Ruth (As illustrated by
Trinity’s 5th & 6th grade VBS class)
Ruth 1
Ruth Is Loyal to Naomi
1-2Before Israel was ruled by kings, Elimelech from the tribe of Ephrath
lived in the town of Bethlehem.
His wife was named Naomi, and their two sons were Mahlon
and Chilion. But when their crops failed, they
moved
to
the country of Moab.
And while they were there, 3Elimelech
died, leaving Naomi with only her two sons. 4Later, Naomi's sons married Moabite women.
One was named Orpah and the other Ruth. About ten
years later, 5Mahlon and
Chilion also died. Now Naomi had no husband or
sons.
6-7When Naomi heard that the
LORD had given his people a good harvest, she
and her two daughters-in-law got ready
to leave Moab and go to Judah.
As they were on their way there, 8Naomi
said to them, "Don't you want to go back home to your own mothers? You
were kind to my husband and sons, and you have always been kind to me. I
pray that the LORD will be just as kind to you. 9May he give each of
you another husband and a home of your own."
Naomi
kissed them. They cried 10and
said, "We want to go with you and live among your people."
11But she replied, "My
daughters, why don't you return home? What good will it do
you to go with me? Do you think I could have more sons for you to marry? 12You must go back home, because
I am too old to marry again. Even if I got married tonight and later had
more sons, 13would you
wait for them to become old enough to marry? No, my daughters! Life is
harder for me than it is for you, because the LORD has turned against
me." 14They cried
again. Orpah kissed her mother-in-law good-by,
but Ruth held on to her. 15Naomi
then said to Ruth, "Look, your sister-in-law is going back to her
people and to her gods! Why don't you go with her?"
16Ruth answered,
"Please
don't tell me
to leave
you
and return home!
I will
go where you go,
I will
live where you live;
your
people will be my people,
your God will be my God.
17I will die where you die
and be buried beside you.
May the
LORD punish me
if we
are ever separated,
even by death!" 18When Naomi saw that Ruth had made up her
mind to go with her, she stopped urging her to go back.
19They reached Bethlehem, and the
whole town was excited to see them. The women who lived there asked,
"Can this really be Naomi?"
20Then she told them,
"Don't call me Naomi any longer! Call me Mara, because God has made my
life bitter. 21I had
everything when I left, but the LORD has brought me back with nothing. How
can you still call me Naomi, when God has turned against me and made my
life so hard?" 22The
barley harvest was just beginning when Naomi and Ruth, her Moabite
daughter-in-law, arrived in Bethlehem.
Ruth 2
Ruth Meets Boaz
1-3One day, Ruth said to
Naomi, "Let me see if I can find someone who will let me pick up the
grain left in the fields by the harvest workers."
Naomi
answered, "Go ahead, my daughter." So right away, Ruth went out
to pick up grain in a field owned by Boaz. He was a relative of Naomi's
husband Elimelech, as well as a rich and
important man.
4When Boaz left Bethlehem and went out
to his field, he said to the harvest workers, "The LORD bless you!"
They
replied, "And may the LORD bless you!"
5Then Boaz asked the man in
charge of the harvest workers, "Who is that young woman?"
6The man answered, "She
is the one who came back from Moab with Naomi. 7She asked if she could pick
up grain left by the harvest workers, and she has been working all morning
without a moment's rest." 8Boaz
went over to Ruth and said, "I think it would be best for you not to
pick up grain in
anyone else's field. Stay here with the
women 9and follow along
behind them, as they gather up what the men have cut. I have warned the men
not to bother you, and whenever you are thirsty, you can drink from the
water jars they have filled."
10Ruth bowed down to the
ground and said, "You know I come from another country. Why are you so
good to me?"
11Boaz answered, "I've
heard how you've helped your mother-in-law ever since your husband died.
You even left your own father and mother to come and live in a foreign land
among people you don't know. 12I
pray that the LORD God of Israel
will reward you for what you have done. And now that you have come to him
for protection, I pray that he will bless you."
13Ruth replied, "Sir, it's good of you to speak kindly to me and make me feel
so welcome. I'm not even one of your servants."
14At mealtime Boaz said to
Ruth, "Come, eat with us. Have some bread and dip it in the
sauce." Right away she sat down with the workers, and Boaz handed her
some roasted grain. Ruth ate all she wanted and had some left over.
15When Ruth got up to start
picking up grain, Boaz told his men, "Don't
stop her, even if she picks up grain from where it is stacked. 16Be sure to pull out some
stalks of grain from the bundles and leave them on the ground for her. And
don't speak harshly to her!"
17Ruth worked in the field
until evening. Then after she had pounded the grain off the stalks, she had
a large basket full of grain. 18She
took the grain to town and showed Naomi how much she had picked up. Ruth
also gave her the food left over from her lunch.
19Naomi said, "Where did
you work today? Whose field was it? God bless the man who treated you so
well!" Then Ruth told her that she had worked in the field of a man named
Boaz.
