Day 79 The Bible in a Year (Orthodox canon)

Ruth 1

1 And it came to pass when the judges ruled, that there was a famine in the land: and a man went from Bethleem Juda to sojourn in the land of Moab, he, and his wife, and his two sons. 2 And the man's name [was] Elimelech, and his wife's name Noemin, and the names of his two sons Maalon and Chelaion, Ephrathites of Bethleem of Juda: and they came to the land of Moab, and remained there. 3 And Elimelech the husband of Noemin died; and she was left, and her two sons. 4 And they took to themselves wives, women of Moab; the name of the one [was] Orpha, and the name of the second Ruth; and they dwelt there about ten years. 5 And both Maalon and Chelaion died also; and the woman was left of her husband and her two sons. 6 And she rose up and her two daughters-in-law, and they returned out of the country of Moab, for she heard in the country of Moab that the Lord [had] visited his people to give them bread. 7 And she went forth out of the place where she was, and her two daughters-in-law with her: and they went by the way to return to the land of Juda. 8 And Noemin said to her daughters-in-law, Go now, return each to the house of her mother: the Lord deal mercifully with you, as ye have dealt with the dead, and with me. 9 The Lord grant you that ye may find rest each of you in the house of her husband: and she kissed them; and they lifted up their voice, and wept. 10 And they said to her, We will return with thee to thy people. 11 And Noemin said, Return now, my daughters; and why do ye go with me? have I yet sons in my womb to be your husbands? 12 Turn now, my daughters, for I am too old to be married: for I said, Suppose I were married, and should bear sons; 13 would ye wait for them till they should be grown? or would ye refrain from being married for their sakes? Not so, my daughters; for I am grieved for you, that the hand of the Lord has gone forth against me. 14 And they lifted up their voice, and wept again; and Orpha kissed her mother-in-law and returned to her people; but Ruth followed her. 15 And Noemin said to Ruth, Behold, thy sister-in-law has returned to her people and to her gods; turn now thou also after thy sister-in-law. 16 And Ruth said, Intreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following thee; for whithersoever thou goest, I will go, and wheresoever thou lodgest, I will lodge; thy people [shall be] my people, and thy God my God. 17 And wherever thou diest, I will die, and there will I be buried: the Lord do so to me, and more also, [if I leave thee], for death [only] shall divide between me and thee. 18 And Noemin seeing that she was determined to go with her, ceased to speak to her any more. 19 And they went both of them until they came to Bethleem: and it came to pass, when they arrived at Bethleem, that all the city rang with them, and they said, Is this Noemin? 20 And she said to them, Nay, do not call me Noemin; call me ‘Bitter,’ for the Mighty One has dealt very bitterly with me. 21 I went out full, and the Lord has brought me back empty: and why call ye me Noemin, whereas the Lord has humbled me, and the Mighty One has afflicted me? 22 So Noemin and Ruth the Moabitess, her daughter-in-law, returned from the country of Moab; and they came to Bethleem in the beginning of barley harvest.

