¹Now 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 dwell in the country of Moab, he and his wife and his two sons. ²The name of the man was Elimelech, the name of his wife was Naomi, and the names of his two sons were Mahlon and Chilion—Ephrathites of Bethlehem, Judah. And they went to the country of Moab and remained there. ³Then Elimelech, Naomi’s husband, died; and she was left, and her two sons. ⁴Now they took wives of the women of Moab: the name of the one was Orpah, and the name of the other Ruth. And they dwelt there about ten years. ⁵Then both Mahlon and Chilion also died; so the woman survived her two sons and her husband. ⁶Then she arose with her daughters-in-law that she might return from the country of Moab, for she had heard in the country of Moab that the Lᴏʀᴅ had visited His people by giving them bread. ⁷Therefore she went out from the place where she was, and her two daughters-in-law with her; and they went on the way to return to the land of Judah. ⁸And Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, “Go, return each to her mother’s house. The Lᴏʀᴅ deal kindly with you, as you have dealt with the dead and with me. ⁹The Lᴏʀᴅ grant that you may find rest, each in the house of her husband.” Then she kissed them, and they lifted up their voices and wept. ¹⁰And they said to her, “Surely we will return with you to your people.” ¹¹But Naomi said, “Turn back, my daughters; why will you go with me? Are there still sons in my womb, that they may be your husbands? ¹²Turn back, my daughters, go—for I am too old to have a husband. If I should say I have hope, if I should have a husband tonight and should also bear sons, ¹³would you wait for them till they were grown? Would you restrain yourselves from having husbands? No, my daughters; for it grieves me very much for your sakes that the hand of the Lᴏʀᴅ has gone out against me!” ¹⁴Then they lifted up their voices and wept again; and Orpah kissed her mother-in-law, but Ruth clung to her. ¹⁵And she said, “Look, your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and to her gods; return after your sister-in-law.” ¹⁶But Ruth said: “Entreat me not to leave you, Or to turn back from following after you; For wherever you go, I will go; And wherever you lodge, I will lodge; Your people shall be my people, And your God, my God. ¹⁷Where you die, I will die, And there will I be buried. The Lᴏʀᴅ do so to me, and more also, If anything but death parts you and me.” ¹⁸When she saw that she was determined to go with her, she stopped speaking to her. ¹⁹Now the two of them went until they came to Bethlehem. And it happened, when they had come to Bethlehem, that all the city was excited because of them; and the women said, “Is this Naomi?” ²⁰But she said to them, “Do not call me Naomi; call me Mara, for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me. ²¹I went out full, and the Lᴏʀᴅ has brought me home again empty. Why do you call me Naomi, since the Lᴏʀᴅ has testified against me, and the Almighty has afflicted me?” ²²So Naomi returned, and Ruth the Moabitess her daughter-in-law with her, who returned from the country of Moab. Now they came to Bethlehem at the beginning of barley harvest.

¹Then Agrippa said to Paul, “You are permitted to speak for yourself.” So Paul stretched out his hand and answered for himself: ²“I think myself happy, King Agrippa, because today I shall answer for myself before you concerning all the things of which I am accused by the Jews, ³especially because you are expert in all customs and questions which have to do with the Jews. Therefore I beg you to hear me patiently. ⁴My manner of life from my youth, which was spent from the beginning among my own nation at Jerusalem, all the Jews know. ⁵They knew me from the first, if they were willing to testify, that according to the strictest sect of our religion I lived a Pharisee. ⁶And now I stand and am judged for the hope of the promise made by God to our fathers. ⁷To this promise our twelve tribes, earnestly serving God night and day, hope to attain. For this hope’s sake, King Agrippa, I am accused by the Jews. ⁸Why should it be thought incredible by you that God raises the dead? ⁹Indeed, I myself thought I must do many things contrary to the name of Jesus of Nazareth. ¹⁰This I also did in Jerusalem, and many of the saints I shut up in prison, having received authority from the chief priests; and when they were put to death, I cast my vote against them. ¹¹And I punished them often in every synagogue and compelled them to blaspheme; and being exceedingly enraged against them, I persecuted them even to foreign cities. ¹²“While thus occupied, as I journeyed to Damascus with authority and commission from the chief priests, ¹³at midday, O king, along the road I saw a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, shining around me and those who journeyed with me. ¹⁴And when we all had fallen to the ground, I heard a voice speaking to me and saying in the Hebrew language, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’ ¹⁵So I said, ‘Who are You, Lord?’ And He said, ‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. ¹⁶But rise and stand on your feet; for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to make you a minister and a witness both of the things which you have seen and of the things which I will yet reveal to you. ¹⁷I will deliver you from the Jewish people, as well as from the Gentiles, to whom I now send you, ¹⁸to open their eyes, in order to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in Me.’ ¹⁹“Therefore, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision, ²⁰but declared first to those in Damascus and in Jerusalem, and throughout all the region of Judea, and then to the Gentiles, that they should repent, turn to God, and do works befitting repentance. ²¹For these reasons the Jews seized me in the temple and tried to kill me. ²²Therefore, having obtained help from God, to this day I stand, witnessing both to small and great, saying no other things than those which the prophets and Moses said would come— ²³that the Christ would suffer, that He would be the first to rise from the dead, and would proclaim light to the Jewish people and to the Gentiles.” ²⁴Now as he thus made his defense, Festus said with a loud voice, “Paul, you are beside yourself! Much learning is driving you mad!” ²⁵But he said, “I am not mad, most noble Festus, but speak the words of truth and reason. ²⁶For the king, before whom I also speak freely, knows these things; for I am convinced that none of these things escapes his attention, since this thing was not done in a corner. ²⁷King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets? I know that you do believe.” ²⁸Then Agrippa said to Paul, “You almost persuade me to become a Christian.” ²⁹And Paul said, “I would to God that not only you, but also all who hear me today, might become both almost and altogether such as I am, except for these chains.” ³⁰When he had said these things, the king stood up, as well as the governor and Bernice and those who sat with them; ³¹and when they had gone aside, they talked among themselves, saying, “This man is doing nothing deserving of death or chains.” ³²Then Agrippa said to Festus, “This man might have been set free if he had not appealed to Caesar.”

