Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
94 O LORD God, the Avenger! O God, the Avenger, show Yourself clearly!
2 Exalt Yourself, O Judge of the World, and render a reward to the proud.
3 LORD, how long shall the wicked, how long shall the wicked triumph?
4 They babble on and speak fiercely. All the workers of iniquity boast of themselves.
5 They strike down Your people, O LORD, and trouble Your heritage.
6 They slay the widow and the stranger and murder the fatherless.
7 Yet they say, “The LORD shall not see; nor will the God of Jacob regard it.”
8 Understand, you unwise among the people and you fools. When will you be wise?
9 He Who planted the ear, shall He not hear? Or, He Who formed the eye, shall He not see?
10 Or, He Who chastises the nations, shall He not correct? He Who teaches man knowledge, shall He not know?
11 The LORD knows the thoughts of man, that they are vanity.
12 Blessed is the man whom You chastise, O LORD, and teach in Your Law,
13 so that You may give him rest from the days of evil while the pit is dug for the wicked.
14 Surely, the LORD will neither fail His people nor forsake His inheritance.
15 For judgment shall return to justice; and all the upright in heart shall follow after it.
16 Who will rise up with me against the wicked? Who will stand up for me against the workers of iniquity?
17 If the LORD had not helped me, my soul would have almost dwelt in silence.
18 When I say, “My foot slides.” Your mercy, O LORD, upholds me.
19 In the multitude of my thoughts, in my heart, Your comforts have rejoiced my soul.
20 Does the throne of iniquity, which forges wrong for a law, have fellowship with You?
21 They gather together against the soul of the righteous and condemn the innocent blood.
22 But the LORD is my refuge; and my God is the Rock of my hope.
23 And He will recompense their wickedness and destroy them in their own malice. The LORD our God shall destroy them.
1 In the time that the Judges ruled, there was a famine in the land. And a man of Bethlehem Judah went to sojourn in the country of Moab (he and his wife and his two sons).
2 And the name of the man was Elimelech, and the name of his wife, Naomi, and the names of his two sons, Mahlon and Chilion (Ephrathites of Bethlehem Judah). And when they came into the land of Moab, they continued there.
3 Then, Elimelech, the husband of Naomi, died. And she remained with her two sons, who took wives of the Moabites. One’s name was Orpah; and the name of the other was Ruth. And they dwelled there about ten years.
4 And Mahlon and Chilion both died. So, the woman was left without her two sons or her husband.
5 Then, she arose with her daughters-in-law and returned from the country of Moab. For she had heard say in the country of Moab that the LORD had visited His people and given them bread.
6 So she left the place where she was (and her two daughters-in-law with her) and they went on their way, to return to the land of Judah.
7 Then Naomi said to her two daughters-in law, “Go. Each of you return to your own mother’s house. The LORD show favor to you, as you have done with the dead, and with me.
8 “The LORD grant you that you may find rest, either of you, in the house of her husband.” And when she kissed them, they lifted up their voices and wept.
9 And they said to her, “Surely we will return with you to your people.”
10 But Naomi said, “Turn back my daughters. For what reason would you go with me? Are there any more sons in my womb, that they may be your husbands?
11 “Turn back my daughters. Go your way. For I am too old to have a husband. If I should say, ‘I have hope,’ and if I had a husband this night (indeed, and if I had borne sons) would you wait for them until they were of age? Would you be deterred from the taking of husbands, for them?
12 “No, my daughters. For it grieves me greatly for your sakes that the hand of the LORD has gone out against me.”
13 Then they lifted up their voices and wept again, and Orpah kissed her mother-in-law. But Ruth stayed with her.
14 And Naomi said, “Behold, your sister-in-law has gone back to her people, and to her gods. Return after your sister-in-law.”
15 And Ruth answered, “Do not urge me to leave you, or to depart from you. For where you go, I will go. And where you dwell, I will dwell. Your people shall be my people, and your God my God.
16 Where you die, I will die. And there I will be buried. The LORD do so to me, and more also, if anything but death separates you and me.”
17 When she saw that she was steadfastly-minded to go with her, she stopped speaking to her.
18 So they both went, until they came to Bethlehem. And when they had come to Bethlehem, word spread throughout all the city. And they said, “Is not this Naomi?”
19 And she answered them, “Do not call me Naomi. But, call me ‘Mara’. For the Almighty has given me much bitterness.
20 “I went out full, and the LORD has caused me to return empty. Why do you call me Naomi, seeing the LORD has humbled me, and the Almighty has brought me to adversity?”
21 So, when she came out of the country of Moab, Naomi returned, and Ruth the Moabitess (her daughter-in-law) with her. And they came to Bethlehem, in the beginning of barley harvest.
5 Do not rebuke an elder, but encourage him as a father, and the younger men as brothers;
2 the elder women as mothers, the younger as sisters, with all pureness.
3 Honor widows which are truly widows.
4 But if any widow has children or nephews, let them learn first to show godliness toward their own house, and to repay their family. For that is an honorable thing, and acceptable before God.
5 And she who is a true widow, and left alone, trusts in God, and continues in supplications and prayers night and day.
6 But she who lives in pleasure is dead while she lives.
7 Therefore, warn them of these things, so that they may be blameless.
8 If there is anyone who does not look out for his own, and namely for those of his household, he denies the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.
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