Sex. Race. Scripture. Sovereignty. The book of Ruth involves them all, and readers should not be fooled by its age. Though its events happened more than three thousand years ago, John Piper argues the story holds astonishing relevance for Christians now: the sovereignty of God, the sexual nature of humanity and the gospel of God's mercy for the undeserving are realities that do not date.

Piper follows the narrative through its four chapters, taking the bitterness of Naomi's losses as seriously as the sweetness of the resolution, and refusing to hurry past the parts where God appears to be doing nothing. Short, hardcover, and well suited to a reader in a season where providence seems more bitter than sweet.