Judges 21

Israel Provides Wives for Benjamin

1 The Israelites had vowed at Mizpah, "We will never give our daughters in marriage to a man from the tribe of Benjamin."2 Now the people went to Bethel and sat in the presence of God until evening, weeping loudly and bitterly.3 "O Lord , God of Israel," they cried out, "why has this happened in Israel? Now one of our tribes is missing from Israel!"
  4 Early the next morning the people built an altar and presented their burnt offerings and peace offerings on it.5 Then they said, "Who among the tribes of Israel did not join us at Mizpah when we held our assembly in the presence of the Lord ?" At that time they had taken a solemn oath in the Lord 's presence, vowing that anyone who refused to come would be put to death.
  6 The Israelites felt sorry for their brother Benjamin and said, "Today one of the tribes of Israel has been cut off.7 How can we find wives for the few who remain, since we have sworn by the Lord not to give them our daughters in marriage?"
  8 So they asked, "Who among the tribes of Israel did not join us at Mizpah when we assembled in the presence of the Lord ?" And they discovered that no one from Jabesh-gilead had attended the assembly.9 For after they counted all the people, no one from Jabesh-gilead was present.
  10 So the assembly sent 12,000 of their best warriors to Jabesh-gilead with orders to kill everyone there, including women and children.11 "This is what you are to do," they said. "Completely destroys all the males and every woman who is not a virgin."12 Among the residents of Jabesh-gilead they found 400 young virgins who had never slept with a man, and they brought them to the camp at Shiloh in the land of Canaan.
  13 The Israelite assembly sent a peace delegation to the remaining people of Benjamin who were living at the rock of Rimmon.14 Then the men of Benjamin returned to their homes, and the 400 women of Jabesh-gilead who had been spared were given to them as wives. But there were not enough women for all of them.
  15 The people felt sorry for Benjamin because the Lord had made this gap among the tribes of Israel.16 So the elders of the assembly asked, "How can we find wives for the few who remain, since the women of the tribe of Benjamin are dead?17 There must be heirs for the survivors so that an entire tribe of Israel is not wiped out.18 But we cannot give them our own daughters in marriage because we have sworn with a solemn oath that anyone who does this will fall under God's curse."
  19 Then they thought of the annual festival of the Lord held in Shiloh, south of Lebonah and north of Bethel, along the east side of the road that goes from Bethel to Shechem.20 They told the men of Benjamin who still needed wives, "Go and hide in the vineyards.21 When you see the young women of Shiloh come out for their dances, rush out from the vineyards, and each of you can take one of them home to the land of Benjamin to be your wife!22 And when their fathers and brothers come to us in protest, we will tell them, `Please be sympathetic. Let them have your daughters, for we didn't find wives for all of them when we destroyed Jabesh-gilead. And you are not guilty of breaking the vow since you did not actually give your daughters to them in marriage.'"
  23 So the men of Benjamin did as they were told. Each man caught one of the women as she danced in the celebration and carried her off to be his wife. They returned to their own land, and they rebuilt their towns and lived in them.
  24 Then the people of Israel departed by tribes and families, and they returned to their own homes.
  25 In those days Israel had no king; all the people did whatever seemed right in their own eyes.

Ruth 1

Elimelech Moves His Family to Moab

1 In the days when the judges ruled in Israel, a severe famine came upon the land. So a man from Bethlehem in Judah left his home and went to live in the country of Moab, taking his wife and two sons with him.2 The man's name was Elimelech, and his wife was Naomi. Their two sons were Mahlon and Kilion. They were Ephrathites from Bethlehem in the land of Judah. And when they reached Moab, they settled there.
  3 Then Elimelech died, and Naomi was left with her two sons.4 The two sons married Moabite women. One married a woman named Orpah, and the other a woman named Ruth. But about ten years later,5 both Mahlon and Kilion died. This left Naomi alone, without her two sons or her husband.

