The short books of Ruth, Esther, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs and Lamentations contain both interest and difficulty disproportionate to their size. Two of them are stories set in the wider framework of Biblical history; one is a puzzling book of wisdom; one is a love poem; one is a national lament. Some of them have been the subjects of fierce debate as to whether they should be included in the Bible at all! Each of these five books has profound pastoral implications, however. They take us into a world of intense joy and massive grief. Using story, poetry, proverb, dirge and lament, they run the whole gamut of human emotion. Each has its own distinctive style and emphasis and, as part of the canon of Scripture, each of these five books ultimately bear witness in some way to the gospel message.