Study Desk

Rachel was buried on the road to Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem).

On the trip from Paddan Aram, Rachel died in the land of Canaan. This made me very sad. We were still traveling toward Ephrath. I buried her there on the road to Ephrath." (Ephrath is Bethlehem.)

Inside this border were the cities of Kattath, Nahalal, Shimron, Idalah, and Bethlehem. In all, there were twelve towns and all the fields around them.

After Jephthah, a man named Ibzan was a judge for the Israelites. Ibzan was from the city of Bethlehem.

Then Ibzan died and was buried in the city of Bethlehem.

There was a young man who was a Levite from the city of Bethlehem in Judah. He had been living among the tribe of Judah.

He left Bethlehem to look for another place to live. As he was traveling, he came to Micah's house in the hill country of the land of Ephraim.

Micah asked him, "Where have you come from?" The young man answered, "I am a Levite from the city of Bethlehem in Judah. I am looking for a place to live."

At that time the Israelites did not have a king. There was a Levite who lived far back in the hill country of Ephraim. He had taken as a wife a slave woman. She was from the city of Bethlehem in the country of Judah.

But his slave woman had an argument with him. She left him and went back to her father's house in Bethlehem in Judah. She stayed there for four months.

The Levite answered, "We have come from Bethlehem in Judah, where I went for a visit. Now I am on my way home, which is a long way into the hill country of Ephraim. I expected that someone here would invite us in for the night, but no one has.

Long ago, during the time the judges ruled, there was a famine in the land, and a man named Elimelech left the town of Bethlehem in Judah. He, his wife, and his two sons moved to the country of Moab.

The man's wife was named Naomi, and his two sons were named Mahlon and Kilion. They were from the Ephrathah family of Bethlehem in Judah. The family traveled to the hill country of Moab and stayed there.

Naomi and Ruth traveled until they came to the town of Bethlehem. When the two women entered Bethlehem, all the people were very excited. They said, "Is this Naomi?"

So Naomi and her daughter-in-law Ruth, the Moabite, came back from the hill country of Moab. These two women came to Bethlehem at the beginning of the barley harvest.

There was a rich man named Boaz living in Bethlehem. Boaz was one of Naomi's close relatives from Elimelech's family.

Later, Boaz came to the field from Bethlehem and greeted his workers. He said, "The Lord be with you!" And the workers answered, "And may the Lord bless you!"

So all the elders and the people who were near the city gates said, "We are witnesses to all of this. And may the Lord bless this woman who is coming into your home to be like Rachel and Leah. They are the ones who had many children to make the people of Israel strong. And may you become powerful in the tribe of Ephrathah and famous in Bethlehem!

The Lord said to Samuel, "How long will you feel sorry for Saul? I have rejected him as king of Israel. Fill your horn with oil and go to Bethlehem. I am sending you to Jesse who lives in Bethlehem, because I have chosen one of his sons to be the new king."

But Samuel said, "If I go, Saul will hear the news and try to kill me." The Lord said, "Go to Bethlehem. Take a young calf with you and tell them, ‘I have come to make a sacrifice to the Lord .'