Did Joshua complete the task before he died?
Seven years later, Joshua led the Israelites to levy a northern war in Canaan, open up the territory, and destroyed a total of thirty-one kings. There is no longer a big war in Canaan. At this time, Joshua was over eighty years old, and his physical strength was fading, and the mission entrusted to him by God was not completed. God pointed to the seashore in the west and the unreached land in the north to Joshua, and asked him to divide the land he had already possessed into the twelve tribes of Israel, and then the tribes to develop their own territory.
Among the twelve tribes, the Levites did not occupy the territory as priests. They scattered in the forty-eight cities of the twelve tribes, specializing in sacrifices. The daily needs were based on the law of Moses, from the meat and vegetarian food sacrificed by the people. . Because they specialize in serving God, the other twelve tribes support them together.
The tribe of Joseph was blessed by the ancestor Joseph’s grievances, and he was blessed by his father Jacob’s dying. Jacob’s two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim, were their sons, so the branch of Joseph Two tribes. Manasseh has the most land, and has a large territory in the Jordan River. The younger brother Ephraim clung to the south of his brother Manasseh.
The tribe of Judah is divided into the most south-facing land. Among the twelve spies sent by Moses forty-five years ago, only Caleb of Judah and Joshua of the tribe of Joseph entered Canaan. At this time Caleb was eighty-five years old, but ambitions, he found Joshua and said what Moses promised him: "On that day, Moses swore to me: 'The land you are walking on must be yours and Your children and grandchildren will always be a business, because you are dedicated to following the Lord-my God.' Today, I am still very strong, just like the day when Moses sent me out. Please give me the mountain that the Lord promised that day. There are remnants of the giants of the Ammonites, and with their large and strong walls, God will be with me as he said, and I will drive them out."
Joshua looked at the old comrades who had been born and died, bloody battles, and praised his ambitions, and distributed Hebron and the surrounding land to Caleb. Caleb really destroyed the Ammonites of Hebron. Hebron became a famous city until today.
When Simeon and his younger brother Levi slaughtered the Swordsman and indiscriminately killed innocent people, the division of this tribe was completely surrounded by Judah. Later, as time passed, it was separated in the tribe of Judah and fulfilled the prophecy of Jacob before his death: Their hot wrath is awkward, their ferocious resentment can be cursed! I will disperse them in Jacob and let them diaspora in Israel."
Benjamin was the smallest among the tribes, just as their first ancestors, Benjamin, ranked the smallest. Their land is in the middle, and they are guarded by six brothers to become the safest land. After many years, it was almost sinned by eleven brothers because of the arbitrariness of being easy to commit.
In the east of Jordan, before Moses died, Moses gave the land to the two and a half tribes at the request of Lubian, Gad, and half of the tribe of Manasseh. Now that the overall situation has been settled, there is no peace in the territory, and the two and a half tribes have returned to the original land. When they crossed the Jordan River, they set up a stone altar to witness the works of God so that future generations could commemorate the power of God.
At the entrance to the tabernacle, the other tribes were assigned to their land by lot. In the end it was Joshua, and Joshua belonged to the tribe of Joseph and was assigned to a mountain town in Ephraim. Joshua built the city and lived there.
So the twelve tribes of Israel all owned their own land and initially fulfilled God's promise to Abraham five hundred years ago. But they have not yet fully obtained all the territories promised by God. Even among the land they had divided, they were scattered among the seven Canaanites whom God wanted them to completely destroy. It seems that the tribes can easily accomplish this almost handy work.
Time flies, after the exodus, the second generation of Israel, who has experienced wars, entered his later years. Some soldiers died after being injured. The old people who were still in the bath finally took a peaceful time after the war and were able to enjoy the native land of Canaan. . This generation is the most glorious generation in the history of Israel. They have personally experienced the most miracles in the history of Israel. When they were children, they went out of Egypt and crossed the Red Sea. They saw their parents and God under the Mount Sinai, and they went to the Jordan River. Stepping on Jericho. Seeing God's discipline over his father's generation, he will be awe-inspiring to God. Therefore, he will also receive the greatest blessing from God. From nothing, from slaves to the people of God, he has experienced many battles and opened up most of the land of Israel. In addition to eating a defeat in Aicheng because of the money of God, I have never rebelled against God.