¹Now it came to pass in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, that this word came to Jeremiah from the Lᴏʀᴅ, saying: ²“Take a scroll of a book and write on it all the words that I have spoken to you against Israel, against Judah, and against all the nations, from the day I spoke to you, from the days of Josiah even to this day. ³It may be that the house of Judah will hear all the adversities which I purpose to bring upon them, that everyone may turn from his evil way, that I may forgive their iniquity and their sin.” ⁴Then Jeremiah called Baruch the son of Neriah; and Baruch wrote on a scroll of a book, at the instruction of Jeremiah, all the words of the Lᴏʀᴅ which He had spoken to him. ⁵And Jeremiah commanded Baruch, saying, “I am confined, I cannot go into the house of the Lᴏʀᴅ. ⁶You go, therefore, and read from the scroll which you have written at my instruction, the words of the Lᴏʀᴅ, in the hearing of the people in the Lᴏʀᴅ’s house on the day of fasting. And you shall also read them in the hearing of all Judah who come from their cities. ⁷It may be that they will present their supplication before the Lᴏʀᴅ, and everyone will turn from his evil way. For great is the anger and the fury that the Lᴏʀᴅ has pronounced against this people.” ⁸And Baruch the son of Neriah did according to all that Jeremiah the prophet commanded him, reading from the book the words of the Lᴏʀᴅ in the Lᴏʀᴅ’s house. ⁹Now it came to pass in the fifth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, in the ninth month, that they proclaimed a fast before the Lᴏʀᴅ to all the people in Jerusalem, and to all the people who came from the cities of Judah to Jerusalem. ¹⁰Then Baruch read from the book the words of Jeremiah in the house of the Lᴏʀᴅ, in the chamber of Gemariah the son of Shaphan the scribe, in the upper court at the entry of the New Gate of the Lᴏʀᴅ’s house, in the hearing of all the people. ¹¹When Michaiah the son of Gemariah, the son of Shaphan, heard all the words of the Lᴏʀᴅ from the book, ¹²he then went down to the king’s house, into the scribe’s chamber; and there all the princes were sitting—Elishama the scribe, Delaiah the son of Shemaiah, Elnathan the son of Achbor, Gemariah the son of Shaphan, Zedekiah the son of Hananiah, and all the princes. ¹³Then Michaiah declared to them all the words that he had heard when Baruch read the book in the hearing of the people. ¹⁴Therefore all the princes sent Jehudi the son of Nethaniah, the son of Shelemiah, the son of Cushi, to Baruch, saying, “Take in your hand the scroll from which you have read in the hearing of the people, and come.” So Baruch the son of Neriah took the scroll in his hand and came to them. ¹⁵And they said to him, “Sit down now, and read it in our hearing.” So Baruch read it in their hearing. ¹⁶Now it happened, when they had heard all the words, that they looked in fear from one to another, and said to Baruch, “We will surely tell the king of all these words.” ¹⁷And they asked Baruch, saying, “Tell us now, how did you write all these words—at his instruction?” ¹⁸So Baruch answered them, “He proclaimed with his mouth all these words to me, and I wrote them with ink in the book.” ¹⁹Then the princes said to Baruch, “Go and hide, you and Jeremiah; and let no one know where you are.” ²⁰And they went to the king, into the court; but they stored the scroll in the chamber of Elishama the scribe, and told all the words in the hearing of the king. ²¹So the king sent Jehudi to bring the scroll, and he took it from Elishama the scribe’s chamber. And Jehudi read it in the hearing of the king and in the hearing of all the princes who stood beside the king. ²²Now the king was sitting in the winter house in the ninth month, with a fire burning on the hearth before him. ²³And it happened, when Jehudi had read three or four columns, that the king cut it with the scribe’s knife and cast it into the fire that was on the hearth, until all the scroll was consumed in the fire that was on the hearth. ²⁴Yet they were not afraid, nor did they tear their garments, the king nor any of his servants who heard all these words. ²⁵Nevertheless Elnathan, Delaiah, and Gemariah implored the king not to burn the scroll; but he