There was a certain man from Ramathaim, a Zuphite from the hill country of Ephraim, whose name was Elkanah . . .  He had two wives; one was called Hannah and the other Peninnah. Peninnah had children, but Hannah had none.Year after year this man went up from his town to worship and sacrifice to the LORD Almighty at Shiloh . . . Because the LORD had closed Hannah's womb, her rival kept provoking he...  Read More

So Boaz took Ruth and she became his wife. When he made love to her, the Lord enabled her to conceive, and she gave birth to a son. The women said to Naomi: "Praise be to the LORD, who this day has not left you without a guardian-redeemer. May he become famous throughout Israel! He will renew your life and sustain you in your old age. For your daughter-in-law, who loves you and who is better to yo...  Read More

Blessed is she who believed, for there will be a fulfillment of those things which were told her from the Lord.And Mary said: My soul magnifies the Lord,And my spirit has rejoiced in God my Saviour.For He has regarded the lowly state of His maidservant; For behold, henceforth all generations will call me blessed.For He who is mighty has done great things for me, And Holy is His Name.. . . He has s...  Read More

I want to know Christ - yes, to know the power of His resurrection, and to participate in His sufferings, becoming like Him in His death, and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead.Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself ...  Read More

In the six month of Elizabeth's pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a virgin . . . The virgin's name was Mary. The angel went to her and said, "Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you."Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. But the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found fa...  Read More

Although it is true that I am a guardian-redeemer of our family, there is another who is more closely related than I.   . . . But if he is not willing, as surely as the Lord lives I will do it. . . . Meanwhile Boaz went up to the town gate and sat down there just as the guardian-redeemer he had mentioned came along. . . . Then he said to the guardian-redeemer, "Naomi, who has come back from Moab, ...  Read More