Naomi and Ruth Return

6 Then Naomi heard in Moab that the Lord had blessed his people in Judah by giving them good crops again. So Naomi and her daughters-in-law got ready to leave Moab to return to her homeland.7 With her two daughters-in-law she set out from the place where she had been living, and they took the road that would lead them back to Judah.
  8 But on the way, Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, "Go back to your mothers' homes. And may the Lord reward you for your kindness to your husbands and to me.9 May the Lord bless you with the security of another marriage." Then she kissed them good-bye, and they all broke down and wept.
  10 "No," they said. "We want to go with you to your people."
  11 But Naomi replied, "Why should you go on with me? Can I still give birth to other sons who could grow up to be your husbands?12 No, my daughters, return to your parents' homes, for I am too old to marry again. And even if it were possible, and I were to get married tonight and bear sons, then what?13 Would you wait for them to grow up and refuse to marry someone else? No, of course not, my daughters! Things are far more bitter for me than for you, because the Lord himself has raised his fist against me."
  14 And again they wept together, and Orpah kissed her mother-in-law good-bye. But Ruth clung tightly to Naomi.15 "Look," Naomi said to her, "your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and to her gods. You should do the same."
  16 But Ruth replied, "Don't ask me to leave you and turn back. Wherever you go, I will go; wherever you live, I will live. Your people will be my people, and your God will be my God.17 Wherever you die, I will die, and there I will be buried. May the Lord punish me severely if I allow anything but death to separate us!"18 When Naomi saw that Ruth was determined to go with her, she said nothing more.
  19 So the two of them continued on their journey. When they came to Bethlehem, the entire town was excited by their arrival. "Is it really Naomi?" the women asked.
  20 "Don't call me Naomi," she responded. "Instead, call me Mara,s for the Almighty has made life very bitter for me.21 I went away full, but the Lord has brought me home empty. Why call me Naomi when the Lord has caused me to suffers and the Almighty has sent such tragedy upon me?"
  22 So Naomi returned from Moab, accompanied by her daughter-in-law Ruth, the young Moabite woman. They arrived in Bethlehem in late spring, at the beginning of the barley harvest.

Ruth 2

Ruth Works in Boaz's Field

1 Now there was a wealthy and influential man in Bethlehem named Boaz, who was a relative of Naomi's husband, Elimelech.
  2 One day Ruth the Moabite said to Naomi, "Let me go out into the harvest fields to pick up the stalks of grain left behind by anyone who is kind enough to let me do it."
  Naomi replied, "All right, my daughter, go ahead."3 So Ruth went out to gather grain behind the harvesters. And as it happened, she found herself working in a field that belonged to Boaz, the relative of her father-in-law, Elimelech.
  4 While she was there, Boaz arrived from Bethlehem and greeted the harvesters. "The Lord be with you!" he said.
  "The Lord bless you!" the harvesters replied.
  5 Then Boaz asked his foreman, "Who is that young woman over there? Who does she belong to?"
  6 And the foreman replied, "She is the young woman from Moab who came back with Naomi.7 She asked me this morning if she could gather grain behind the harvesters. She has been hard at work ever since, except for a few minutes' rest in the shelter."
  8 Boaz went over and said to Ruth, "Listen, my daughter. Stay right here with us when you gather grain; don't go to any other fields. Stay right behind the young women working in my field.9 See which part of the field they are harvesting, and then follow them. I have warned the young men not to treat you roughly. And when you are thirsty, help yourself to the water they have drawn from the well."
  10 Ruth fell at his feet and thanked him warmly. "What have I done to deserve such kindness?" she asked. "I am only a foreigner."
  11 "Yes, I know," Boaz replied. "But I also know about everything you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband. I have heard how you left your father and mother and your own land to live here among complete strangers.12 May the Lord , the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge, reward you fully for what you have done."
  13 "I hope I continue to please you, sir," she replied. "You have comforted me by speaking so kindly to me, even though I am not one of your workers."
  14 At mealtime Boaz called to her, "Come over here, and help yourself to some food. You can dip your bread in the sour wine." So she sat with his harvesters, and Boaz gave her some roasted grain to eat. She ate all she wanted and still had some left over.
  15 When Ruth went back to work again, Boaz ordered his young men, "Let her gather grain right among the sheaves without stopping her.16 And pull out some heads of barley from the bundles and drop them on purpose for her. Let her pick them up, and don't give her a hard time!"
  17 So Ruth gathered barley there all day, and when she beat out the grain that evening, it filled an entire basket.s18 She carried it back into town and showed it to her mother-in-law. Ruth also gave her the roasted grain that was left over from her meal.
  19 "Where did you gather all this grain today?" Naomi asked. "Where did you work? May the Lord bless the one who helped you!"
  So Ruth told her mother-in-law about the man in whose field she had worked. She said, "The man I worked with today is named Boaz."
  20 "May the Lord bless him!" Naomi told her daughter-in-law. "He is showing his kindness to us as well as to your dead husband.s That man is one of our closest relatives, one of our family redeemers."
  21 Then Ruths said, "What's more, Boaz even told me to come back and stay with his harvesters until the entire harvest is completed."
  22 "Good!" Naomi exclaimed. "Do as he said, my daughter. Stay with his young women right through the whole harvest. You might be harassed in other fields, but you'll be safe with him."
  23 So Ruth worked alongside the women in Boaz's fields and gathered grain with them until the end of the barley harvest. Then she continued working with them through the wheat harvest in early summer. And all the while she lived with her mother-in-law.