Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

God Judges

94 O Lord, the God Who punishes, God Who punishes, let Your light shine! ² Rise up, You Judge of the earth. Pay what is owed to the proud. ³ How long will the sinful, O Lord, how long will the sinful be full of joy? ⁴ They pour out proud words. All those who do wrong, talk about themselves as if they are great people. ⁵ They crush Your people, O Lord. They bring trouble upon Your chosen nation. ⁶ They kill the woman whose husband has died and the stranger. They kill the children who have no parents. ⁷ And they say, “The Lord does not see. The God of Jacob does not care.”

⁸ Listen, you foolish ones among the people. You fools, when will you understand? ⁹ He Who made the ear, does He not hear? He Who made the eye, does He not see? ¹⁰ He Who punishes nations so they might give up sin, will He not speak strong words to them? Is He not the One Who teaches man all he knows? ¹¹ The Lord knows the thoughts of man. He knows that they are empty.

¹² Happy is the man who is punished until he gives up sin, O Lord, and whom You teach from Your Law. ¹³ You give him rest from days of trouble, until a hole is dug for the sinful. ¹⁴ For the Lord will not turn away from His people. He will not leave His chosen nation. ¹⁵ For what is decided will be right and good. And all those whose hearts are right will follow it. ¹⁶ Who will rise up for me against the sinful? Who will take a stand for me against those who do wrong?

¹⁷ If the Lord had not been my help, my soul would soon have been among the dead. ¹⁸ When I said, “My foot is going out from under me,” Your loving-kindness held me up, O Lord. ¹⁹ When my worry is great within me, Your comfort brings joy to my soul. ²⁰ Can a sinful throne that brings trouble by its laws be a friend to You? ²¹ They join together against the life of those who are right and good. They send those who are not guilty to their death. ²² But the Lord has been my strong place, my God, and the rock where I am safe. ²³ He has brought back their own sin upon them and will destroy them for their wrong-doing. The Lord our God will destroy them.

Elimelech’s Family Moves to Moab

1 In the days when there were judges to rule, there was a time of no food in the land. A certain man of Bethlehem in Judah went to visit the land of Moab with his wife and his two sons. ² The name of the man was Elimelech. His wife’s name was Naomi. And the names of his two sons were Mahlon and Chilion. They were Ephrathites of Bethlehem in Judah. They went into the land of Moab and stayed there. ³ But Naomi’s husband Elimelech died. And she was left with her two sons, ⁴ who married Moabite women. The name of one was Orpah. The name of the other was Ruth. After living there about ten years, ⁵ both Mahlon and Chilion died. Naomi was left without her two children and her husband.

Naomi and Ruth Return to Bethlehem

⁶ Then Naomi got ready to return from the land of Moab with her daughters-in-law. She had heard in the land of Moab that the Lord had brought food to His people. ⁷ So she left with her two daughters-in-law and went on the way toward the land of Judah. ⁸ But Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, “Go, each one of you return to your own mother’s house. May the Lord show kindness to you, as you have done with the dead and with me. ⁹ May the Lord help you to find a home, each in the family of her husband.” Then she kissed them, and they cried in loud voices. ¹⁰ They said to her, “No, we will return with you to your people.” ¹¹ But Naomi said, “Return to your people, my daughters. Why should you go with me? Do I have more sons within me, who could become your husbands? ¹² Return, my daughters. Go. For I am too old to have a husband. If I had hope, if I should have a husband tonight and give birth to sons, ¹³ would you wait until they were grown? Would you not marry until then? No, my daughters. It is harder for me than for you. For the hand of the Lord is against me.” ¹⁴ Then they cried again in loud voices. Orpah kissed her mother-in-law. But Ruth held on to her.

¹⁵ Naomi said, “See, your sister-in-law has returned to her people and her gods. Return after your sister-in-law.” ¹⁶ But Ruth said, “Do not beg me to leave you or turn away from following you. I will go where you go. I will live where you live. Your people will be my people. And your God will be my God. ¹⁷ I will die where you die, and there I will be buried. So may the Lord do the same to me, and worse, if anything but death takes me from you.” ¹⁸ When Naomi saw that Ruth would do nothing but go with her, she said no more to her.

¹⁹ So they both went until they came to Bethlehem. The whole town of Bethlehem was happy because of them. The women said, “Is this Naomi?” ²⁰ She said to them, “Do not call me Naomi. Call me Mara. For the All-powerful has brought much trouble to me. ²¹ I went out full. But the Lord has made me return empty. Why call me Naomi? The Lord has spoken against me. The All-powerful has allowed me to suffer.”

²² So Naomi returned. And her daughter-in-law Ruth, the Moabite woman, returned with her from the land of Moab. They came to Bethlehem at the beginning of barley gathering time.

Teaching About Women Whose Husbands Have Died

5 Do not speak sharp words to an older man. Talk with him as if he were a father. Talk to younger men as brothers. ² Talk to older women as mothers. Talk to younger women as sisters, keeping yourself pure. ³ Help women whose husbands have died. ⁴ If a woman whose husband has died has children or grandchildren, they are the ones to care for her. In that way, they can pay back to their parents the kindness that has been shown to them. God is pleased when this is done. ⁵ Women whose husbands have died are alone in this world. Their trust is in the Lord. They pray day and night. ⁶ But the one who lives only for the joy she can receive from this world is the same as dead even if she is alive.

⁷ Teach these things so they will do what is right. ⁸ Anyone who does not take care of his family and those in his house has turned away from the faith. He is worse than a person who has never put his trust in Christ.