Page images
PDF
EPUB

the Lord our God will we serve, and his voice will we obey.

So Joshua made a covenant with the people that day, and set them a statute and an ordinance in Shechem.-And Joshua wrote these words in the book of the law of God, and took a great stone, and set it up there under an oak, that was by the sanctuary of the Lord.

And Joshua said unto all the people, Behold this stone shall be a witness unto us, to call to our minds all the words of the Lord which he spake unto us: it shall be therefore a witness unto you lest ye deny your God.

So Joshua let the people depart every man unto his inheritance.

And it came to pass after these things, that Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the Lord, died, being an hundren and ten years old.

And they buried him in the border of his inheritance in Timnath-serah, which is in mount Ephraim on the north side of the hill of Gaash.

And Israel served the Lord all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders that overlived Joshua, and which had known all the works of the Lord, that he had done for Israel.

And the bones of Joseph, which the children of Israel brought up out of Egypt, buried they in Shechem, in a parcel of ground which Jacob bought of the sons of Hamor, the father of Shechem, for an hundred pieces of silver and it became the inheritance of the children of Joseph.

And Eleazar the son of Aaron died, and they buried him in a hill that pertained to Phinehas his son, which was given him in mount Ephraim.

LESSON LXXV. RUTH, CHAP. I. II.

Now it came to pass in the days when the judges ruled, that there was a famine in the land; and a certain man of Bethlehem-Judah went to sojourn in the country of Moab, he and his wife, and his two sons.

And the name of the man was Elimelech, and the name of his wife Naomi, and of his two sons Mahlon and Chilion. And they took them wives of the women of Moab; the

name of one was Orpah, and the name of the other Ruth: and they dwelt there about ten years.

And Elimelech Naomi's husband died; and Mahlon and Chilion died also; and the woman was left of her two sons and her husband.

Then she arose with her daughters-in-law, that she might return from the country of Moab for she had heard how the Lord had visited his people in giving them bread; and they went on the way to return unto the land of Judah.

And Naomi said unto her two daughters-in-law, Go, return each to her mother's house: the Lord deal kindly with you, as ye have dealt with the dead, and with me.

The Lord grant you that you may find rest, each of you in the house of her husband. Then she kissed them; and

they lifted up their voice, and wept.

And they said unto her, Surely we will return with thee unto thy people. And Naomi said, Turn again, my daughters: why will ye go with me?

And they wept again: and Orpah kissed her mother-inlaw, but Ruth clave unto her.

And she said, Behold thy sister-in-law is gone back to her people; return thou after thy sister-in-law.

And Ruth said, Intreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following after thee: for whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy God, my God.

Where thou diest will I die, and there will I be buried. The Lord do so to me, and more also, if ought but death part thee and me.

When she saw her daughter was stedfastly minded to go with her, she left speaking unto her.

So the two went forward, and when they came to Bethlehem all the city was moved about them, and they said, Is this Naomi? and she said unto them, Call me not Naomi, call: me Mara: for the Almighty hath dealt very bitterly with me.

I went out full, and the Lord hath brought me home again empty: why then call ye me Naomi, seeing the Lord hath testified against me, and the Almighty hath afflicted me? and they came to Bethlehem in the beginning of barley harvest.

And Naomi had a kinsman of her husband's, a mighty man of wealth, and his name was Boaz

And Ruth said unto Naomi, Let me now go to the

G

field, and glean ears of corn after him in whose sight I shall find grace. And she said unto her, Go my daughter.

And she went and gleaned in the field after the reapers · and it happened that she came to a part of the field belonging to Boaz, and behold he came from Bethlehem, and said unto the reapers, The Lord be with you; and they answered him, The Lord bless thee.

And he said unto his servant who was set over his reapers, Whose damsel is this? and the servant said, It is the Moabitish damsel that came back with Naomi.

And she said, I pray you, let me glean and gather after the reapers amongst the sheaves: so she came and hath continued from the morning until now, that she tarried a little in the house.

Then said Boaz unto her, Go not my daughter to glean in another field, neither go from hence, but abide here fast by my maidens.

Then she bowed herself to the ground, and said unto him, Why have I found grace in thine eyes, that thou shouldest take notice of me, seeing I am a stranger?

And Boaz answered, It hath been fully shewed me, all that thou hast done to thy mother-in-law, since the death of thine husband: and how thou hast left thy father and mother, and the land of thy nativity, and art come to a people which thou knewest not heretofore.