Ruth 2

1 And Noemin had [a friend] an acquaintance of her husband, and the man [was] a mighty man of the kindred of Elimelech, and his name [was] Booz. 2 And Ruth the Moabitess said to Noemin, Let me go now to the field, and I will glean among the ears behind the man with whomsoever I shall find favour: and she said to her, Go, daughter. 3 And she went; and came and gleaned in the field behind the reapers; and she happened by chance to come on a portion of the land of Booz, of the kindred of Elimelech. 4 And, behold, Booz came from Bethleem, and said to the reapers, The Lord [be] with you: and they said to him, The Lord bless thee. 5 And Booz said to his servant who was set over the reapers, Whose [is] this damsel? 6 And his servant who was set over the reapers answered and said, It is the Moabitish damsel who returned with Noemin out of the land of Moab. 7 And she said, I pray you, let me glean and gather among the sheaves after the reapers: and she came and stood from morning till evening, and rested not [even] a little in the field. 8 And Booz said to Ruth, Hast thou not heard, [my] daughter? go not to glean in another field; and depart not thou hence, join thyself here with my damsels. 9 [Let] thine eyes [be] on the field where [my men] shall reap, and thou shalt go after them: behold, I have charged the young men not to touch thee: and when thou shalt thirst, then thou shalt go to the vessels, and drink of that which the young men shall have drawn. 10 And she fell upon her face, and did reverence to the ground, and said to him, How is it that I have found grace in thine eyes, that thou shouldest take notice of me, whereas I am a stranger? 11 And Booz answered and said to her, It has fully been told me how thou hast dealt with thy mother-in-law after the death of thy husband; and how thou didst leave thy father and thy mother, and the land of thy birth, and camest to a people whom thou knewest not before. 12 The Lord recompense thy work: may a full reward be given thee of the Lord God of Israel, to whom thou hast come to trust under his wings. 13 And she said, Let me find grace in thy sight, my lord, because thou hast comforted me, and because thou hast spoken kindly to thy handmaid, and behold, I shall be as one of thy servants. 14 And Booz said to her, Now [it is] time to eat; come hither, and thou shalt eat of the bread, and thou shalt dip thy morsel in the vinegar: and Ruth sat by the side of the reapers, and Booz handed her meal, and she ate, and was satisfied, and left. 15 And she rose up to glean; and Booz charged his young men, saying, Let her even glean among the sheaves, and reproach her not. 16 And do ye by all means carry it for her, and ye shall surely let fall for her some of that which is heaped up; and let her eat, and glean, and rebuke her not. 17 So she gleaned in the field till evening, and beat out that she had gleaned, and it was about an ephah of barley. 18 And she took [it] up, and went into the city: and her mother-in-law saw what she had gleaned, and Ruth brought forth and gave to her the food which she had left from what she had been satisfied with. 19 And her mother-in-law said to her, Where hast thou gleaned to-day, and where hast thou wrought? blessed be he that took notice of thee. And Ruth told her mother-in-law where she [had] wrought, and said, The name of the man with whom I wrought to-day [is] Booz. 20 And Noemin said to her daughter-in-law, Blessed is he of the Lord, because he has not failed in his mercy with the living and with the dead: and Noemin said to her, The man is near akin to us, he is one of our relations. 21 And Ruth said to her mother-in-law, Yea, he said also to me, Keep close to my damsels, until the men shall have finished all my reaping. 22 And Noemin said to Ruth her daughter-in-law, [It is] well, daughter, that thou wentest out with his damsels; thus they shall not meet thee in another field. 23 And Ruth joined herself to the damsels of Booz to glean until they had finished the barley-harvest and the wheat-harvest.

Ruth 3

1 And she lodged with her mother-in-law: and Noemin her mother-in-law said to her, My daughter, shall I not seek rest for thee, that it may be well with thee? 2 And now [is] not Booz our kinsman, with whose damsels thou wast? behold, he winnows barley this night in the floor. 3 But do thou wash, and anoint thyself, and put thy raiment upon thee, and go up to the threshing-floor: do not discover thyself to the man until he has done eating and drinking. 4 And it shall come to pass when he lies down, that thou shalt mark the place where he lies down, and shalt come and lift up the covering of his feet, and shalt lie down; and he shall tell thee what thou shalt do. 5 And Ruth said to her, All that thou shalt say, I will do. 6 And she went down to the threshing-floor, and did according to all that her mother-in-law enjoined her. 7 And Booz ate and drank, and his heart was glad, and he came to lie down by the side of the heap of corn; and she came secretly, and lifted up the covering of his feet. 8 And it came to pass at midnight that the man was amazed, and troubled, and behold, a woman lay at his feet. 9 And he said, Who art thou? and she said, I am thine handmaid Ruth; spread therefore thy skirt over thine handmaid, for thou art a near relation. 10 And Booz said, Blessed [be] thou of the Lord God, [my] daughter, for thou hast made thy latter kindness greater than the former, in that thou followest not after young men, whether [any be] poor or rich. 11 And now fear not, my daughter, whatever thou shalt say I will do to thee; for all the tribe of my people knows that thou art a virtuous woman. 12 And now I am truly akin to thee; nevertheless there is a kinsman nearer than I. 13 Lodge [here] for the night, and it shall be in the morning, if he will do the part of a kinsman to thee, well—let him do it: but if he will not do the part of a kinsman to thee, I will do the kinsman's part to thee, [as] the Lord lives; lie down till the morning. 14 And she lay at his feet until the morning; and she rose up before a man could know his neighbour; and Booz said, Let it not be known that a woman came into the floor. 15 And he said to her, Bring the apron that is upon thee: and she held it, and he measured six measures of barley, and put them upon her, and she went into the city. 16 And Ruth went in to her mother-in-law, and she said to her, [My] daughter! and [Ruth] told her all that the man had done to her. 17 And she said to her, He gave me these six measures of barley, for he said to me, Go not empty to thy mother-in-law. 18 And she said, Sit still, [my] daughter, until thou shalt know how the matter will fall out; for the man will not rest until the matter be accomplished this day.

