A Plea to Return

¹“If you will return, O Israel,return to Me,” declares the LORD.“If you will remove your detestable idols from My sightand no longer waver,

²and if you can swear, ‘As surely as the LORD lives,’in truth, in justice, and in righteousness,then the nations will be blessed by Him,and in Him they will glory.”

³For this is what the LORD says to the men of Judah and Jerusalem:“Break up your unplowed ground,and do not sow among the thorns.

⁴Circumcise yourselves to the LORD,and remove the foreskins of your hearts,O men of Judah and people of Jerusalem.Otherwise, My wrath will break out like fireand burn with no one to extinguish it,because of your evil deeds.”

Disaster from the North

⁵Announce in Judah, proclaim in Jerusalem, and say:“Blow the ram’s horn throughout the land.Cry aloud and say,‘Assemble yourselvesand let us flee to the fortified cities.’

⁶Raise a signal flag toward Zion.Seek refuge! Do not delay!For I am bringing disaster from the north,and terrible destruction.

⁷A lion has gone up from his thicket,and a destroyer of nations has set out.He has left his lairto lay waste your land.Your cities will be reduced to ruinsand lie uninhabited.

⁸So put on sackcloth,mourn and wail,for the fierce anger of the LORDhas not turned away from us.”

⁹“In that day,” declares the LORD,“the king and officials will lose their courage.The priests will tremble in fear,and the prophets will be astounded.”

¹⁰Then I said, “Ah, Lord GOD, how completely You have deceived this people and Jerusalem by saying, ‘You will have peace,’ while a sword is at our throats.”

¹¹At that time it will be said to this people and to Jerusalem, “A searing wind from the barren heights in the desert blows toward the daughter of My people, but not to winnow or to sift;

¹²a wind too strong for that comes from Me. Now I also pronounce judgments against them.”

¹³Behold, he advances like the clouds,his chariots like the whirlwind.His horses are swifter than eagles.Woe to us, for we are ruined!

¹⁴Wash the evil from your heart, O Jerusalem,so that you may be saved.How long will you harborwicked thoughts within you?

¹⁵For a voice resounds from Dan,proclaiming disaster from the hills of Ephraim.

¹⁶Warn the nations now!Proclaim to Jerusalem:“A besieging army comes from a distant land;they raise their voices against the cities of Judah.

¹⁷They surround her like men guarding a field,because she has rebelled against Me,” declares the LORD.

¹⁸“Your ways and deedshave brought this upon you.This is your punishment; how bitter it is,because it pierces to the heart!”

Lamentation for Judah

¹⁹My anguish, my anguish! I writhe in pain!Oh, the pain in my chest!My heart pounds within me;I cannot be silent.For I have heard the sound of the horn,the alarm of battle.

²⁰Disaster after disaster is proclaimed,for the whole land is laid waste.My tents are destroyed in an instant,my curtains in a moment.

²¹How long must I see the signal flagand hear the sound of the horn?

²²“For My people are fools;they have not known Me.They are foolish children,without understanding.They are skilled in doing evil,but they know not how to do good.”

²³I looked at the earth,and it was formless and void;I looked to the heavens,and they had no light.

²⁴I looked at the mountains,and behold, they were quaking;all the hills were swaying.

²⁵I looked, and no man was left;all the birds of the air had fled.

²⁶I looked, and the fruitful land was a desert.All its cities were torn downbefore the LORD,before His fierce anger.

²⁷For this is what the LORD says:“The whole land will be desolate,but I will not finish its destruction.

²⁸Therefore the earth will mournand the heavens above will grow dark.I have spoken, I have planned,and I will not relent or turn back.”

²⁹Every city fleesat the sound of the horseman and archer.They enter the thicketsand climb among the rocks.Every city is abandoned;no inhabitant is left.

³⁰And you, O devastated one, what will you do,though you dress yourself in scarlet,though you adorn yourself with gold jewelry,though you enlarge your eyes with paint?You adorn yourself in vain; your lovers despise you;they want to take your life.

³¹For I hear a cry like a woman in labor,a cry of anguish like one bearing her first child—the cry of the Daughter of Zion gasping for breath,stretching out her hands to say,“Woe is me,for my soul faints before the murderers!”

Boaz Meets Ruth

¹Now Naomi had a relative on her husband’s side, a prominent man of noble character from the clan of Elimelech, whose name was Boaz.

²And Ruth the Moabitess said to Naomi, “Please let me go into the fields and glean heads of grain after someone in whose sight I may find favor.”“Go ahead, my daughter,” Naomi replied.

