The Daily Audio Bible Reading for Wednesday May 5, 2021 (NIV)

Judges 21 - Ruth 1

Wives for the Benjamites

21 The men of Israel had taken an oath(A) at Mizpah:(B) “Not one of us will give(C) his daughter in marriage to a Benjamite.”

The people went to Bethel,[a] where they sat before God until evening, raising their voices and weeping bitterly. Lord, God of Israel,” they cried, “why has this happened to Israel? Why should one tribe be missing(D) from Israel today?”

Early the next day the people built an altar and presented burnt offerings and fellowship offerings.(E)

Then the Israelites asked, “Who from all the tribes of Israel(F) has failed to assemble before the Lord?” For they had taken a solemn oath that anyone who failed to assemble before the Lord at Mizpah was to be put to death.

Now the Israelites grieved for the tribe of Benjamin, their fellow Israelites. “Today one tribe is cut off from Israel,” they said. “How can we provide wives for those who are left, since we have taken an oath(G) by the Lord not to give them any of our daughters in marriage?” Then they asked, “Which one of the tribes of Israel failed to assemble before the Lord at Mizpah?” They discovered that no one from Jabesh Gilead(H) had come to the camp for the assembly. For when they counted the people, they found that none of the people of Jabesh Gilead were there.

10 So the assembly sent twelve thousand fighting men with instructions to go to Jabesh Gilead and put to the sword those living there, including the women and children. 11 “This is what you are to do,” they said. “Kill every male(I) and every woman who is not a virgin.(J) 12 They found among the people living in Jabesh Gilead four hundred young women who had never slept with a man, and they took them to the camp at Shiloh(K) in Canaan.

13 Then the whole assembly sent an offer of peace(L) to the Benjamites at the rock of Rimmon.(M) 14 So the Benjamites returned at that time and were given the women of Jabesh Gilead who had been spared. But there were not enough for all of them.

15 The people grieved for Benjamin,(N) because the Lord had made a gap in the tribes of Israel. 16 And the elders of the assembly said, “With the women of Benjamin destroyed, how shall we provide wives for the men who are left? 17 The Benjamite survivors must have heirs,” they said, “so that a tribe of Israel will not be wiped out.(O) 18 We can’t give them our daughters as wives, since we Israelites have taken this oath:(P) ‘Cursed be anyone who gives(Q) a wife to a Benjamite.’ 19 But look, there is the annual festival of the Lord in Shiloh,(R) which lies north of Bethel(S), east of the road that goes from Bethel to Shechem,(T) and south of Lebonah.”

20 So they instructed the Benjamites, saying, “Go and hide in the vineyards 21 and watch. When the young women of Shiloh come out to join in the dancing,(U) rush from the vineyards and each of you seize one of them to be your wife. Then return to the land of Benjamin. 22 When their fathers or brothers complain to us, we will say to them, ‘Do us the favor of helping them, because we did not get wives for them during the war. You will not be guilty of breaking your oath because you did not give(V) your daughters to them.’”

23 So that is what the Benjamites did. While the young women were dancing,(W) each man caught one and carried her off to be his wife. Then they returned to their inheritance(X) and rebuilt the towns and settled in them.(Y)

24 At that time the Israelites left that place and went home to their tribes and clans, each to his own inheritance.

25 In those days Israel had no king; everyone did as they saw fit.(Z)

Naomi Loses Her Husband and Sons

In the days when the judges ruled,[b](AA) there was a famine in the land.(AB) So a man from Bethlehem in Judah,(AC) together with his wife and two sons, went to live for a while(AD) in the country of Moab.(AE) The man’s name was Elimelek,(AF) his wife’s name was Naomi, and the names of his two sons were Mahlon and Kilion.(AG) They were Ephrathites(AH) from Bethlehem,(AI) Judah. And they went to Moab and lived there.

Now Elimelek, Naomi’s husband, died, and she was left with her two sons. They married Moabite women,(AJ) one named Orpah and the other Ruth.(AK) After they had lived there about ten years, both Mahlon and Kilion(AL) also died,(AM) and Naomi was left without her two sons and her husband.