Luke 13

1 Now there were some present at the same time who told him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices. 2 Jesus answered them, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered such things? 3 I tell you, no, but unless you repent, you will all perish in the same way. 4 Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them—do you think that they were worse offenders than all the men who dwell in Jerusalem? 5 I tell you, no, but, unless you repent, you will all perish in the same way.” 6 He spoke this parable. “A certain man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came seeking fruit on it and found none. 7 He said to the vine dresser, ‘Behold, these three years I have come looking for fruit on this fig tree, and found none. Cut it down! Why does it waste the soil?’ 8 He answered, ‘Lord, leave it alone this year also, until I dig around it and fertilize it. 9 If it bears fruit, fine; but if not, after that, you can cut it down.’” 10 He was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath day. 11 Behold, there was a woman who had a spirit of infirmity eighteen years. She was bent over and could in no way straighten herself up. 12 When Jesus saw her, he called her and said to her, “Woman, you are freed from your infirmity.” 13 He laid his hands on her, and immediately she stood up straight and glorified God. 14 The ruler of the synagogue, being indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, said to the multitude, “There are six days in which men ought to work. Therefore come on those days and be healed, and not on the Sabbath day!” 15 Therefore the Lord answered him, “You hypocrites! Doesn’t each one of you free his ox or his donkey from the stall on the Sabbath and lead him away to water? 16 Ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham whom Satan had bound eighteen long years, be freed from this bondage on the Sabbath day?” 17 As he said these things, all his adversaries were disappointed; and all the multitude rejoiced for all the glorious things that were done by him. 18 He said, “What is God’s Kingdom like? To what shall I compare it? 19 It is like a grain of mustard seed which a man took and put in his own garden. It grew and became a large tree, and the birds of the sky live in its branches.” 20 Again he said, “To what shall I compare God’s Kingdom? 21 It is like yeast, which a woman took and hid in three measures of flour, until it was all leavened.” 22 He went on his way through cities and villages, teaching, and traveling on to Jerusalem. 23 One said to him, “Lord, are they few who are saved?” He said to them, 24 “Strive to enter in by the narrow door, for many, I tell you, will seek to enter in and will not be able. 25 When once the master of the house has risen up and has shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and to knock at the door, saying, ‘Lord, Lord, open to us!’ then he will answer and tell you, ‘I don’t know you or where you come from.’ 26 Then you will begin to say, ‘We ate and drank in your presence, and you taught in our streets.’ 27 He will say, ‘I tell you, I don’t know where you come from. Depart from me, all you workers of iniquity.’ 28 There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth when you see Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and all the prophets in God’s Kingdom, and yourselves being thrown outside. 29 They will come from the east, west, north, and south, and will sit down in God’s Kingdom. 30 Behold, there are some who are last who will be first, and there are some who are first who will be last.” 31 On that same day, some Pharisees came, saying to him, “Get out of here and go away, for Herod wants to kill you.” 32 He said to them, “Go and tell that fox, ‘Behold, I cast out demons and perform cures today and tomorrow, and the third day I complete my mission. 33 Nevertheless I must go on my way today and tomorrow and the next day, for it can’t be that a prophet would perish outside of Jerusalem.’ 34 “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, like a hen gathers her own brood under her wings, and you refused! 35 Behold, your house is left to you desolate. I tell you, you will not see me until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!’”