7130	RUT 1:1	In the time when the judges ruled, there was once a famine in the land. A man from Bethlehem in Judah took his wife and two sons to live in the territory of Moab.
7131	RUT 1:2	His name was Elimelech and his wife’s was Naomi, and his two sons were Mahlon and Chilion. They were Ephrathites from Bethlehem in Judah. After they had been living in Moab for some time,
7133	RUT 1:4	who married Moabite women named Orpah and Ruth. After they had lived there about ten years,
7134	RUT 1:5	Mahlon and Chilion both died, and Naomi was left alone, without husband or sons.
7135	RUT 1:6	So she set out with her daughters-in-law to return from the land of Moab, for she had heard that the Lord had remembered his people and given them food.
7137	RUT 1:8	Naomi said to her daughters-in-law, “Go, return both of you to the home of your mother. May the Lord be kind to you as you have been kind to the dead and to me.
7140	RUT 1:11	But Naomi said, “Go back, my daughters. Why should you go with me? Can I still bear sons who might become your husbands?
7141	RUT 1:12	Go back, my daughters, go your own way, because I am too old to have a husband. Even if I should say, ‘I have hope,’ even if I should have a husband tonight and should bear sons,
7143	RUT 1:14	Then they again wept aloud, and Orpah kissed her mother-in-law goodbye, but Ruth stayed with her.
7144	RUT 1:15	“Look,” said Naomi, “your sister-in-law is going back to her own people and to her own gods. Go along with her!”
7145	RUT 1:16	But Ruth answered, “Do not urge me to leave you or to go back. I will go where you go, and I will stay wherever you stay. Your people will be my people, and your God my God;
7146	RUT 1:17	I will die where you die, and be buried there. May the Lord bring a curse upon me, if anything but death separate you and me.”
7147	RUT 1:18	When Naomi saw that Ruth was determined to go with her, she ceased urging her to return.
7148	RUT 1:19	So they journeyed on until they came to Bethlehem. Their arrival stirred the whole town, and the women said, “Can this be Naomi?”
7149	RUT 1:20	“Do not call me Naomi,” she said to them, “call me Mara, for the Almighty has given me a bitter lot.
7150	RUT 1:21	I had plenty when I left, but the Lord has brought me back empty handed. Why should you call me Naomi, now that the Lord has afflicted me, and the Almighty has brought misfortune on me?”
7151	RUT 1:22	So Naomi and Ruth, her Moabite daughter-in-law, returned from Moab. They reached Bethlehem at the beginning of the barley harvest.
7152	RUT 2:1	Now Naomi was related through her husband to a very wealthy man of the family of Elimelech named Boaz.
7153	RUT 2:2	Ruth the Moabite said to Naomi, “Let me now go into the fields and gather leftover grain behind anyone who will allow me.” “Go, my daughter,” she replied.
7154	RUT 2:3	So she went to glean in the field after the reapers. As it happened, she was in that part of the field which belonged to Boaz, who was of the family of Elimelech.
7156	RUT 2:5	“Whose girl is this?” Boaz asked his servant who had charge of the reapers.
7157	RUT 2:6	The servant who had charge of the reapers replied, “It is the Moabite girl who came back with Naomi from the territory of Moab.
7158	RUT 2:7	She asked to be allowed to glean and gather sheaves after the reapers. So she came and has continued to work until now and she has not rested a moment in the field.”
7159	RUT 2:8	Then Boaz said to Ruth, “Listen, my daughter. Do not go to glean in another field nor leave this place, but stay here with my girls.
7160	RUT 2:9	Watch where the men are reaping and follow the gleaners. I have told the young men not to trouble you. When you are thirsty, go to the jars and drink of that which the young men have drawn.”
7162	RUT 2:11	Boaz replied, “I have heard what you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband, and how you left your father and mother and your native land to come to a people that you did not know before.
7165	RUT 2:14	At mealtime Boaz said to Ruth, “Come here and eat some of the food and dip your piece of bread in the vinegar.” So she sat beside the reapers, and he passed her some roasted grain. She ate until she was satisfied and had some left.
