Our first scripture reading comes from the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 1, beginning at verse one:
‘The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham. Abraham was the father of Isaac, and Isaac the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers. And Judah the father of Peris and Zarah by Tamar, and Peris the father of Hez, and Hez the father of Ram. And Ram the father of Aminadab, and Aminadab the father of Nahshon, and Nahshon the father of Salmon. And Salmon the father of Boaz by Rahab, and Boaz the father of OED by Ruth, and OED the father of Jesse, and Jesse the father of David the king.’
From there we turn back to what I expect is a familiar story to most of us: the Book of Ruth, and we will read the first chapter.
“In the days when the judges ruled, there was a famine in the land, and a man of Bethlehem in Judah went to sojourn in the country of Moab, he and his wife and his 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