In the first half of my life, I was a slave in Egypt. For forty years, because of the drag of my compatriots, I wandered the desert for forty years. When I took over the heavy responsibility of Moses and finally entered Canaan, I was only able to fight for seven years, but my hero was late. The white spots, seeing the comrades who have left the world, Joshua knows that his time is coming, and the next generation will be entrusted to the future. God's plan and unfinished business must be realized by young people, and Joshua should entrust them with the most important words.
The death of Joshua
Joshua was old, and at the age of 110, he summoned the patriarchs, judges, elders, and officers of Israel to Shechem to tell them important words. The old town of Shechem was given to the tribe of Manasseh, the eldest son of Joshua.
People are all here, taking turns to greet Joshua. After the twelve tribes were divided into territories, they each took care of their own land and lived in peace and contentment. They had not gathered together for a long time. Joshua, who has not seen for many years, has to be white. He is once a majestic man. He is only a fan of the years. His thoughts are still clear, his voice is no longer loud, his eyes are already cloudy, and the scars on his arms are deformed by the shrinking of the skin. These officials understand that this may be the last time I saw Joshua, and I sat down with each other and looked at him with respect.
Joshua looked around and was very excited. These old comrades who fought bloody battles decades ago, have not seen for many years, are old, have a camel, and carry a cane. However, their voices have not changed, and those familiar voices have brought Joshua back to them to besiege Jericho, to win the city of Ai, to attack the five kings of the South, and to burn the scenes of the northern coalition.
Joshua pretends to fly into the eyes and sneak away the tears that overflow the corners of his eyes. This is not the moment of love for the children. The days of death are near, and there are thousands of words to talk about. Joshua sighed and said slowly: "I am old and I have to go every human world."
Joshua paused a little and continued: "You and your descendants have lived in Canaan for decades. You know that this land is God's promise to our ancestor Abraham. Later the Lord God took our ancestors Jacob. And with his eleven sons brought into Egypt, two hundred years later, two brothers, Moses and Aaron, were sent to lead our fathers to leave Egypt, to be free, to walk through the Red Sea and into Canaan."
Speaking of this, Joshua looked into the distance of the Jordan River, as if they saw them cross the Jordan River and enter the mouth of the canyon in Canaan, as if to see the Jordan River water flow again. Years are long, the past is like a dream, the veterans are old and strong. But God will last forever.
"God is a faithful God. You have personally experienced God's fulfillment of Abraham and Moses' promises. Because of God's help, when we were fighting with the Canaan seven races, one person chased thousands of people, no one could match. God again The land is distributed to us and to future generations. We live in a mansion, but we don’t build it by ourselves. We sit in the garden, but we don’t grow it by ourselves. We enjoy the fruit, but we don’t cultivate it by ourselves. God’s kindness to us is not what we deserve, but God wants us to remember that He is the true God of one. There is no other god except him.
"The time for my death is coming. You must follow the Lord closely, and keep all the words that Moses wrote in the book of the law. You must be strong and courageous, and you must not deviate from the left and right. If you rely on the Lord, all the blessings God promises will come to you, you. If you violate the covenant that the Lord has made with you, and serve other gods and worship them, the anger of the Lord will come to you, and you will perish quickly in the beautiful land that He has given you. But if you believe that the service of the Lord is not Ok, today you can make a choice: Are you going to serve the gods that your ancestors served in Egypt, or do you want to serve the gods of the Amorites who lived there? No matter how you are, as for me and my family, Will serve the Lord."
After Joshua’s heavy heart was finished, he paused and looked around everyone. The crowd stood up and replied, "We will never forsake the Lord and serve other gods. For the Lord, our God, has led our ancestors out of Egypt as slaves, and has done great and awesome miracles before our eyes. And all the way to protect us into Canaan. The Lord has also driven the Amorites who live here out of us. So we must also serve the Lord, he is our God."