would not listen to them. ²⁶And the king commanded Jerahmeel the king’s son, Seraiah the son of Azriel, and Shelemiah the son of Abdeel, to seize Baruch the scribe and Jeremiah the prophet, but the Lᴏʀᴅ hid them. ²⁷Now after the king had burned the scroll with the words which Baruch had written at the instruction of Jeremiah, the word of the Lᴏʀᴅ came to Jeremiah, saying: ²⁸“Take yet another scroll, and write on it all the former words that were in the first scroll which Jehoiakim the king of Judah has burned. ²⁹And you shall say to Jehoiakim king of Judah, ‘Thus says the Lᴏʀᴅ: “You have burned this scroll, saying, ‘Why have you written in it that the king of Babylon will certainly come and destroy this land, and cause man and beast to cease from here?’ ” ³⁰Therefore thus says the Lᴏʀᴅ concerning Jehoiakim king of Judah: “He shall have no one to sit on the throne of David, and his dead body shall be cast out to the heat of the day and the frost of the night. ³¹I will punish him, his family, and his servants for their iniquity; and I will bring on them, on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and on the men of Judah all the doom that I have pronounced against them; but they did not heed.” ‘ ” ³²Then Jeremiah took another scroll and gave it to Baruch the scribe, the son of Neriah, who wrote on it at the instruction of Jeremiah all the words of the book which Jehoiakim king of Judah had burned in the fire. And besides, there were added to them many similar words.

¹The word that Jeremiah the prophet spoke to Baruch the son of Neriah, when he had written these words in a book at the instruction of Jeremiah, in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, saying, ²“Thus says the Lᴏʀᴅ, the God of Israel, to you, O Baruch: ³‘You said, “Woe is me now! For the Lᴏʀᴅ has added grief to my sorrow. I fainted in my sighing, and I find no rest.” ’ ⁴Thus you shall say to him, ‘Thus says the Lᴏʀᴅ: “Behold, what I have built I will break down, and what I have planted I will pluck up, that is, this whole land. ⁵And do you seek great things for yourself? Do not seek them; for behold, I will bring adversity on all flesh,” says the Lᴏʀᴅ. “But I will give your life to you as a prize in all places, wherever you go.” ‘ ”

¹To the Chief Musician. To the tune of ‘Death of the Son.’ A Psalm of David. I will praise You, O Lᴏʀᴅ, with my whole heart; I will tell of all Your marvelous works. ²I will be glad and rejoice in You; I will sing praise to Your name, O Most High. ³When my enemies turn back, They shall fall and perish at Your presence. ⁴For You have maintained my right and my cause; You sat on the throne judging in righteousness. ⁵You have rebuked the nations, You have destroyed the wicked; You have blotted out their name forever and ever. ⁶O enemy, destructions are finished forever! And you have destroyed cities; Even their memory has perished. ⁷But the Lᴏʀᴅ shall endure forever; He has prepared His throne for judgment. ⁸He shall judge the world in righteousness, And He shall administer judgment for the peoples in uprightness. ⁹The Lᴏʀᴅ also will be a refuge for the oppressed, A refuge in times of trouble. ¹⁰And those who know Your name will put their trust in You; For You, Lord, have not forsaken those who seek You. ¹¹Sing praises to the Lᴏʀᴅ, who dwells in Zion! Declare His deeds among the people. ¹²When He avenges blood, He remembers them; He does not forget the cry of the humble. ¹³Have mercy on me, O Lᴏʀᴅ! Consider my trouble from those who hate me, You who lift me up from the gates of death, ¹⁴That I may tell of all Your praise In the gates of the daughter of Zion. I will rejoice in Your salvation. ¹⁵The nations have sunk down in the pit which they made; In the net which they hid, their own foot is caught. ¹⁶The Lᴏʀᴅ is known by the judgment He executes; The wicked is snared in the work of his own hands. Meditation. Selah ¹⁷The wicked shall be turned into hell, And all the nations that forget God. ¹⁸For the needy shall not always be forgotten; The expectation of the poor shall not perish forever. ¹⁹Arise, O Lᴏʀᴅ, Do not let man prevail; Let the nations be judged in Your sight. ²⁰Put them in fear, O Lᴏʀᴅ, That the nations may know themselves to be but men. Selah