Naomi and Ruth Return to Bethlehem

When Naomi heard in Moab(AN) that the Lord had come to the aid of his people(AO) by providing food(AP) for them, she and her daughters-in-law(AQ) prepared to return home from there. With her two daughters-in-law she left the place where she had been living and set out on the road that would take them back to the land of Judah.

Then Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, “Go back, each of you, to your mother’s home.(AR) May the Lord show you kindness,(AS) as you have shown kindness to your dead husbands(AT) and to me. May the Lord grant that each of you will find rest(AU) in the home of another husband.”

Then she kissed(AV) them goodbye and they wept aloud(AW) 10 and said to her, “We will go back with you to your people.”

11 But Naomi said, “Return home, my daughters. Why would you come with me? Am I going to have any more sons, who could become your husbands?(AX) 12 Return home, my daughters; I am too old to have another husband. Even if I thought there was still hope for me—even if I had a husband tonight and then gave birth to sons— 13 would you wait until they grew up?(AY) Would you remain unmarried for them? No, my daughters. It is more bitter(AZ) for me than for you, because the Lord’s hand has turned against me!(BA)

14 At this they wept(BB) aloud again. Then Orpah kissed her mother-in-law(BC) goodbye,(BD) but Ruth clung to her.(BE)

15 “Look,” said Naomi, “your sister-in-law(BF) is going back to her people and her gods.(BG) Go back with her.”

16 But Ruth replied, “Don’t urge me to leave you(BH) or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go,(BI) and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people(BJ) and your God my God.(BK) 17 Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried. May the Lord deal with me, be it ever so severely,(BL) if even death separates you and me.”(BM) 18 When Naomi realized that Ruth was determined to go with her, she stopped urging her.(BN)

19 So the two women went on until they came to Bethlehem.(BO) When they arrived in Bethlehem, the whole town was stirred(BP) because of them, and the women exclaimed, “Can this be Naomi?”

20 “Don’t call me Naomi,[c]” she told them. “Call me Mara,[d] because the Almighty[e](BQ) has made my life very bitter.(BR) 21 I went away full, but the Lord has brought me back empty.(BS) Why call me Naomi? The Lord has afflicted[f] me;(BT) the Almighty has brought misfortune upon me.”

22 So Naomi returned from Moab accompanied by Ruth the Moabite,(BU) her daughter-in-law,(BV) arriving in Bethlehem as the barley harvest(BW) was beginning.(BX)

Footnotes:

  1. Judges 21:2 Or to the house of God
  2. Ruth 1:1 Traditionally judged
  3. Ruth 1:20 Naomi means pleasant.
  4. Ruth 1:20 Mara means bitter.
  5. Ruth 1:20 Hebrew Shaddai; also in verse 21
  6. Ruth 1:21 Or has testified against

Cross references:

  1. Judges 21:1 : S Jos 9:18
  2. Judges 21:1 : S Jos 11:3
  3. Judges 21:1 : ver 18, 22
  4. Judges 21:3 : ver 6, 17
  5. Judges 21:4 : Jdg 20:26
  6. Judges 21:5 : Jdg 20:1
  7. Judges 21:7 : S Jos 9:18
  8. Judges 21:8 : 1Sa 11:1; 31:11; 2Sa 2:4; 21:12; 1Ch 10:11
  9. Judges 21:11 : S Nu 31:7
  10. Judges 21:11 : Nu 31:17-18
  11. Judges 21:12 : S Jos 18:1
  12. Judges 21:13 : S Dt 2:26
  13. Judges 21:13 : S Jos 15:32
  14. Judges 21:15 : ver 6
  15. Judges 21:17 : S ver 3
  16. Judges 21:18 : S Jos 9:18
  17. Judges 21:18 : S ver 1
  18. Judges 21:19 : S Jos 18:1
  19. Judges 21:19 : Jos 16:1
  20. Judges 21:19 : S Jos 17:7
  21. Judges 21:21 : S Ex 15:20
  22. Judges 21:22 : S ver 1; ver 1, 18
  23. Judges 21:23 : ver 21
  24. Judges 21:23 : S Jos 24:28
  25. Judges 21:23 : Jdg 20:48
  26. Judges 21:25 : S Dt 12:8
  27. Ruth 1:1 : Jdg 2:16-18
  28. Ruth 1:1 : S Ge 12:10; 2Ki 6:25; Ps 105:16; Hag 1:11
  29. Ruth 1:1 : S Ge 35:19
  30. Ruth 1:1 : Ge 47:4
  31. Ruth 1:1 : S Ge 36:35
  32. Ruth 1:2 : ver 3; Ru 2:1; 4:3
  33. Ruth 1:2 : ver 5; Ru 4:9
  34. Ruth 1:2 : S Ge 35:16
  35. Ruth 1:2 : Ge 35:19; 1Sa 16:18
  36. Ruth 1:4 : 1Ki 11:1; 2Ch 24:26; Ezr 9:2; Ne 13:23
  37. Ruth 1:4 : ver 14; Ru 4:13; Mt 1:5
  38. Ruth 1:5 : S ver 2
  39. Ruth 1:5 : ver 8; Ru 2:11
  40. Ruth 1:6 : S Ge 36:35
  41. Ruth 1:6 : S Ge 50:24; Ex 4:31; Jer 29:10; Zep 2:7
  42. Ruth 1:6 : Ps 132:15; Mt 6:11
  43. Ruth 1:6 : S Ge 11:31; S 38:16
  44. Ruth 1:8 : Ge 38:11
  45. Ruth 1:8 : S Ge 19:19; 2Ti 1:16
  46. Ruth 1:8 : S ver 5
  47. Ruth 1:9 : Ru 3:1
  48. Ruth 1:9 : S Ge 27:27; S 29:11
  49. Ruth 1:9 : S Ge 27:38; S Nu 25:6
  50. Ruth 1:11 : Ge 38:11; Dt 25:5
  51. Ruth 1:13 : Ge 38:11
  52. Ruth 1:13 : ver 20; Ex 1:14; 15:23; 1Sa 30:6
  53. Ruth 1:13 : S Jdg 2:15; S Job 4:5
  54. Ruth 1:14 : ver 9
  55. Ruth 1:14 : Ru 2:11; 3:1; Mic 7:6
  56. Ruth 1:14 : S Ge 31:28
  57. Ruth 1:14 : S Dt 10:20
  58. Ruth 1:15 : Dt 25:7
  59. Ruth 1:15 : S Jos 24:14
  60. Ruth 1:16 : 2Ki 2:2
  61. Ruth 1:16 : Ge 24:58
  62. Ruth 1:16 : Ps 45:10
  63. Ruth 1:16 : S Jos 24:15
  64. Ruth 1:17 : 1Sa 3:17; 14:44; 20:13; 25:22; 2Sa 3:9, 35; 2Sa 19:13; 1Ki 2:23; 19:2; 20:10; 2Ki 6:31
  65. Ruth 1:17 : 2Sa 15:21
  66. Ruth 1:18 : Ac 21:14
  67. Ruth 1:19 : S Jdg 17:7
  68. Ruth 1:19 : Mt 21:10
  69. Ruth 1:20 : S Ge 15:1; S 17:1; Ps 91:1
  70. Ruth 1:20 : S ver 13
  71. Ruth 1:21 : Job 1:21
  72. Ruth 1:21 : Job 30:11; Ps 88:7; Isa 53:4
  73. Ruth 1:22 : Ru 2:2, 6, 21; 4:5, 10
  74. Ruth 1:22 : S Ge 11:31
  75. Ruth 1:22 : S Ex 9:31; S Lev 19:9
  76. Ruth 1:22 : 2Sa 21:9
New International Version (NIV)

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John 4:4-42

Now he had to go through Samaria.(A) So he came to a town in Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of ground Jacob had given to his son Joseph.(B) Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired as he was from the journey, sat down by the well. It was about noon.

When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, “Will you give me a drink?”(C) (His disciples had gone into the town(D) to buy food.)

