⁶And Naomi took the child, placed him on her lap, and became a nurse to him. ¹⁷The neighbor women said, “A son has been born to Naomi,” and they named him Obed. He became the father of Jesse, the father of David.

The Line of David

¹⁸Now these are the generations of Perez:

Perez was the father of Hezron,

¹⁹Hezron was the father of Ram,

Ram was the father of Amminadab,

²⁰Amminadab was the father of Nahshon,

Nahshon was the father of Salmon,

²¹Salmon was the father of Boaz,

Boaz was the father of Obed,

²²Obed was the father of Jesse,

and Jesse was the father of David.

The Holy Spirit at Pentecost

¹When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. ²Suddenly a sound like a mighty rushing wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. ³They saw tongues like flames of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. ⁴And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.

⁵Now there were dwelling in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven. ⁶And when this sound rang out, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard them speaking his own language.

⁷Astounded and amazed, they asked, “Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? ⁸How is it then that each of us hears them in his own native language? ⁹Parthians, Medes, and Elamites; residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, ¹⁰Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors from Rome, ¹¹both Jews and converts to Judaism; Cretans and Arabs— we hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!”

¹²Astounded and perplexed, they asked one another, “What does this mean?”

¹³But others mocked them and said, “They are drunk on new wine!”

Peter Addresses the Crowd

¹⁴Then Peter stood up with the Eleven, lifted up his voice, and addressed the crowd: “Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and listen carefully to my words. ¹⁵These men are not drunk, as you suppose. It is only the third hour of the day! ¹⁶No, this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel:

¹⁷‘In the last days, God says,

I will pour out My Spirit on all people.

Your sons and daughters will prophesy,

your young men will see visions,

your old men will dream dreams.

¹⁸Even on My menservants and maidservants

I will pour out My Spirit in those days,

and they will prophesy.

¹⁹I will show wonders in the heavens above

and signs on the earth below,

blood and fire and billows of smoke.

²⁰The sun will be turned to darkness,

and the moon to blood,

before the coming of the great and glorious Day of the Lord.

²¹And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord

will be saved.’

²²Men of Israel, listen to this message: Jesus of Nazareth was a man certified by God to you by miracles, wonders, and signs, which God did among you through Him, as you yourselves know. ²³He was delivered up by God’s set plan and foreknowledge, and you, by the hands of the lawless, put Him to death by nailing Him to the cross. ²⁴But God raised Him from the dead, releasing Him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep Him in its grip.

²⁵David says about Him:

‘I saw the Lord always before me;

because He is at my right hand, I will not be shaken.

²⁶Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices;

my body also will dwell in hope,

²⁷because You will not abandon my soul to Hades,

nor will You let Your Holy One see decay.

²⁸You have made known to me the paths of life;

You will fill me with joy in Your presence.’

²⁹Brothers, I can tell you with confidence that the patriarch David died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. ³⁰But he was a prophet and knew that God had promised him on oath that He would place one of his descendants on his throne. ³¹Foreseeing this, David spoke about the resurrection of the Christ, that He was not abandoned to Hades, nor did His body see decay. ³²God has raised this Jesus to life, to which we are all witnesses.

³³Exalted, then, to the right hand of God, He has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit and has poured out what you now see and hear. ³⁴For David did not ascend into heaven, but he himself says:

‘The Lord said to my Lord,

“Sit at My right hand

³⁵until I make Your enemies

a footstool for Your feet.”’

³⁶Therefore let all Israel know with certainty that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ!”

Three Thousand Believe

³⁷When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and asked Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?”

³⁸Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. ³⁹This promise belongs to you and your children and to all who are far off — to all whom the Lord our God will call to Himself.”

⁴⁰With many other words he testified, and he urged them, “Be saved from this corrupt generation.” ⁴¹Those who embraced his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to the believers that day.

The Fellowship of Believers

⁴²They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. ⁴³A sense of awe came over everyone, and the apostles performed many wonders and signs.

⁴⁴All the believers were together and had everything in common. ⁴⁵Selling their possessions and goods, they shared with anyone who was in need.

⁴⁶With one accord they continued to meet daily in the temple courts and to break bread from house to house, sharing their meals with gladness and sincerity of heart, ⁴⁷praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.