When Joshua listened, his heart was slightly comforted, but his face was more dignified, because he had long heard that there were scattered Canaan Seven people in various tribes. These tribes did not drive them out because of their labor. They have begun to worship their gods. This is the most troublesome thing for Joshua, so he aggravated his tone and said loudly: "If you speak beautifully, you can't serve the Lord, because he is a sacred, jealous God. If you don't get rid of your land. The rest of the people, instead of dealing with them, must know that the Lord will no longer drive them out of you; they will become your nets, traps, ribs, thorns in your eyes, until you Perish in this beautiful land."
When the people heard the censure of Joshua, they assured Joshua, "No, we are going to serve the Lord." Joshua said, "Because you choose the Lord, you must serve him, and you will testify yourself." "They said, "We are willing to testify." Joshua then let his men roll a boulder and place it next to a sanctuary under an oak tree as a witness to the oath of God by the Israelites. The meeting ended, and Joshua disbanded them and went home.
After a few days, Joshua exhaled the last breath and went to the ancestors. Soon after, the priests of his generation, Eleazar, the son of Aaron, also passed away. The Israelites buried them, and buried the bones of Joseph who came out of Egypt in Shechem, fulfilling Joseph’s last wish three hundred years ago. The cemetery has been preserved to this day.
So Joshua, and his next generation, the first generation of Israelites born in the wilderness and into Canaan, gradually passed. The new generation of Israelites grew up in Canaan, and they regarded Canaan as a hometown of course.
What will their fate be? How is the history of Israel further developed?
False god worship and erotic culture
The Joshua generation passed, they floated in the wilderness for forty years, and then entered Canaan for seven years. After the war settled down, they got their own land. In peacetime, they entered their later years, first bitter and sweet, and after God’s Leading, the older the more confident, the more calm, and the more peaceful.
The generation after them, led by their parents into Canaan, just as adults, lived in the mansion with their parents and enjoyed the rich products of Canaan. They envied the skillful iron-making and cultivation techniques of the natives of Canaan, and deliberately violated the shackles of Moses and Joshua. They were reluctant to expel the remaining Canaanites, but let them do the hard work and be their own helpers. After a long time, there is naturally a marriage. After the marriage, the Israeli husband or wife was slowly attracted by the cultural and religious worship of the Canaan spouse, and finally kneeled in front of their statues.
The gods of Canaan have the goddess Baal and the goddess Aspen. Baal was a cow-faced man, and he was happy with the live baby sacrifices. The Canaanites believed that he was in charge of the harvest. Aspen has a long hair, and the Canaanites believe that she is in charge of childbearing. Because the Israelites destroyed the temples that the Canaanites were all over, and they knew that Jehovah God had ordered the Israelites to kill anyone who had worshipped Baal, these devout Canaanites sneaked into the valleys of the wild, A religious ceremony was quietly held under the cover of the night. Because of the solid trust brought by love, the Israelites who were married with them were also invited to participate.
Spring is the season in which the Canaanites worship Baal for a harvest, and it is also the season in which Israel celebrates the Passover and commemorates the salvation of the Lord. The Israeli men who were married to the Canaanites because of their greed were out of curiosity, and when they were dragged by love, they accompanied the wife of Canaan to a secret gathering in the wilderness valley.
At night, the Canaanites who were out of the city and feared were no longer worried that the Israelites in the city saw it and completely relaxed. The valley between the valleys flows, people are on the edge of the rocks, and clusters of bonfires under the trees, and the stars and the stars. The spring breeze sweeps through the skin of young people, and the night is like dew soaking their hot hearts. After the barbecue was finished, the alcoholic wine was finished. Their bright eyes were blurred with the beating bonfire, and the cheeks were also slightly hot, and the summer seemed to come suddenly.