The Lord recompense thy work, and a full reward be given thee of the Lord God of Israel, under whose wings thou art come to trust.

Then she said, Let me find favour in thy sight, for that thou hast spoken friendly unto thine handmaid.

And when she was risen up to glean, Boaz commanded his young men, saying, Let her glean even among the sheaves, and reproach her not:

And let fall also some of the handfuls of purpose for her, and leave them, that she may glean them, and rebuke her not.

So she gleaned in the field until even, and beat out that she had gleaned; and it was about an ephah of barley. And she took it up and went into the city: and her motherin-law said unto her, Where hast thou gleaned to-day? blessed be he that did take knowledge of thee. And she shewed her mother-in-law with whom she had wrought, and said, His name is Boaz.

Then Naomi said unto her daughter, Blessed be he of

the Lord who hath not left off his kindness to the living and to the dead; the man is one of our next kinsmen.

So Ruth continued to glean unto the end of barley harvest, and of wheat harvest; and dwelt with her mother-inlaw.

LESSON LXXVI. RUTH, CHAP. IV.

AND after a certain time Boaz went up to the gate, and sat himself down there. And he took ten men of the city, and said, Sit ye down here.

And he called to them a kinsman, who was nearer than him, and he said unto the kinsman, Naomi, that is come again out of the country of Moab, selleth a parcel of land which was Elimelech's.

And I thought to advertize thee, saying, Buy it before the inhabitants, and before the elders of my people; but if thou wilt not redeem it, then tell me, that I may know; for there is none to redeem it besides thee, and I am after thee.

And he said, I will redeem it. Then said Boaz, When thou buyest the field of the hand of Naomi, thou must buy it also of Ruth the Moabitess, the wife of the dead, to raise up the name of the dead upon his inheritance.

And the kinsman said, I cannot redeem it for myself, lest I mar my own inheritance: redeem thou my right, to thyself, for I cannot redeem it.

Now this was the manner in former times in Israel, concerning redeeming and changing, to confirm all things: A man plucked off his shoe and gave it to his neighbour; and this was a testimony in Israel. Therefore the kinsman said unto Boaz, Buy it for thee: so he drew off his shoe.

And Boaz said unto the elders, and to all the people, Ye are witnesses this day, that I have bought all that was Elimelech's, and all that was Chilion's and Mahlon's, of the hand of Naomi.

Moreover, Ruth the Moabitess, have I purchased to be my wife. Ye are witnesses this day. And all the people that were in the gate, and the elders said, We are witnesses the Lord make the woman that is come into thy house like Rachel, and like Leah, which two did build the house of Israel. 1

So Boaz took Ruth, and she was his wife, and bare him

a son.

And the women said unto Naomi, Blessed be the Lord who hath not left thee this day without a kinsman, that his name may be famous in Israel. And he shall be unto thee a restorer of thy life, and a nourisher of thine old age: for thy daughter-in-law, who loveth thee, who is better to thee than seven sons, hath borne him.

And Naomi took the child, and laid it in her bosom, and became nurse to it. And the women her neighbours gave It a name, saying, There is a son born unto Naomi, and they called his name Obed: he is the father of Jesse, the father of David.

LESSON LXXVII. JUDGES, CHAP. II. III.

AND also all that generation were gathered unto their fathers: and there arose another generation after them, which knew not the Lord, nor yet the works which he had done for Israel. And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord, and served Baalim.

And they forsook the Lord God of their fathers, which brought them out of the land of Egypt, and followed other gods, of the gods of the people that were round about them, and bowed themselves unto them, and provoked the Lord unto anger.

And they forsook the Lord, and served Baal and Ashtaroth. And the anger of the Lord was hot against Israel, and he delivered them into the hands of spoilers that spoiled them, and he sold them into the hands of their enemies round about, so that they could not any longer stand before their enemies.

Whithersoever they went out, the hand of the Lord was against them for evil, as the Lord had said, and as the Lord hath sworn unto them: and they were greatly distressed.

Nevertheless the Lord raised up judges, which delivered them out of the hand of those that spoiled them. And yet they would not hearken unto their judges, but went after idols.

And when the Lord raised them up judges, then the Lord was with the judge, and delivered them out of the hand of their enemies all the days of the judge.

And it came to pass, when the judge was dead that they returned, and corrupted themselves more than their fathers,

« PreviousContinue »