Study Desk

Now, hand over the good-for-nothings in Gibeah so we can execute them and purge Israel of wickedness." But the Benjaminites refused to listen to their Israelite brothers.

So the Israelites marched toward the Benjaminites the next day.

So all the Israelites, the whole army, went up to Bethel. They wept and sat there before the Lord ; they did not eat anything that day until evening. They offered up burnt sacrifices and tokens of peace to the Lord .

So Israel hid men in ambush outside Gibeah.

So the people came to Bethel and sat there before God until evening, weeping loudly and uncontrollably.

So they asked, "Who from all the Israelite tribes did not assemble before the Lord at Mizpah?" Now it just so happened no one from Jabesh Gilead had come to the gathering.

So the assembly sent 12,000 capable warriors against Jabesh Gilead. They commanded them, "Go and kill with your swords the inhabitants of Jabesh Gilead, including the women and little children.

Do this: exterminate every male, as well as every woman who has had sexual relations with a male. But spare the lives of any virgins." So they did as instructed.

So they commanded the Benjaminites, "Go hide in the vineyards,

During the time of the judges there was a famine in the land of Judah. So a man from Bethlehem in Judah went to live as a resident foreigner in the region of Moab, along with his wife and two sons.

Sometime later Naomi's husband Elimelech died, so she and her two sons were left alone.

So her sons married Moabite women. (One was named Orpah and the other Ruth.) And they continued to live there about ten years.

Then Naomi's two sons, Mahlon and Kilion, also died. So the woman was left all alone—bereaved of her two children as well as her husband!

So she decided to return home from the region of Moab, accompanied by her daughters-in-law, because while she was living in Moab she had heard that the Lord had shown concern for his people, reversing the famine by providing abundant crops.

So Naomi said, "Look, your sister-in-law is returning to her people and to her god. Follow your sister-in-law back home!"

So the two of them journeyed together until they arrived in Bethlehem. When they entered Bethlehem, the whole village was excited about their arrival. The women of the village said, "Can this be Naomi?"

So Naomi returned, accompanied by her Moabite daughter-in-law Ruth, who came back with her from the region of Moab. (Now they arrived in Bethlehem at the beginning of the barley harvest.)

One day Ruth the Moabite said to Naomi, "Let me go to the fields so I can gather grain behind whoever permits me to do so." Naomi replied, "You may go, my daughter."

So Ruth went and gathered grain in the fields behind the harvesters. Now she just happened to end up in the portion of the field belonging to Boaz, who was from the clan of Elimelech.

So Boaz said to Ruth, "Listen carefully, my dear! Do not leave to gather grain in another field. You need not go beyond the limits of this field. You may go along beside my female workers.