C. S. Lewis Bible: New Revised Standard Version

25 In those days there was no king in Israel; all the people did what was right in their own eyes.

For reflection: Judges 21:25

Evil comes from the abuse of free will.

—from The Problem of Pain

[1] That is Basins of Water

[2] Gk: Heb lacks Hobab

[3] See 1 Sam 15.6: Heb people

[4] OL Vg Compare Gk: Heb sides

[5] That is Weepers

[6] Heb he said

[7] Heb his

[8] With Tg Vg: Meaning of Heb uncertain

[9] Meaning of Heb uncertain

[10] Heb covering his feet

[11] Heb from the Kain

[12] Heb adds to the sword; compare verse 16

[13] Or You who offer yourselves willingly among the people, bless

[14] Meaning of Heb uncertain

[15] Gk: Heb me

[16] Cn: Heb From Ephraim their root

[17] Gk: Heb in Amalek

[18] Gk Compare Tg: Heb exclaimed

[19] Heb Asherah

[20] Heb Asherah

[21] Heb he

[22] Heb from

[23] Cn: Heb home, and depart from Mount Gilead’”

[24] Heb places the words putting their hands to their mouths after the word lapped in verse 6

[25] Cn: Heb So the people took provisions in their hands

[26] Another reading is Zeredah

[27] Gk: Heb pursuing

[28] With verse 7, Compare Gk: Heb he taught

[29] Heb they

[30] Cn: Meaning of Heb uncertain

[31] Heb might come

[32] Gk: Heb and he said

[33] Cn See 9.41. Heb Tormah

[34] Cn: Heb are besieging

[35] That is Diviners’ Oak

[36] Heb mouth

[37] Vg and some Gk Mss: Heb companies that were

[38] Heb lacks Did I not deliver you

[39] Or Sea of Reeds

[40] Cn: Heb go down

[41] Gk OL, Syr H: Heb lacks who oppressed us

[42] Meaning of Heb uncertain: Gk omits because . . . Manasseh

[43] Gk: Heb in the towns of Gilead

[44] That is one separated or one consecrated

[45] Or the angel

[46] Gk Vg: Heb and working

[47] Heb wonders, while Manoah and his wife looked on

[48] Cn: Heb my

[49] Gk Syr: Heb seventh

[50] Heb them

[51] Gk Tg Vg: Heb lacks and

[52] That is The Hill of the Jawbone

[53] That is The Spring of the One who Called

[54] Gk: Heb lacks were told

[55] Compare Gk: in verses 13–14, Heb lacks and make it tight . . . into the web

[56] That is one separated or one consecrated

[57] Gk: Heb She began to torment him

[58] Or so that I may be avenged upon the Philistines for one of my two eyes

[59] The words but now I will return it to you are transposed from the end of verse 3 in Heb

[60] Or Ephraim, continuing his journey

[61] Heb living, and the Levite went

[62] Cn Compare 18.10: Meaning of Heb uncertain

[63] Meaning of Heb uncertain

[64] Symmachus: Heb with anyone

[65] That is Camp of Dan

[66] Compare 17.4, 5; 18.14: Heb teraphim and the cast metal

[67] Cn Compare verse 7: Heb with anyone

[68] Another reading is son of Manasseh

[69] Gk OL: Heb prostituted herself against

[70] Gk: Heb she brought him to

[71] Compare verse 7 and Gk: Heb they

[72] Cn: Heb Linger

[73] Gk: Heb lacks and drank

[74] Gk Compare 19.29. Heb to the house of the LORD

[75] Compare Gk: Heb 30And all who saw it said, “Such a thing has not happened or been seen

[76] Gk: Heb lacks we will go up

[77] Compare Gk: Meaning of Heb uncertain

[78] Verses 22 and 23 are transposed

[79] Gk Vg: Heb in the plain

[80] This sentence is continued by verse 45.

[81] Compare Vg and some Gk Mss: Heb cities

[82] Compare Syr: Meaning of Heb uncertain

[83] Gk: Heb Surrounding

[84] Gk: Heb pursued them at their resting place

RUTH

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

1 In the days when the judges ruled, there was a famine in the land, and a certain man of Bethlehem in Judah went to live in the country of Moab, he and his wife and two sons. 2The name of the man was Elimelech and the name of his wife Naomi, and the names of his two sons were Mahlon and Chilion; they were Ephrathites from Bethlehem in Judah. They went into the country of Moab and remained there. 3But Elimelech, the husband of Naomi, died, and she was left with her two sons. 4These took Moabite wives; the name of the one was Orpah and the name of the other Ruth. When they had lived there about ten years, 5both Mahlon and Chilion also died, so that the woman was left without her two sons and her husband.