The Samaritan woman said to him, “You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan(E) woman. How can you ask me for a drink?” (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.[a])

10 Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.”(F)

11 “Sir,” the woman said, “you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? 12 Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well(G) and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his livestock?”

13 Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, 14 but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst.(H) Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water(I) welling up to eternal life.”(J)

15 The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty(K) and have to keep coming here to draw water.”

16 He told her, “Go, call your husband and come back.”

17 “I have no husband,” she replied.

Jesus said to her, “You are right when you say you have no husband. 18 The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true.”

19 “Sir,” the woman said, “I can see that you are a prophet.(L) 20 Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain,(M) but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem.”(N)

21 “Woman,” Jesus replied, “believe me, a time is coming(O) when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem.(P) 22 You Samaritans worship what you do not know;(Q) we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews.(R) 23 Yet a time is coming and has now come(S) when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit(T) and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. 24 God is spirit,(U) and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.”

25 The woman said, “I know that Messiah” (called Christ)(V) “is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.”

26 Then Jesus declared, “I, the one speaking to you—I am he.”(W)

The Disciples Rejoin Jesus

27 Just then his disciples returned(X) and were surprised to find him talking with a woman. But no one asked, “What do you want?” or “Why are you talking with her?”

28 Then, leaving her water jar, the woman went back to the town and said to the people, 29 “Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did.(Y) Could this be the Messiah?”(Z) 30 They came out of the town and made their way toward him.

31 Meanwhile his disciples urged him, “Rabbi,(AA) eat something.”

32 But he said to them, “I have food to eat(AB) that you know nothing about.”

33 Then his disciples said to each other, “Could someone have brought him food?”

34 “My food,” said Jesus, “is to do the will(AC) of him who sent me and to finish his work.(AD) 35 Don’t you have a saying, ‘It’s still four months until harvest’? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest.(AE) 36 Even now the one who reaps draws a wage and harvests(AF) a crop for eternal life,(AG) so that the sower and the reaper may be glad together. 37 Thus the saying ‘One sows and another reaps’(AH) is true. 38 I sent you to reap what you have not worked for. Others have done the hard work, and you have reaped the benefits of their labor.”

Many Samaritans Believe

39 Many of the Samaritans from that town(AI) believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me everything I ever did.”(AJ) 40 So when the Samaritans came to him, they urged him to stay with them, and he stayed two days. 41 And because of his words many more became believers.

42 They said to the woman, “We no longer believe just because of what you said; now we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this man really is the Savior of the world.”(AK)

Footnotes:

  1. John 4:9 Or do not use dishes Samaritans have used
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Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Psalm 105:1-15

Psalm 105(A)

Give praise to the Lord,(B) proclaim his name;(C)
make known among the nations what he has done.
Sing to him,(D) sing praise to him;(E)
tell of all his wonderful acts.(F)
Glory in his holy name;(G)
let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice.
Look to the Lord and his strength;
seek his face(H) always.

Remember the wonders(I) he has done,
his miracles, and the judgments he pronounced,(J)
you his servants, the descendants of Abraham,(K)
his chosen(L) ones, the children of Jacob.
He is the Lord our God;
his judgments are in all the earth.

He remembers his covenant(M) forever,
the promise he made, for a thousand generations,
the covenant he made with Abraham,(N)
the oath he swore to Isaac.
10 He confirmed it(O) to Jacob as a decree,
to Israel as an everlasting covenant:(P)
11 “To you I will give the land of Canaan(Q)
as the portion you will inherit.”(R)

12 When they were but few in number,(S)
few indeed, and strangers in it,(T)
13 they wandered from nation to nation,(U)
from one kingdom to another.
14 He allowed no one to oppress(V) them;
for their sake he rebuked kings:(W)
15 “Do not touch(X) my anointed ones;
do my prophets(Y) no harm.”

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Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Proverbs 14:24-25

24 The wealth of the wise is their crown,
but the folly of fools yields folly.(A)

25 A truthful witness saves lives,
but a false witness is deceitful.(B)

New International Version (NIV)

Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.