The strong and strong Canaan male priest came to the middle of the campfire. He was naked and his muscles were looking for an exit like a flood of spring. It seemed to burst open the tight skin. A busty, slutty priestess danced around him. The young men and women sitting around sang and slammed together, the air was stirred up, and the bonfire seemed to dance with it. The ignorant Israelites originally wanted to calm down and watched. At this time they noticed that their wives' eyes were glaring, staring at the priests, and out of jealousy, they began to stare at the seductive figure of the priestess.
If there is a kind of magic in the song, the priest will dance, the long hair will be scattered and shoulders, the eyes will be closed, the dreams will be like a fool, and there will be words in the mouth, from time to time, the sweat will slowly soak the upper body, such as wearing a layer of glaze, shining brightly. . He suddenly paused, wakes up like a dream, opens his eyes, looks around the crowd, and leaves a tearful tear: "We have abandoned the Baal God for too many years, we have been cold-blooded Aspen goddess for too many years. They have not abandoned us, every year as usual. Give us a bumper harvest. Today we finally came here, and we can re-pray to our ancestors for the millennium to worship the Baal and Aspen couples. I hate that we no longer have temples, but unfortunately we are so embarrassed, they may blink Get angry with us, let us repent, let us show the enthusiasm of the beginning, let us please their adoration with the most sincere sacrifice."
When the Israelites listened to the priest's talks and blamed themselves, the surrounding Canaan men and women had stood up in unison, and their wives did not seem to know their husbands any more, but they dragged another man like a demon, beating around the priests of men and women. stand up. The bonfire is slowly dimmed because no one is cooking. Yu Guang can only show the gender of men and women. Everyone’s face is hidden in the darkness, but the eyes are bright like stars. Their dance steps were neat and uniform, and the ground seemed to be bounced. The Israeli men had been struggling to look around their wives, but they were unconsciously caught by other Canaan women and jumped into the dancing crowd.
The Israelites were shocked and speechless. Although Israel’s feasts were grand, they were very solemn. The priests of the Aarons and the priests presided over the holy ceremonies. They were nothing more than slaughtering sacrifices to the cattle and sheep, leading the congregation to pray together and read the Moses. The law reminds the people to abide by the covenant of Sinai and warns the congregation not to worship other gods. Now these Canaanites are clearly worshipping false gods, but their rituals are really appealing. O Lord God, do not drop the fire of heaven, do not break the earth.
The sky above the sky is still awkward, and the bonfire on the ground is gradually extinguishing. People no longer need the fire, the dance steps are no longer neat, and the innermost group of men and women have sat down in a circle, laying on the ground with the coat they peeled off, and the male priest and the priestess are lying in their clothes. Above, the night is awkward, they are combined into a creepy shadow. The Israelites finally understood what was happening, and the voices that made their hearts jump out of their chests. They suddenly thought of their wives, and they instinctively screamed, but the night seemed to swallow their voices, perhaps before they uttered, Young and beautiful women have blocked their helpless open mouth with full lips.
The angel of the LORD came from Gilgal to Bojin, and said to the people, "I will bring you up from Egypt and bring you to the land where I swore to your fathers. I said, 'I will never abandon my covenant with you. You must not make a covenant with the inhabitants of this land to demolish their altars. 'You have not listened to me. Why do you do this! So I said, 'I will not drive them out of you. They will be you. The thorns under the ribs, their gods will become your traps.'"
The anger of the Lord was attacked against Israel, letting them indulge their passions, and raised enemies around them, and placed them in the hands of the enemy, so that they could no longer stand before the enemy. Wherever they go, the hands of the Lord attacked them with evil, just as the Lord warned them. They are extremely hard.
Just a generation has passed, and the Israelites have broken into a whirlpool. What price do they have to continue to pay to wake up?
Israel's "Jing Jing"
Israel did not obey the commandments of God. He did not obey the teachings of Moses and Joshua, and did not drive out the Canaanites from among them. After they married these people, they slowly bowed to the idol Baal and made adultery with the crowd. These things are like yeast spreading throughout Israel. God will let them indulge their sensuality, trample on humanity, and no longer protect them from foreign aggression.