IT’S STILL THE WORD OF GOD

To me the curious thing is that neither in my own Bible-reading nor in my religious life as a whole does the question in fact even assume that importance which it always gets in theological controversy. The difference between reading the story of Ruth and that of Antigone—both first class as literature—is to me unmistakable and even overwhelming. But the question “Is Ruth historical?” (I’ve no reason to suppose it is not) doesn’t really seem to arise till afterwards. It wd. still act on me as the Word of God if it weren’t, so far as I can see. All Holy Scripture is written for our learning. But learning of what? I should have thought the value of some things (e.g., the Resurrection) depended on whether they really happened: but the value of others (e.g., the fate of Lot’s wife) hardly at all. And the ones whose historicity matters are, as God’s will, those where it is plain.

—from a letter to Professor Clyde S. Kilby, May 7, 1959

For reflection

Ruth 1:1–4

WHEN SORROW COMES

LEWIS, GRIEVING THE DEATH OF HIS WIFE, JOY:

Ihad been warned—I had warned myself—not to reckon on worldly happiness. We were even promised sufferings. They were part of the programme. We were even told, “Blessed are they that mourn,” and I accepted it. I’ve got nothing that I hadn’t bargained for. Of course it is different when the thing happens to oneself, not to others, and in reality, not in imagination. Yes; but should it, for a sane man, make quite such a difference as this. No. And it wouldn’t for a man whose faith had been real faith and whose concern for other people’s sorrows had been real concern. The case is too plain. If my house has collapsed at one blow, that is because it was a house of cards. The faith which “took these things into account” was not faith but imagination. The taking them into account was not real sympathy. If I had really cared, as I thought I did, about the sorrows of the world, I should not have been so overwhelmed when my own sorrow came.

—from A Grief Observed

For reflection

Ruth 1:1–4, 20

6 Then she started to return with her daughters-in-law from the country of Moab, for she had heard in the country of Moab that the LORD had considered his people and given them food. 7So she set out from the place where she had been living, she and her two daughters-in-law, and they went on their way to go back to the land of Judah. 8But Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, “Go back each of you to your mother’s house. May the LORD deal kindly with you, as you have dealt with the dead and with me. 9The LORD grant that you may find security, each of you in the house of your husband.” Then she kissed them, and they wept aloud. 10They said to her, “No, we will return with you to your people.” 11But Naomi said, “Turn back, my daughters, why will you go with me? Do I still have sons in my womb that they may become your husbands? 12Turn back, my daughters, go your way, for I am too old to have a husband. Even if I thought there was hope for me, even if I should have a husband tonight and bear sons, 13would you then wait until they were grown? Would you then refrain from marrying? No, my daughters, it has been far more bitter for me than for you, because the hand of the LORD has turned against me.” 14Then they wept aloud again. Orpah kissed her mother-in-law, but Ruth clung to her.

15 So she said, “See, your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and to her gods; return after your sister-in-law.” 16But Ruth said,

“Do not press me to leave you

or to turn back from following you!

Where you go, I will go;

where you lodge, I will lodge;

your people shall be my people,

and your God my God.

17 Where you die, I will die—

there will I be buried.

May the LORD do thus and so to me,

and more as well,

if even death parts me from you!”

18When Naomi saw that she was determined to go with her, she said no more to her.

19 So the two of them went on until they came to Bethlehem. When they came to Bethlehem, the whole town was stirred because of them; and the women said, “Is this Naomi?” 20She said to them,

“Call me no longer Naomi,[1]

call me Mara,[2]

for the Almighty[3] has dealt bitterly with me.

21 I went away full,

but the LORD has brought me back empty;

why call me Naomi

when the LORD has dealt harshly with[4] me,

and the Almighty[3] has brought calamity upon me?”

22 So Naomi returned together with Ruth the Moabite, her daughter-in-law, who came back with her from the country of Moab. They came to Bethlehem at the beginning of the barley harvest.

ALMS FOR THE POOR

Charity” now means simply what used to be called “alms”—that is, giving to the poor. Originally it had a much wider meaning. (You can see how it got the modern sense. If a man has “charity,” giving to the poor is one of the most obvious things he does, and so people came to talk as if that were the whole of charity. In the same way, “rhyme” is the most obvious thing about poetry, and so people come to mean by “poetry” simply rhyme and nothing more.) Charity means “Love, in the Christian sense.” But love, in the Christian sense, does not mean an emotion. It is a state not of the feelings but of the will; that state of the will which we have naturally about ourselves, and must learn to have about other people.