³So Ruth departed and went out into the field and gleaned after the harvesters. And she happened to come to the part of the field belonging to Boaz, who was from the clan of Elimelech.

⁴Just then Boaz arrived from Bethlehem and said to the harvesters, “The LORD be with you.”“The LORD bless you,” they replied.

⁵And Boaz asked the foreman of his harvesters, “Whose young woman is this?”

⁶The foreman answered, “She is the Moabitess who returned with Naomi from the land of Moab.

⁷She has said, ‘Please let me glean and gather among the sheaves after the harvesters.’ So she came out and has continued from morning until now, except that she rested a short time in the shelter.”

⁸Then Boaz said to Ruth, “Listen, my daughter. Do not go and glean in another field, and do not go away from this place, but stay here close to my servant girls.

⁹Let your eyes be on the field they are harvesting, and follow along after these girls. Indeed, I have ordered the young men not to touch you. And when you are thirsty, go and drink from the jars the young men have filled.”

¹⁰At this, she fell on her face, bowing low to the ground, and said to him, “Why have I found such favor in your eyes that you should take notice of me, even though I am a foreigner?”

¹¹Boaz replied, “I have been made fully aware of all you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband, how you left your father and mother and the land of your birth, and how you came to a people you did not know before.

¹²May the LORD repay your work, and may you receive a rich reward from the LORD, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have taken refuge.”

¹³“My lord,” she said, “may I continue to find favor in your eyes, for you have comforted and spoken kindly to your maidservant, though I am not like one of your servant girls.”

¹⁴At mealtime Boaz said to her, “Come over here; have some bread and dip it into the vinegar sauce.” So she sat down beside the harvesters, and he offered her roasted grain, and she ate and was satisfied and had some left over.

¹⁵When Ruth got up to glean, Boaz ordered his young men, “Even if she gathers among the sheaves, do not insult her.

¹⁶Rather, pull out for her some stalks from the bundles and leave them for her to gather. Do not rebuke her.”

¹⁷So Ruth gathered grain in the field until evening. And when she beat out what she had gleaned, it was about an ephah of barley.

¹⁸She picked up the grain and went into the town, where her mother-in-law saw what she had gleaned. And she brought out what she had saved from her meal and gave it to Naomi.

¹⁹Then her mother-in-law asked her, “Where did you glean today, and where did you work? Blessed be the man who noticed you.”So she told her mother-in-law where she had worked. “The name of the man I worked with today is Boaz,” she said.

²⁰Then Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, “May he be blessed by the LORD, who has not withdrawn His kindness from the living or the dead.” Naomi continued, “The man is a close relative. He is one of our kinsman-redeemers.”

²¹Then Ruth the Moabitess said, “He also told me, ‘Stay with my young men until they have finished gathering all my harvest.’”

²²And Naomi said to her daughter-in-law Ruth, “My daughter, it is good for you to work with his young women, so that nothing will happen to you in another field.”

²³So Ruth stayed close to the servant girls of Boaz to glean grain until the barley and wheat harvests were finished. And she lived with her mother-in-law.

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 garmentover 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 barleyand placed it on her. Then he wentinto 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.”

You Are My Refuge and My Fortress

¹He who dwells in the shelter of the Most Highwill abide in the shadow of the Almighty.

²I will say to the LORD, “You are my refuge and my fortress,my God, in whom I trust.”

³Surely He will deliver youfrom the snare of the fowler,and from the deadly plague.

⁴He will cover you with His feathers;under His wings you will find refuge;His faithfulness is a shield and rampart.

⁵You will not fear the terror of the night,nor the arrow that flies by day,

⁶nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness,nor the calamity that destroys at noon.

⁷Though a thousand may fall at your side,and ten thousand at your right hand,no harm will come near you.

⁸You will only see it with your eyesand witness the punishment of the wicked.

⁹Because you have made the LORD your dwelling—my refuge, the Most High—

¹⁰no evil will befall you,no plague will approach your tent.

¹¹For He will command His angels concerning youto guard you in all your ways.

¹²They will lift you up in their hands,so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.

¹³You will tread on the lion and cobra;you will trample the young lion and serpent.

¹⁴“Because he loves Me, I will deliver him;because he knows My name, I will protect him.

¹⁵When he calls out to Me,I will answer him;I will be with him in trouble.I will deliver him and honor him.

¹⁶With long life I will satisfy himand show him My salvation.”