So Gushan Lisatian (in Syria today) in northern Israel enslaved them for eight years. The Israelites cried out to God, and God raised the scorpion of Caleb, Othniel, to save them. Otto Nie defeated King Gushan, so Israel was peaceful for forty years.
For a long time, the new generation of young people in Israel have repeated the same mistakes, bowing to Baal, and doing nothing. Then God allowed Ibn, the king of Moab in the southeast of Israel, to join the Ammonites and the Amalekites in invading Israel and occupying the Jericho area. The king of Izun was enslaved to Israel for 18 years, forcing Israel to tribute good local gold and silver jewelry every year. Eighteen years later, Israel encountered a rare drought, and the crops were not harvested. The tribute that Yi Lulun had requested was not reduced. The Israeli people could not eat enough, crying to the sky and asking God to save.
The Judas region of Israel was originally rich in wheat, known as the granary, but it was hungry because of drought. One of the people in Bethlehem was named Elimele, and his wife, Naomi, gave birth to two sons, named Marlen and Kelian. The two young children are waiting to be fed, but the wheat field is almost unrecognizable. Naomi can't get milk because of hunger. The two sons are starving to death, and the date of offering to King Irun is close. Elimele had nowhere to go, and he took his own wasteland to the close relatives, and begged friends and relatives to make a little more entanglement, and took his wife and son to Moab to beg for a living.
After the harvest of the wheat, the date of the sacrifice of the king of Izun was also arrived, and the Israelites recommended that the tribute be sent to the King of Moab. With the tribe of Benjamin, Benjamin was the youngest son of Jacob, and he was the smallest in the land, and the east end was next to Jericho. I am a left-hander, a small body, a few words, but I am thoughtful and quick-moving. He took a group of people to pick up the car and sent the good tribute all the way to the new town of Jericho. The king of Moab labored there to build a two-story palace for him, surrounded by palm trees, surrounded by mountains and waters, beautiful scenery, easy to rule Israel, and easy to keep fresh when the tribute was delivered every year. Moab’s most elite Yulin army is surrounded by palaces to protect the king’s safety.
King Moab has passed middle age. Eighteen years ago, he was brave and warlike, and he was arrogant. He captured the cities of the east of Israel, and built the city of Hexi, and seized the throat of Israel. In the past 18 years, because there has been no war for a long time, the Jews are as docile as the Lambs, and the tribute of the old age has not been eaten. Last year's new tributes were delivered in time, and they could not help but eat the sea and the body gradually became blessed. He was very happy this day because his two granddaughters had just been born, his sister was named Russian, and his sister was called Ruth. King Iberon wants to pick the best tribute to send a pair of money to the rear.
I didn’t see the King Moab for the first time. This time I saw that the King Moab was more obese than last year and it was difficult to walk. The official business was soon completed, and the group left to leave and return to Israel. When I arrived at Gilgal, I saw the site of the base camp where Joshua was stationed in the army. I thought that the generation of the people was invincible. I thought that the villagers were now humiliated by the King Moab, and the victims of the yellow skin and thin skin were unable to help. Boulders, tears in tears. The peers saw that although they did not understand the meaning, they also guessed a few points and they all bowed their heads.
I wiped away the tears and said to the accompanying person: "I have something to look back to Ilan. Don't wait for me, but go to Ephraim Elders quickly and let them inform the family and wait for me to come back and discuss the big event. "When you are finished, you will go back to Jericho."
When the guards will take the palace again, the king of Moab has already enjoyed the cold in the royal palace on the second floor, while enjoying the tribute that has just been delivered. Seeing that he came in, Wang smiled: "Don't you forget something here? Ha, the fig you sent this year is really big and sweet." I didn't answer it, but I looked back and forth, cautiously on the king. Said: "Da Wang, I have a secret matter, I need to face to face, just...". The king immediately agreed and waved to the left and right sergeants and said, "Let's go down for a while, wait for me to call you, come back."
