Psalm 131

A song of ascents. Of David.

Psalm 132^(A)

A song of ascents.

Psalm 133

A song of ascents. Of David.

¹⁴ At mealtime Boaz said to her, “Come over here. Have some bread^(A) and dip it in the wine vinegar.”

When she sat down with the harvesters,^(B) he offered her some roasted grain.^(C) She ate all she wanted and had some left over.^{(D) 15} As she got up to glean, Boaz gave orders to his men, “Let her gather among the sheaves^(E) and don’t reprimand her. ¹⁶ Even pull out some stalks for her from the bundles and leave them for her to pick up, and don’t rebuke^(F) her.”

¹⁷ So Ruth gleaned in the field until evening. Then she threshed^(G) the barley she had gathered, and it amounted to about an ephah.^{[a](H) 18} She carried it back to town, and her mother-in-law saw how much she had gathered. Ruth also brought out and gave her what she had left over^(I) after she had eaten enough.

¹⁹ Her mother-in-law asked her, “Where did you glean today? Where did you work? Blessed be the man who took notice of you!^(J)”

Then Ruth told her mother-in-law about the one at whose place she had been working. “The name of the man I worked with today is Boaz,” she said.

²⁰ “The Lord bless him!^(K)” Naomi said to her daughter-in-law.^(L) “He has not stopped showing his kindness^(M) to the living and the dead.” She added, “That man is our close relative;^(N) he is one of our guardian-redeemers.^[b](O)”

²¹ Then Ruth the Moabite^(P) said, “He even said to me, ‘Stay with my workers until they finish harvesting all my grain.’”

²² Naomi said to Ruth her daughter-in-law, “It will be good for you, my daughter, to go with the women who work for him, because in someone else’s field you might be harmed.”

²³ So Ruth stayed close to the women of Boaz to glean until the barley^(Q) and wheat harvests^(R) were finished. And she lived with her mother-in-law.

3 Are we beginning to commend ourselves^(A) again? Or do we need, like some people, letters of recommendation^(B) to you or from you? ² You yourselves are our letter, written on our hearts, known and read by everyone.^{(C) 3} You show that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God,^(D) not on tablets of stone^(E) but on tablets of human hearts.^(F)

⁴ Such confidence^(G) we have through Christ before God. ⁵ Not that we are competent in ourselves^(H) to claim anything for ourselves, but our competence comes from God.^{(I) 6} He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant^(J)—not of the letter^(K) but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.^(L)

The Greater Glory of the New Covenant

⁷ Now if the ministry that brought death,^(M) which was engraved in letters on stone, came with glory, so that the Israelites could not look steadily at the face of Moses because of its glory,^(N) transitory though it was, ⁸ will not the ministry of the Spirit be even more glorious? ⁹ If the ministry that brought condemnation^(O) was glorious, how much more glorious is the ministry that brings righteousness!^{(P) 10} For what was glorious has no glory now in comparison with the surpassing glory. ¹¹ And if what was transitory came with glory, how much greater is the glory of that which lasts!

¹² Therefore, since we have such a hope,^(Q) we are very bold.^{(R) 13} We are not like Moses, who would put a veil over his face^(S) to prevent the Israelites from seeing the end of what was passing away. ¹⁴ But their minds were made dull,^(T) for to this day the same veil remains when the old covenant^(U) is read.^(V) It has not been removed, because only in Christ is it taken away. ¹⁵ Even to this day when Moses is read, a veil covers their hearts. ¹⁶ But whenever anyone turns to the Lord,^(W) the veil is taken away.^{(X) 17} Now the Lord is the Spirit,^(Y) and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.^{(Z) 18} And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate^[a](AA) the Lord’s glory,^(AB) are being transformed into his image^(AC) with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.

Introduction to the Sermon on the Mount

5 Now when Jesus saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, ² and he began to teach them.

The Beatitudes^(A)

He said:

Adultery

²⁷ “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’^{[a](A) 28} But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.^{(B) 29} If your right eye causes you to stumble,^(C) gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. ³⁰ And if your right hand causes you to stumble,^(D) cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell.

Divorce

³¹ “It has been said, ‘Anyone who divorces his wife must give her a certificate of divorce.’^{[b](E) 32} But I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, makes her the victim of adultery, and anyone who marries a divorced woman commits adultery.^(F)

Oaths

³³ “Again, you have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘Do not break your oath,^(G) but fulfill to the Lord the vows you have made.’^{(H) 34} But I tell you, do not swear an oath at all:^(I) either by heaven, for it is God’s throne;^{(J) 35} or by the earth, for it is his footstool; or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the Great King.^{(K) 36} And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make even one hair white or black. ³⁷ All you need to say is simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’;^(L) anything beyond this comes from the evil one.^[c](M)