20"The LORD bless
Boaz!" Naomi replied. "He has shown that he is still loyal to the
living and to the dead. Boaz is a close relative, one of those who is supposed to look after us." 21Ruth told her, "Boaz even said I could
stay in the field with his workers until they had finished gathering all
his grain."
22Naomi replied, "My
daughter, it's good that you can pick up grain alongside the women who work
in his field. Who knows what might happen to you in someone else's
field!" 23And so,
Ruth stayed close to the women, while picking up grain in his field.
Ruth
worked in the fields until the barley and wheat were harvested. And all
this time she lived with Naomi.
Ruth 3
Naomi Makes Plans for
Ruth
1One day, Naomi said to Ruth:
It's
time I found you a husband, who will give you a home and take care of you.
2You have been picking up
grain alongside the women who work for Boaz, and you know he is a relative
of ours. Tonight he will be threshing the grain. 3Now take a bath and put on some perfume, then
dress in your best clothes. Go where he is working, but don't let him see
you until he has finished eating and drinking. 4Watch where he goes to spend the night, then
when he is asleep, lift the cover and lie down at his feet. He will tell
you what to do. 5Ruth
answered, "I'll do whatever you say." 6She went out to the place where Boaz was
working and did what Naomi had told her.
7After Boaz finished eating
and drinking and was feeling happy, he went over and fell asleep near the
pile of grain. Ruth slipped over quietly. She lifted the cover and lay down
near his feet.
8In the middle of the night,
Boaz suddenly woke up and was shocked to see a woman lying at his feet. 9"Who are you?" he
asked.
"Sir,
I am Ruth," she answered, "and you are the
relative who is supposed to take care of
me. So spread the edge of your cover over me." 10Boaz replied:
The LORD
bless you! This shows how truly loyal you are to
your family. You could have looked for a younger man, either rich or poor,
but you didn't. 11Don't
worry, I'll do what you have asked. You are respected by everyone in town.
12It's true that I am one of
the relatives who is supposed to take care of you,
but there is someone who is an even closer relative. 13Stay here until morning, then I will find
out if he is willing to look after you. If he isn't, I promise by the
living God to do it myself. Now go back to sleep until morning.
14Ruth lay down again, but she
got up before daylight, because Boaz did not want anyone to know she had
been there. 15Then he
told her to spread out her cape. And he filled it with a lot of grain and
placed it on her shoulder.
When
Ruth got back to town, 16Naomi
asked her what had happened, and Ruth told her everything. 17She also said, "Boaz gave me this
grain, because he didn't want me to come back without something for
you." 18Naomi
replied, "Just be patient and don't worry about what will happen. He
won't rest until everything is settled today!"
Ruth 4
Ruth and Boaz Get Married
1In the meanwhile, Boaz had
gone to the meeting place at the town gate and was sitting there when the
other close relative came by. So Boaz invited him to come over and sit
down, and he did. 2Then
Boaz got ten of the town leaders and also asked them to sit down. After
they had sat down, 3he
said to the man:
Naomi
has come back from Moab
and is selling the land that belonged to her husband Elimelech.
4I am telling you about
this, since you are his closest relative and have the right to buy the
property. If you want it, you can buy it now. These ten men and the others
standing here can be witnesses. But if you don't want the property, let me
know, because I am next in line.
The man
replied, "I will buy it!"
5"If you do buy it from
Naomi," Boaz told him, "you must also marry Ruth. Then if you
have a son by her, the property will stay in the family of Ruth's first
husband."
6The
man answered, "If that's the case, I don't want to buy it! That would
make problems with the property I already own. You may buy it yourself,
because I cannot." 7To
make a sale legal in those days, one person would take off a sandal and
give it to the other. 8So
after the man had agreed to let Boaz buy the property, he took off one of
his sandals and handed it to Boaz.
9Boaz told the town leaders
and everyone else:
All of
you are witnesses that today I have bought from Naomi the property that
belonged to Elimelech and his two sons, Chilion and Mahlon. 10You are also witnesses that
I have agreed to marry Mahlon's widow Ruth, the
Moabite woman. This will keep the property in his family's name, and he
will be remembered in this town.
11The town leaders and the
others standing there said:
We are
witnesses to this. And we pray that the LORD will give your wife many
children, just as he did Leah and Rachel, the wives of Jacob. May you be a
rich man in the tribe of Ephrath and an important
man in Bethlehem. 12May
the children you have by this young woman make your family as famous as the
family of Perez, the son of Tamar and Judah. 13Boaz married Ruth, and the LORD blessed her
with a son. 14After his
birth, the women said to Naomi:
Praise
the LORD! Today he has given you a grandson to take care of you. We pray
that the boy will grow up to be famous everywhere in Israel. 15He will make you
happy and take care of you in your old
age, because he is the son of your daughter-in-law. And she loves you more
than seven sons of your own would love you. 16Naomi loved the boy and took good care of
him. 17The neighborhood
women named him Obed, but they called him
"Naomi's Boy."
When Obed grew up he had a son named Jesse, who later became
the father of King David. 18-22Here
is a list of the ancestors of David: Jesse, Obed,
Boaz, Salmon, Nahshon, Amminadab,
Ram, Hezron, and Perez.
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