7166	RUT 2:15	When she rose to glean, Boaz gave this order to his young men: “Let her glean even among the sheaves and do not disturb her.
7168	RUT 2:17	So she gleaned in the field until evening, then beat out what she had gleaned. It was about a bushel of barley.
7169	RUT 2:18	Then she took it up and went into the town and showed her mother-in-law what she had gleaned. She also brought out and gave her that which she had left from her meal after she had had enough.
7170	RUT 2:19	“Where did you glean today, and where did you work?” asked her mother-in-law. “A blessing on him who took notice of you!” So she told her mother-in-law where she had worked. “The name of the man with whom I worked today,” she said, “is Boaz.”
7171	RUT 2:20	Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, “May the blessing of the Lord rest on this man who has not ceased to show his loving-kindness to the living and to the dead. The man,” she added, “is a near relation of ours.”
7177	RUT 3:3	Tonight he is going to winnow barley on the threshing-floor. So bathe and anoint yourself and put on your best clothes and go down to the threshing-floor. But do not make yourself known to the man until he has finished eating and drinking.
7178	RUT 3:4	Then when he lies down, mark the place where he lies. Go in, uncover his feet, lie down, and then he will tell you what to do.”
7179	RUT 3:5	“I will do as you say.” Ruth said to her.
7180	RUT 3:6	So she went down to the threshing-floor and did just as her mother-in-law told her.
7181	RUT 3:7	When Boaz had finished eating and drinking and was in a happy mood, he went to lie down at the end of the heap of grain. Then Ruth came quietly and uncovered his feet and lay down.
7183	RUT 3:9	“Who are you?” he said. “I am Ruth your servant,” she answered, “Spread your cloak over your servant, for you are a near relative.”
7184	RUT 3:10	He said, “May you be blest by the Lord, my daughter. You have shown me greater favor now than at first, for you have not followed young men, whether poor or rich.
7185	RUT 3:11	My daughter, have no fear. I will do for you all that you ask, for the whole town knows that you are a virtuous woman.
7186	RUT 3:12	Now it is true that I am a near relative, but there is another man nearer than I.
7187	RUT 3:13	Stay here tonight, and then in the morning, if he will perform for you the duty of a kinsman, well, let him do it. But if he will not perform for you the duty of a kinsman, then as surely as the Lord lives, I will do it for you. Lie down until morning.”
7189	RUT 3:15	He also said, “Bring the cloak which you have on and hold it.” So she held it while he poured into it six measures of barley and laid it on her shoulders. Then he went into the city.
7190	RUT 3:16	When Ruth came to her mother-in-law, Naomi asked, “Is it you, my daughter?” Then Ruth told Naomi all that the man had done for her.
7193	RUT 4:1	Then Boaz went up to the gate and sat down. Just then the near kinsman of whom Boaz had spoken came along. Boaz said, “Hello, So-and-so (calling him by name), come here and sit down.” So he stopped and sat down.
7194	RUT 4:2	Boaz also took ten of the town elders and said, “Sit down here.” So they sat down.
7196	RUT 4:4	and I thought that I would lay the matter before you, suggesting that you buy it in the presence of these men who sit here and of the elders of my people. If you will buy it and so keep it in the possession of the family, do so; but if not; then tell me, so that I may know; for no one but you has the right to buy it, and I am next to you.” “I will buy it,” he said.
7198	RUT 4:6	“I cannot buy it for myself without spoiling my own inheritance,” the near relative said. “You take my right of buying it as a relative, because I cannot do so.”
7199	RUT 4:7	Now this used to be the custom in Israel: to make valid anything relating to a matter of redemption or exchange, a man drew off his sandal and gave it to the other man; and this was the way contracts were attested in Israel.
7200	RUT 4:8	So when the near relative said to Boaz, “Buy it for yourself,” Boaz drew off the man’s sandal.
7201	RUT 4:9	Then Boaz said to the elders and to all the people, “You are witnesses at this time that I have bought all that was Elimelech’s and all that was Chilion’s and Mahlon’s from Naomi.