—from Mere Christianity

For reflection

Ruth 2:4–18

2 Now Naomi had a kinsman on her husband’s side, a prominent rich man, of the family of Elimelech, whose name was Boaz. 2And Ruth the Moabite said to Naomi, “Let me go to the field and glean among the ears of grain, behind someone in whose sight I may find favor.” She said to her, “Go, my daughter.” 3So she went. She came and gleaned in the field behind the reapers. As it happened, she came to the part of the field belonging to Boaz, who was of the family of Elimelech. 4Just then Boaz came from Bethlehem. He said to the reapers, “The LORD be with you.” They answered, “The LORD bless you.” 5Then Boaz said to his servant who was in charge of the reapers, “To whom does this young woman belong?” 6The servant who was in charge of the reapers answered, “She is the Moabite who came back with Naomi from the country of Moab. 7She said, ‘Please, let me glean and gather among the sheaves behind the reapers.’ So she came, and she has been on her feet from early this morning until now, without resting even for a moment.”[5]

8 Then Boaz said to Ruth, “Now listen, my daughter, do not go to glean in another field or leave this one, but keep close to my young women. 9Keep your eyes on the field that is being reaped, and follow behind them. I have ordered the young men not to bother you. If you get thirsty, go to the vessels and drink from what the young men have drawn.” 10Then she fell prostrate, with her face to the ground, and said to him, “Why have I found favor in your sight, that you should take notice of me, when I am a foreigner?” 11But Boaz answered her, “All that you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband has been fully told me, and how you left your father and mother and your native land and came to a people that you did not know before. 12May the LORD reward you for your deeds, and may you have a full reward from the LORD, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come for refuge!” 13Then she said, “May I continue to find favor in your sight, my lord, for you have comforted me and spoken kindly to your servant, even though I am not one of your servants.”

14 At mealtime Boaz said to her, “Come here, and eat some of this bread, and dip your morsel in the sour wine.” So she sat beside the reapers, and he heaped up for her some parched grain. She ate until she was satisfied, and she had some left over. 15When she got up to glean, Boaz instructed his young men, “Let her glean even among the standing sheaves, and do not reproach her. 16You must also pull out some handfuls for her from the bundles, and leave them for her to glean, and do not rebuke her.”

17 So she gleaned in the field until evening. Then she beat out what she had gleaned, and it was about an ephah of barley. 18She picked it up and came into the town, and her mother-in-law saw how much she had gleaned. Then she took out and gave her what was left over after she herself had been satisfied. 19Her mother-in-law said to her, “Where did you glean today? And where have you worked? Blessed be the man who took notice of you.” So she told her mother-in-law with whom she had worked, and said, “The name of the man with whom I worked today is Boaz.” 20Then Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, “Blessed be he by the LORD, whose kindness has not forsaken the living or the dead!” Naomi also said to her, “The man is a relative of ours, one of our nearest kin.”[6] 21Then Ruth the Moabite said, “He even said to me, ‘Stay close by my servants, until they have finished all my harvest.’” 22Naomi said to Ruth, her daughter-in-law, “It is better, my daughter, that you go out with his young women, otherwise you might be bothered in another field.” 23So she stayed close to the young women of Boaz, gleaning until the end of the barley and wheat harvests; and she lived with her mother-in-law.

3 Naomi her mother-in-law said to her, “My daughter, I need to seek some security for you, so that it may be well with you. 2Now here is our kinsman Boaz, with whose young women you have been working. See, he is winnowing barley tonight at the threshing floor. 3Now wash 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. 4When he lies down, observe the place where he lies; then, go and uncover his feet and lie down; and he will tell you what to do.” 5She said to her, “All that you tell me I will do.”

6 So she went down to the threshing floor and did just as her mother-in-law had instructed her. 7When Boaz had eaten and drunk, and he was in a contented mood, he went to lie down at the end of the heap of grain. Then she came stealthily and uncovered his feet, and lay down. 8At midnight the man was startled, and turned over, and there, lying at his feet, was a woman! 9He said, “Who are you?” And she answered, “I am Ruth, your servant; spread your cloak over your servant, for you are next-of-kin.”[6] 10He said, “May you be blessed by the LORD, my daughter; this last instance of your loyalty is better than the first; you have not gone after young men, whether poor or rich. 11And now, my daughter, do not be afraid, I will do for you all that you ask, for all the assembly of my people know that you are a worthy woman. 12But now, though it is true that I am a near kinsman, there is another kinsman more closely related than I. 13Remain this night, and in the morning, if he will act as next-of-kin[7] for you, good; let him do it. If he is not willing to act as next-of-kin[7] for you, then, as the LORD lives, I will act as next-of-kin[7] for you. Lie down until the morning.”

