Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

94 O God of vengeances, Jehovah, God of vengeances, shine forth;

² Lift up thyself, thou judge of the earth, render the reward to the proud.

³ How long shall the wicked, O Jehovah, how long shall the wicked triumph?

⁴ [How long] shall they utter [and] speak insolence—all the workers of iniquity boast themselves?

⁵ They crush thy people, O Jehovah, and afflict thine inheritance;

⁶ They slay the widow and the stranger, and murder the fatherless,

⁷ And say, Jah will not see, neither will the God of Jacob regard [it].

⁸ Understand, ye brutish among the people; and ye fools, when will ye be wise?

⁹ He that planted the ear, shall he not hear? He that formed the eye, shall he not see?

¹⁰ He that instructeth the nations, shall not he correct—he that teacheth man knowledge?

¹¹ Jehovah knoweth the thoughts of man, that they are vanity.

¹² Blessed is the man whom thou chastenest, O Jah, and whom thou teachest out of thy law;

¹³ That thou mayest give him rest from the days of evil, until the pit be digged for the wicked.

¹⁴ For Jehovah will not cast off his people, neither will he forsake his inheritance;

¹⁵ For judgment shall return unto righteousness, and all the upright in heart shall follow it.

¹⁶ Who will rise up for me against the evil-doers? who will stand for me against the workers of iniquity?

¹⁷ If Jehovah had not been my help, my soul had almost dwelt in silence.

¹⁸ When I said, My foot slippeth, thy loving-kindness, O Jehovah, held me up.

¹⁹ In the multitude of my anxious thoughts within me thy comforts have delighted my soul.

²⁰ Shall the throne of wickedness be united to thee, which frameth mischief into a law?

²¹ They band together against the soul of the righteous, and condemn innocent blood.

²² But Jehovah will be my high tower; and my God the rock of my refuge.

²³ And he will bring upon them their iniquity, and will cut them off in their own evil: Jehovah our God will cut them off.

¹⁴ And she lay at his feet until the morning; and she rose up before one could know another. And he said, Let it not be known that a woman came into the threshing-floor.

¹⁵ And he said, Bring the cloak that thou hast upon thee, and hold it. And she held it, and he measured six [measures] of barley, and laid [it] on her; and he went into the city.

¹⁶ And she came to her mother-in-law; and she said, Who art thou, my daughter? And she told her all that the man had done to her.

¹⁷ And she said, These six [measures] of barley gave he me; for he said to me, Go not empty to thy mother-in-law.

¹⁸ Then she said, Be still, my daughter, until thou know how the matter will fall; for the man will not rest until he have completed the matter this day.

4 And Boaz went up to the gate, and sat down there. And behold, he that had the right of redemption, of whom Boaz had spoken, came by. And he said, Thou, such a one, turn aside, sit down here. And he turned aside and sat down.

² And he took ten men of the elders of the city, and said, Sit down here. And they sat down.

³ And he said to him that had the right of redemption: Naomi, who is come back out of the country of Moab, sells the allotment that was our brother Elimelech's.

⁴ And I thought I would apprise thee of it and say, Buy [it] in the presence of the inhabitants, and in the presence of the elders of my people. If thou wilt redeem [it], redeem; but if thou wilt not redeem, tell me, that I may know; for there is none to redeem besides thee; and I am after thee. And he said, I will redeem [it].

⁵ And Boaz said, On the day thou buyest the field of the hand of Naomi, thou must buy [it] also of Ruth the Moabitess, the wife of the dead, to raise up the name of the dead upon his inheritance.

⁶ And he that had the right of redemption said, I cannot redeem [it] for myself, lest I mar mine own inheritance. Redeem thou for thyself what I should redeem, for I cannot redeem [it].

⁹ Let a widow be put upon the list, being of not less than sixty years, [having been] wife of one man,

¹⁰ borne witness to in good works, if she have brought up children, if she have exercised hospitality, if she have washed saints' feet, if she have imparted relief to the distressed, if she have diligently followed every good work.

¹¹ But younger widows decline; for when they grow wanton against Christ, they desire to marry,

¹² being guilty, because they have cast off their first faith.

¹³ And, at the same time, they learn also [to be] idle, going about to people's houses; and not only idle, but also gossipers and meddlers, speaking things not becoming.

¹⁴ I will therefore that the younger marry, bear children, rule the house, give no occasion to the adversary in respect of reproach.

¹⁵ For already some have turned aside after Satan.

¹⁶ If any believing man or woman have widows, let them impart relief to them, and let not the assembly be charged, that it may impart relief to those [that are] widows indeed.