7202	RUT 4:10	Moreover I have secured Ruth the Moabite, the wife of Mahlon, to be my wife, in order to perpetuate the name of the dead in connection with his inheritance, so that his name will not disappear from among his relatives and from the household where he lived. You are witnesses this day.”
7203	RUT 4:11	Then all the people who were at the gate and the elders said, “We are witnesses. May the Lord make the woman who is coming into your house like Rachel and Leah, who together built the house of Israel. May you do well in Ephrata, and become famous in Bethlehem.
7205	RUT 4:13	So Boaz married Ruth, and she became his wife; and the Lord gave to her a son.
7206	RUT 4:14	Then the women said to Naomi, “Blessed be the Lord who has not left you at this time without a near relative, and may his name be famous in Israel.
7208	RUT 4:16	So Naomi took the child in her arms and cared for him as if he was her own.
7209	RUT 4:17	The women of the neighborhood gave him a name, saying, “A son is born to Naomi!” They named him Obed. He became the father of Jesse, who was the father of David.
7214	RUT 4:22	Obed of Jesse, Jesse of David.
12708	EST 1:2	from his royal throne in the fortified palace of Susa.
12709	EST 1:3	In the third year of his reign, the king gave a feast for all his officers and courtiers. The commanders of the military forces of Persia and Media, the nobles and provincial rulers were present
12710	EST 1:4	while for one hundred and eighty days he showed them the glorious riches of his kingdom and the costliness of his magnificent regalia.
12711	EST 1:5	When these days were ended, the king held a banquet for all the people who were present in the royal palace at Susa, high and low alike. It was a seven days’ feast in the enclosed garden of the royal palace.
12712	EST 1:6	There were white and violet cotton curtains fastened to silver rings and pillars of marble with cords of fine purple wool and linen. The couches were of gold and silver placed upon a mosaic pavement of alabaster, white marble, mother-of-pearl, and dark stone.
12713	EST 1:7	Drink was brought in vessels of gold – which were all different – and the king’s wine was provided with royal liberality.
12714	EST 1:8	The drinking was unrestricted, for the king had directed all the officers of his household to let each man do as he pleased.
12715	EST 1:9	Queen Vashti also gave a feast for the women in the King Ahasuerus’ royal palace.
12717	EST 1:11	to bring Queen Vashti before him with the royal diadem on her head, to show her beauty to the people and the officials, for she was very beautiful.
12718	EST 1:12	But Queen Vashti refused to come as the king commanded through the eunuchs. Then the king became very angry and his fury burned within him.
12719	EST 1:13	The king turned to the wise men who knew the precedents, for it was his custom to confer with those wise in law.
12720	EST 1:14	Those next to him were Carshena, Shethar, Admatha, Tarshish, Meres, Marsena and Memucan, seven officials of Persia and Media who had access to the king and were highest in the kingdom.
12722	EST 1:16	Memucan replied before the king and the officials, “Queen Vashti has done wrong not only to the king but also to all the officials and to all the peoples in all of the king’s provinces.
12723	EST 1:17	The refusal of the queen will be reported to all the women with the result that it will make them despise their husbands. They will say, ‘King Ahasuerus commanded Queen Vashti to be brought in before him, but she did not come!’
12725	EST 1:19	If it seems best to the king, let him send out a royal edict. Let it be written among the laws of Persia and Media, never to be repealed, that Vashti may never again come before King Ahasuerus. Let the king give her place as queen to another who is more worthy than she.
12727	EST 1:21	The proposal pleased the king and the officials, and the king did as Memucan advised.
12729	EST 2:1	Some time later, when the wrath of King Ahasuerus had subsided, he remembered what Vashti had done and what had been decreed against her.
12731	EST 2:3	and let the king appoint commissioners to all the provinces of his kingdom to gather them all to Susa the royal residence. Let them be brought into the women’s quarters under the custody of Hegai, the king’s eunuch, who has charge of the women. Then give them what is needed to make them beautiful,
12732	EST 2:4	and let the girl who pleases the king be queen instead of Vashti.” The proposal pleased the king so he put it into action.
