Now all the tax collectors and sinners were drawing near to Him to hear Him.

And both the Pharisees and the scribes murmured among themselves, saying, This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.

And He told them this  ¹parable, saying,

Which man of you, who has a hundred sheep and has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the  ¹wilderness and go after the one which is lost until he finds it?

And when he finds it, he  ¹lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing.

And when he comes into his house, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost.

I tell you that in the same way there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner repenting than over ninety-nine righteous persons who have no need of repentance.

Or what woman having ten  ¹silver coins, if she loses one silver coin, does not light a  ²lamp and  ³sweep the house and  ⁴seek carefully until she finds it?

And when she finds it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin which I lost.

In the same way, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner repenting.

And He said, A certain man had two sons.

And the younger of them said to the father, Father, give me the  ¹share of the estate that falls to me. And he distributed to them his  ²living.

And not many days after, the younger son, having gathered everything together, went abroad to a  ¹distant country and there squandered his estate by living  ²dissolutely.

And when he had spent all, a severe famine occurred throughout that country, and he began to be in want.

And he went and joined himself to one of the citizens of that country; and he sent him into his fields to  ¹feed hogs.

And he longed to be satisfied with the  ¹carob pods which the hogs were eating, and no one gave him anything.

But when he came to himself, he said,  ¹How many of my father's hired servants abound in bread, but I am perishing here in famine!

I will  ¹rise up and go to my father, and I will say to him, Father,  ²I have sinned against heaven and before you.

I am  ¹no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your  ²hired servants.

And he rose up and came to his own father. But while he was still a long way off, his father  ¹saw him and was moved with compassion, and he  ²ran and  ³fell on his neck and kissed him affectionately.

And the son said to him, Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son.

 ¹But the father said to his slaves, Bring out  ²quickly  ³the  ⁴best  ⁵robe and put it on him, and put a  ⁶ring on his hand and  ⁷sandals on his feet.

And bring the  ¹fattened calf;  ²slaughter it, and let us eat and be merry,

Because this son of mine was  ¹dead and lives again; he was  ¹lost and has been found. And they began to be merry.

Now his  ¹older son was in the field. And as he came and drew near to the house, he heard music and dancing,

And calling to him one of the servants, he inquired what these things might be.

And he said to him, Your brother has come, and your father has slaughtered the fattened calf because he has received him back healthy.

But he became angry and was not willing to enter. And his father came out and entreated him.

But he answered and said to his father, Behold, so many years I have been  ¹slaving for you and have never  ²neglected a command of yours, and you have never given me a goat that I might be merry with my friends;

But when this son of yours came, who devoured your  ¹living with harlots, you slaughtered for him the fattened calf.

And he said to him, Child, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours.

But we had to be merry and rejoice, because this brother of yours was  ¹dead and has come to life, and he was lost and has been found.

Now in the days when the judges  ¹ruled, there was a  ²famine in the land. And a man from  ³Bethlehem in Judah  ⁴went down to dwell as a sojourner in the country of  ⁵Moab, he and his wife and his two sons.

And the man's name was Elimelech, and his wife's name was Naomi, and the names of his two sons were Mahlon and Chilion, Ephrathites of Bethlehem in Judah. And they went to the country of Moab and remained there.

And Elimelech, Naomi's husband,  ¹died; and she was left with her two sons.

And they took wives for themselves from among the  ¹Moabite women. One's name was Orpah, and the second's name was  ²Ruth. And they dwelt there about ten years.

And both Mahlon and Chilion died, and the woman was left without her two children and her husband.

Then she rose up with her daughters-in-law in order to  ¹return from the country of Moab, for she had heard in the country of Moab that Jehovah had visited His people by giving them food.

So she went forth from the place where she had been, along with her two daughters-in-law; and they went on the way to return to the land of Judah.

And Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, Go and return, each of you, to your mother's house. May Jehovah deal kindly with you, just as you have dealt with the dead and with me.

May Jehovah grant you to find rest, each of you in the house of your husband. Then she kissed them, and they lifted up their voice and wept.

And they said to her, No, we will return with you to your people.

And Naomi said, Return, my daughters. Why should you go with me? Do I still have sons in my womb, that they may be your husbands?

Return, my daughters, go; for I am too old to have a husband. If I said, I have hope; even if I had a husband tonight and even bore sons;

Would you then wait until they were grown? Would you then refrain from having a husband? No, my daughters; it has been far more bitter for me than it should be for you, for the hand of Jehovah has gone forth against me.