TAKING HELP

I am very, very glad that God has sent you good friends who won’t let you sink, and that you have turned the corner about that bad feeling that one must not take help even when one needs it. If it were really true that to receive money or money’s worth degraded the recipient, then every act of alms we have done in our lives wd. be wicked! . . . Or else (which might be even worse) we shd. have to hold that to receive was good enough for those we call “the poor” but not for our precious selves however poor we become!

—from a letter to Mary Willis Shelburne, July 5, 1956

For reflection

Ruth 3:1–13

14 So she lay at his feet until morning, but got up before one person could recognize another; for he said, “It must not be known that the woman came to the threshing floor.” 15Then he said, “Bring the cloak you are wearing and hold it out.” So she held it, and he measured out six measures of barley, and put it on her back; then he went into the city. 16She came to her mother-in-law, who said, “How did things go with you,[8] my daughter?” Then she told her all that the man had done for her, 17saying, “He gave me these six measures of barley, for he said, ‘Do not go back to your mother-in-law empty-handed.’” 18She replied, “Wait, my daughter, until you learn how the matter turns out, for the man will not rest, but will settle the matter today.”

4 No sooner had Boaz gone up to the gate and sat down there than the next-of-kin,[7] of whom Boaz had spoken, came passing by. So Boaz said, “Come over, friend; sit down here.” And he went over and sat down. 2Then Boaz took ten men of the elders of the city, and said, “Sit down here”; so they sat down. 3He then said to the next-of-kin,[7] “Naomi, who has come back from the country of Moab, is selling the parcel of land that belonged to our kinsman Elimelech. 4So I thought I would tell you of it, and say: Buy it in the presence of those sitting here, and in the presence of the elders of my people. If you will redeem it, redeem it; but if you will not, tell me, so that I may know; for there is no one prior to you to redeem it, and I come after you.” So he said, “I will redeem it.” 5Then Boaz said, “The day you acquire the field from the hand of Naomi, you are also acquiring Ruth[9] the Moabite, the widow of the dead man, to maintain the dead man’s name on his inheritance.” 6At this, the next-of-kin[7] said, “I cannot redeem it for myself without damaging my own inheritance. Take my right of redemption yourself, for I cannot redeem it.”

7 Now this was the custom in former times in Israel concerning redeeming and exchanging: to confirm a transaction, the one took off a sandal and gave it to the other; this was the manner of attesting in Israel. 8So when the next-of-kin[10] said to Boaz, “Acquire it for yourself,” he took off his sandal. 9Then Boaz said to the elders and all the people, “Today you are witnesses that I have acquired from the hand of Naomi all that belonged to Elimelech and all that belonged to Chilion and Mahlon. 10I have also acquired Ruth the Moabite, the wife of Mahlon, to be my wife, to maintain the dead man’s name on his inheritance, in order that the name of the dead may not be cut off from his kindred and from the gate of his native place; today you are witnesses.” 11Then all the people who were at the gate, along with 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 up the house of Israel. May you produce children in Ephrathah and bestow a name in Bethlehem; 12and, through the children that the LORD will give you by this young woman, may your house be like the house of Perez, whom Tamar bore to Judah.”

13 So Boaz took Ruth and she became his wife. When they came together, the LORD made her conceive, and she bore a son. 14Then the women said to Naomi, “Blessed be the LORD, who has not left you this day without next-of-kin;[10] and may his name be renowned in Israel! 15He shall be to you a restorer of life and a nourisher of your old age; for your daughter-in-law who loves you, who is more to you than seven sons, has borne him.” 16Then Naomi took the child and laid him in her bosom, and became his nurse. 17The women of the neighborhood gave him a name, saying, “A son has been born to Naomi.” They named him Obed; he became the father of Jesse, the father of David.

18 Now these are the descendants of Perez: Perez became the father of Hezron, 19Hezron of Ram, Ram of Amminadab, 20Amminadab of Nahshon, Nahshon of Salmon, 21Salmon of Boaz, Boaz of Obed, 22Obed of Jesse, and Jesse of David.

[1] That is Pleasant

[2] That is Bitter

[3] Traditional rendering of Heb Shaddai

[4] Or has testified against

[5] Compare Gk Vg: Meaning of Heb uncertain

[6] Or one with the right to redeem

[7] Or one with the right to redeem

[8] Or “Who are you,

[9] OL Vg: Heb from the hand of Naomi and from Ruth

[10] Or one with the right to redeem

1 SAMUEL

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

Chapter 25

Chapter 26

Chapter 27

Chapter 28

Chapter 29

Chapter 30

Chapter 31

1 There was a certain man of Ramathaim, a Zuphite[1] from the hill country of Ephraim, whose name was Elkanah son of Jeroham son of Elihu son of Tohu son of Zuph, an Ephraimite. 2He had two wives; the name of the one was Hannah, and the name of the other Peninnah. Peninnah had children, but Hannah had no children.