12733	EST 2:5	In Susa the royal residence lived a Jew named Mordecai. He was son of Jair, son of Shimei, son of Kish, a Benjamite.
12735	EST 2:7	Mordecai had adopted Hadassah, that is, Esther, his uncle’s daughter, since she had neither father nor mother. The girl was shapely and beautiful; and after her father and mother died, Mordecai raised her as if she was his own daughter.
12736	EST 2:8	When the king’s command and decree were known, many girls were gathered together to Susa the capital under the custody of Hegai. Esther was also taken into the king’s palace and placed under the custody of Hegai, who had charge of the women.
12737	EST 2:9	The girl pleased him and gained his favor, so that he quickly gave her the cosmetics she needed to enhance her beauty and her allowance of food and the seven maids selected from the king’s household. He also transferred her and her maids to the best place in the harem.
12738	EST 2:10	Esther had not revealed her people nor her family background because Mordecai had ordered her not to.
12739	EST 2:11	Every day Mordecai would to walk in front of the courtyard of the harem and ask after Esther’s health and what was happening to her.
12740	EST 2:12	The girls were prepared for meeting King Ahasuerus for twelve months: six months being treated with oil of myrrh and six months with perfumes and cosmetics. After the twelve months,
12741	EST 2:13	each girl went in to the king. She was allowed to take with her whatever she wished from the women’s quarters,
12742	EST 2:14	and would enter the palace in the evening and return the next morning to another part of the harem under the care of the king’s eunuch Shaashgaz who was in charge of concubines. She would not go to the king again unless he desired her and summoned her by name.
12743	EST 2:15	When it was the turn of Esther (the girl adopted by Mordecai, daughter of his uncle Abihail) to go in to the king, she only took with her those things that Hegai, the king’s eunuch in charge of the women, had advised her to take. Esther was liked by all who saw her.
12744	EST 2:16	Esther was taken to King Ahasuerus in the royal palace in the tenth month, the month of Tebeth, in the seventh year of his reign.
12745	EST 2:17	And the king loved her more than all the other women, and she became his favorite and won his affection. He placed the royal diadem on her head and made her queen instead of Vashti.
12746	EST 2:18	Then the king gave a great feast to all his officials and courtiers in honor of Esther, and he remitted the taxes of the provinces and distributed gifts with royal liberality.
12747	EST 2:19	All the time the virgins were assembled again, Mordecai was sitting as an offical at the king’s gate.
12748	EST 2:20	Esther had not revealed her people or family background because she still obeyed him as she had when he was bringing her up.
12749	EST 2:21	In those days while Mordecai was sitting in the king’s gate, two of the royal court attendants, Bigthan and Teresh, who guarded the entrance of the palace, became enraged and attempted to kill King Ahasuerus.
12750	EST 2:22	But Mordecai learned of the conspiracy and disclosed it to Queen Esther, and she told the king on Mordecai’s behalf.
12751	EST 2:23	When the affair was investigated and the facts discovered, the conspirators were both hanged on the gallows. The incident was recorded in the presence of the king in the daily record of events.
12752	EST 3:1	After these events King Ahasuerus promoted Haman the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, and advanced him to a place above all the officials who were with him.
12753	EST 3:2	All the king’s courtiers who were in the king’s gate used to bow down before Haman, for so the king had commanded, but Mordecai did not bow down nor prostrate himself.
12755	EST 3:4	When they had spoken to him day after day without his listening to them, they informed Haman, to see whether Mordecai’s acts would be tolerated, for he had told them that he was a Jew.
12756	EST 3:5	When Haman saw that Mordecai did not bow down nor prostrate himself before him, he was furious.
12757	EST 3:6	But it seemed to him beneath his dignity to lay hands on Mordecai alone, for they had told him who Mordecai’s people were. Instead Haman sought to destroy all the people of Mordecai, all the Jews throughout the kingdom of Ahasuerus.