And they lifted up their voice and wept again. And Orpah kissed her mother-in-law, but Ruth clung to her.

And she said, Your sister-in-law has now returned to her people and to her gods; return with your sister-in-law.

But Ruth said, Do not entreat me to leave you and turn away from following after you. For wherever you go, I  ¹will go, and wherever you dwell, I will dwell; and your people will be my people, and your  ²God will be my God.

Where you die, I will die; and there will I be buried. Jehovah do so to me, and more as well, if anything but death parts me from you.

And when  ¹Naomi saw that she was determined to go with her, she ceased speaking to her about it.

So the two of them traveled until they came to Bethlehem. And when they came to Bethlehem, all the city was stirred because of them; and the women said, Is this Naomi?

And she said to them, Do not call me Naomi; call me  ¹Mara; for the All-sufficient One has  ²dealt very bitterly with me.

I went out full, but Jehovah has brought me back empty. Why do you call me Naomi, when Jehovah has  ¹afflicted me and the All-sufficient One has dealt harshly with me?

So Naomi returned, and Ruth the Moabitess, her daughter-in-law, with her, who returned from the country of Moab. And they came to Bethlehem at the beginning of the  ¹barley harvest.

Now Naomi had a relative of her husband's, a man of great wealth, from Elimelech's family; and his name was  ¹Boaz.

And Ruth the Moabitess said to Naomi, Let me go to the  ¹field and  ²glean among the ears of grain after him in whose sight I find favor. And she said to her, Go, my daughter.

So she went. And she came and  ¹gleaned in the field after the reapers; and she happened to glean in a portion of the field belonging to Boaz, who was from Elimelech's family.

And just then Boaz came from Bethlehem and said to the reapers, Jehovah be with you. And they said to him, Jehovah bless you.

And Boaz said to his young man who was set over the reapers, Whose young woman is that?

And the young man who was set over the reapers answered and said, She is the young Moabite woman who returned with Naomi from the country of Moab;

And she said, Let me glean and gather after the reapers among the sheaves. So she has come and continued since morning until now, and she has sat in the house for only a little while.

And Boaz said to Ruth,  ¹Listen, my daughter. Do not go to glean in another field, and also do not pass from here but stay close to my young women.

Keep your eyes on the field that they reap; follow after them.  ¹I have charged my young men not to touch you. And when you are thirsty, you shall go to the vessels and drink of what the young men have drawn.

And she fell upon her face and bowed herself to the ground, and she said to him, Why have I found favor in your sight that you regard me, though I am a foreigner?

And Boaz answered and said to her, All that you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband has been fully told me, as well as how you left your father and mother and the land of your birth, and came to a people whom you did not know before.

May Jehovah recompense your work, and may you have a full reward from Jehovah the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge.

And she said, Let me find favor in your sight, my lord; for you have comforted me and have spoken kindly to your servant girl, though I am not like even one of your servant girls.

And Boaz said to her at mealtime, Come here and eat some food; and dip your morsel in the vinegar. And she sat beside the reapers, and he extended some parched grain to her. And she ate and was satisfied, and she had some left.

And when she rose up to glean, Boaz charged his young men, saying, Let her glean even among the standing grain, and do not reproach her.

And also pull out some from the bundles for her, and leave it for her to glean; and do not rebuke her.

So she gleaned in the field until evening. And she beat out what she had gleaned, and it was about an ephah of barley.

And she took it up and went into the city. And her mother-in-law saw what she had gleaned.  ¹Ruth also brought out and gave to her what she had left after she had been earlier satisfied.

And her mother-in-law said to her, Where did you glean today, and where did you work? Blessed be he who paid such attention to you. And she told her mother-in-law whom she had worked with and said, The name of the man whom I worked with today is Boaz.

And Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, Blessed be he of Jehovah, whose lovingkindness has not failed for the living and for the dead. And Naomi said to her, The man is close to us; he is one of our  ¹kinsmen.

And Ruth the Moabitess said, He also said to me, You shall stay close by my young men who are with me until they have completed the whole harvest that I have.

And Naomi said to Ruth, her daughter-in-law, It is good, my daughter, that you go out with his young women, so that others do not meet you in any other field.

So she stayed close to Boaz's young women and gleaned until the end of the barley harvest and the wheat harvest, and she dwelt with her mother-in-law.