In the palace, only Wang and Yi are left. The sound of the Jordan River is faintly transmitted through the palm forest. The dry summer wind blows into the room. Wang Anran sits in the throne, overlooking it, his eyes shining and guessing. The secret that may be revealed, slowly said to Yi: "Now you can safely tell me about the secret."
With a calm face, he leaned forward and approached the king. He whispered to him, "I tell you a big event in the life of the Lord." The king could not stand up from the throne, listening to his ears, and suddenly squatting on his right leg. The left hand quickly reached the thigh and pulled a one-foot long double-edged dagger along the thigh. The king has not seen clearly the series of movements, so that the sharp dagger has been pierced into the king's belly, the speed is so fast, the tip of the knife is seen from the back. In order to extract the dagger, and then give the king a deadly assassination, but can not grasp the handle of the fallen body with the heavy body of the king, the handle has been covered by the fat belly, as if into the flesh.
The violent pain was so rapid that the king had no time to scream instinctively before falling to the ground, and immediately fell into a deep coma before death, motionless. The blood oozes slowly from the back of the king, giving off a stinking smell, and flies fly from the window. After seeing that the king must die, he walked out from the side door and locked the door of the second floor. He calmly walked downstairs and passed the Gilgal. After seeing no one behind him, he flew to Ephraim.
The guardian of the king saw that he left with embarrassment, but did not see the movement of the king. He waited downstairs and slowly smelled the stench. He saw the flies flying, thinking that the king was on the upstairs, and he did not dare to take the trouble. One hour passed, the smell became more and more intense, and the king was quiet and abnormal. The guards finally felt bad. After opening the door of the anti-lock, I saw Wang falling in front of the throne. Wang was in a pool of blood. The cyan intestines that had been punctured in the abdomen leaked from the knife edge. The undigested food residue fell on the ground and was covered with a black layer. fly.
King Moab was violent, and his Guardian guards were helpless when they were arguing that the Israelites led by the shackles had blocked the crossing of the Jordan River. The most elite guards in Moab had no way to escape, 10,000. Many soldiers were killed in the West Bank. In this way, God raised the left-hander of Israel's smallest tribe, and single-handedly assassinated King Moab.
Since then, Moab has been devastated, and Israel has enjoyed eighty years of peace. The story of Eli Miller and his wife Naomi, the Bethlehem who fled to Moab, was only just beginning.
What is the relationship between mother-in-law and mother-in-law?
The season of wheat harvest is the busiest and most gratifying. On the plains of Bethlehem, the yellow wheat waves are endless, squeezing the sky of the blue sky into a huge wellhead. The hot winds of May blew the lazy wheat fields, revealing a dark back, like a dolphin shuttles through the wheat waves. The young guys who cut the wheat turned the sickle and left a bundle of wheat behind them, such as the sand on the beach.
A dry dirt road runs through the wheat fields and extends to the end of the east side of the village. This is a road that goes in and out of the village. It leads to Moab in the east. Since the assassination of King Moab more than 20 years ago, the Jewish territory is on the national peace. There were no more officers and men on the road to support the food, nor did the Jewish vehicles go to Moab to pay tribute. At this time, no one is going in and out of the village. What is more important than grabbing wheat? What's more, the winds that are rare in this spring are smooth, and the wheat is as long as drinking oil. This kind of good year, wheat enough to eat for a few years.
At noon, the sun shines high, and the people who cut the wheat are together, wipe off the sweat, sit on the wheat bales, and start to eat the lunch, the laughter comes and goes, like the swallows fly from here and fall there. side. At this time, at the end of the village, at the end of the road, two creepy figures appeared slowly, and the heat waves on the dirt road swayed like dust in the dust. Young people with sharp eyes saw it first, stopped to chew, and subconsciously recalled who came out, but couldn’t think of it, and the eyes couldn’t help but look at it.
