Study Desk

So Boaz said to Ruth, "Bring me your shawl and hold it open." So Ruth held her shawl open, and Boaz poured six portions of barley into it. Boaz then put it on her head and went back to the city.

Boaz went to the city gate and sat there until the close relative he had mentioned passed by. Boaz called to him, "Come here, friend, and sit down." So the man came over and sat down.

Boaz gathered ten of the elders of the city and told them, "Sit down here!" So they sat down.

So I decided to tell you about it: If you want to buy back the land, then buy it in front of the people who are sitting here and in front of the elders of my people. But if you don't want to buy it, tell me, because you are the only one who can buy it, and I am next after you." The close relative answered, "I will buy back the land."

The close relative answered, "I can't buy back the land. If I did, I might harm what I can pass on to my own sons. I cannot buy the land back, so buy it yourself."

So the close relative said to Boaz, "Buy the land yourself," and he took off his sandal.

I am also taking Ruth, the Moabite who was the wife of Mahlon, as my wife. I am doing this so her dead husband's property will stay in his name and his name will not be separated from his family and his hometown. You are witnesses today."

So all the people and elders who were at the city gate said, "We are witnesses. May the Lord make this woman, who is coming into your home, like Rachel and Leah, who had many children and built up the people of Israel. May you become powerful in the district of Ephrathah and famous in Bethlehem.

So Boaz took Ruth home as his wife and had sexual relations with her. The Lord let her become pregnant, and she gave birth to a son.

Hannah was so sad that she cried and prayed to the Lord .

She was praying in her heart so her lips moved, but her voice was not heard. Eli thought she was drunk

So Hannah became pregnant, and in time she gave birth to a son. She named him Samuel, saying, "His name is Samuel because I asked the Lord for him."

Elkanah, Hannah's husband, said to her, "Do what you think is best. You may stay home until the boy is old enough to eat. May the Lord do what you have said." So Hannah stayed at home to nurse her son until he was old enough to eat.

The Lord was kind to Hannah, so she became the mother of three sons and two daughters. And the boy Samuel grew up serving the Lord .

So why don't you respect the sacrifices and gifts? You honor your sons more than me. You grow fat on the best parts of the meat the Israelites bring to me.'

"So the Lord , the God of Israel, says: ‘I promised that your family and your ancestor's family would serve me always.' But now the Lord says: ‘This must stop! I will honor those who honor me, but I will dishonor those who ignore me.

Then everyone left in your family will come and bow down before him. They will beg for a little money or a little food and say, "Please give me a job as priest so I can have food to eat."'"

Eli's eyes were so weak he was almost blind. One night he was lying in bed.

He ran to Eli and said, "I am here. You called me." But Eli said, "I didn't call you. Go back to bed." So Samuel went back to bed.

So he told Samuel, "Go to bed. If he calls you again, say, ‘Speak, Lord . I am your servant and I am listening.'" So Samuel went and lay down in bed.