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WHAT DOES THE BIBLE SAY TO YOU?
Are you caring for someone older?
So Joseph went and told Pharaoh, "My father and my brothers,
with their flocks and herds and all that they possess, have come from the land of Canaan;
they are now in the land of Goshen." From among his brothers he took five men and
presented them to Pharaoh. Pharaoh said to his brothers, "What is your
occupation?" And they said to Pharaoh, "Your servants are shepherds, as our
ancestors were." They said to Pharaoh, "We have come to reside as aliens in the
land; for there is no pasture for your servants' flocks because the famine is severe in
the land of Canaan. Now, we ask you, let your servants settle in the land of Goshen."
Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, "Your father and your brothers have come to you. The
land of Egypt is before you; settle your father and your brothers in the best part of the
land; let them live in the land of Goshen; and if you know that there are capable men
among them, put them in charge of my livestock."
Then Joseph brought in his father Jacob, and presented him before
Pharaoh, and Jacob blessed Pharaoh. Pharaoh said to Jacob, "How many are the years of
your life?" Jacob said to Pharaoh, "The years of my earthly sojourn are one
hundred thirty; few and hard have been the years of my life. They do not compare with the
years of the life of my ancestors during their long sojourn." Then Jacob blessed
Pharaoh, and went out from the presence of Pharaoh. Joseph settled his father and his
brothers, and granted them a holding in the land of Egypt, in the best part of the land,
in the land of Rameses, as Pharaoh had instructed. And Joseph provided his father, his
brothers, and all his father's household with food, according to the number of their
dependents.
Genesis 47:1-12
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. The 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. But Elimelech,
the husband of Naomi, died, and she was left with her two sons. These 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, both Mahlon and Chilion also died, so that the woman was left without her
two sons and her husband.
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. So 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.
But 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. The
LORD grant that you may find security, each of you in the house of your husband."
Then she kissed them, and they wept aloud. They said to her, "No, we will return with
you to your people." But 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? Turn 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, would 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." Then they wept aloud again. Orpah kissed her mother-in-law, but Ruth clung to
her.
So she said, "See, your sister-in-law has gone back to her
people and to her gods; return after your sister-in-law." But 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.
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!"
When Naomi saw that she was determined to go with her, she said
no more to her.
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?" She said to them,
"Call me no longer Naomi,
call me Mara,
for the Almighty has dealt bitterly with me.
I went away full,
but the LORD has brought me back empty;
why call me Naomi
when the LORD has dealt harshly with me,
and the Almighty has brought calamity upon me?"
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.
Ruth 1
Sing to God, sing praises to his name;
lift up a song to him who rides upon the clouds —
his name is the LORD —
be exultant before him.
Father of orphans and protector of widows
is God in his holy habitation.
God gives the desolate a home to live in.
Psalm 68:4-6a
Listen to your father who begot you,
and do not despise your mother when she is old.
Proverbs 23:22
Honor widows who are really widows. If a widow has children or
grandchildren, they should first learn their religious duty to their own family and make
some repayment to their parents; for this is pleasing in God's sight. The real widow, left
alone, has set her hope on God and continues in supplications and prayers night and day;
but the widow who lives for pleasure is dead even while she lives. Give these commands as
well, so that they may be above reproach. And whoever does not provide for relatives, and
especially for family members, has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.
1 Timothy 5:3-8
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