When the people came closer, they were two women. The young people who cut the wheat did not know them. They didn’t say hello and watched them walk silently. Among the two women, the old one had a camel, and the head fell to the chest. The white hair was sweated on the face, like the wax oil solidified on the dead wood, the eyes looked at the ground, as if looking for something on the ground, the left arm A bag of shackles, probably wrapped in a few pieces of broken clothes, a wooden stick in the left hand, the right arm was supported by the young woman on her right. The young woman, in her twenties, carrying a larger baggage, holding her old woman in her left hand, holding a broken empty tile bowl in her right hand, a gray headscarf covering her face, and the young people who saw the wheat saw it. Her delicate eyebrows.
The two women did not seem to see the people who cut the wheat. The people in the wheat fields did not seem to pay attention to them. They continued to cut the wheat. Young people always look back and wonder what the two strange women are going to do in the village. The old woman slowly entered the village with a young woman and went to a dilapidated courtyard in the village. The former earth wall surrounding the courtyard only left traces of slight convexity on the ground, and surrounded the dead grass in the courtyard from a vague square. There are only four brick walls left in the earthen house in the courtyard, and several dead wooden beams hang on the roof. The two stood there, and the old woman said a few words to the young woman, and walked into the wall together and began to clean up.
The village had long noticed that several of their old women slowly left their homes, surrounded by the four places, first together, whispered a few words, then walked into the courtyard and looked at the two of them. Finally someone asked: "Don't I see Naomi's sister?" The old woman in the broken house heard the sound, her shoulders shaking, and slowly turned around, looking at the people in the yard, the eyes flashed instantly. Excited sparks, and then drifted away a shy cloud, the eyeball finally like two stones left on the bottom of the Cognac Lake, the expressionless expression: "It is me."
Among the onlookers, there was an exclamation, and some people covered their mouths, some wiped their eyes, and surrounded Naomi from the broken house. "Naomi! Naomi, is it really you? How did you become like this! How long have you been away from here? For more than 20 years? When you left, you were a pretty little wife, just born two Son, walk with your man and leave."
Naomi listened and did not speak. When I left the yard more than 20 years ago, it was as clear as yesterday.
"Naomi, your man, Elimele? My two sons, I remember, called Marlen and Kelian, right? Why didn't they come back with you?"
There seems to be rain and fog in the eyes of Naomi, but the sound is as calm as the lake: "Do not call me Naomi (meaning joy), you call me Mara (meaning bitterness), because God makes me I was exhausted, and I went out with my hands and returned empty-handed. They were all dead, died in Moab, buried there, and Elimele died first, and then the two sons died of illness."
The listener sighed and sighed for a moment, because no one could come up with the right words to comfort each other. After a while, some people suddenly saw the young woman standing next to Naomi, and said to Naomi: "Fortunately, you are back safely, thank God, and let you have such a handsome prostitute in Moab. ”
Naomi listened, turned her head and looked at the woman around her, her eyes were moist, and finally she had tears and a dusty face: "Without her, where can I come back alive? She is not my niece, my two children." My daughter-in-law, my son is connected to Moab. Kelian later died, but she took care of me like her own prostitute."
The listeners are silent again. Most of them are mother-in-law. Which daughter-in-law and mother-in-law are not born in the world. Why is this Moab woman so surprising? Everyone stared at her, she blushed and shook her head shyly.
Naomi wiped away the tears that flowed out, and continued: "My man is gone, my son is gone, and my grandson is not. I was forced to go out of my hometown and go to Moab to ask for food. Poorly, only the widow was left." Since I am alive, I have to make a living. I heard that God blessed Israel and struggled to come back. I advised my two daughter-in-law not to follow me before leaving. They are still young, I can’t delay them. The big wife is persuaded to cry. Going home, but this two daughter-in-law will come back with me. She said that my god is her god, my country is her country, where I am, where she is buried..... "Naomi's voice choked."
The people looked at the young woman again and asked her, "This girl, what is your name?"
The woman looked up and replied softly: "Reuter."
...to be continued...