Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

94 Come let us praise the Lord with joy: let us joyfully sing to God our saviour.

² Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving; and make a joyful noise to him with psalms.

³ For the Lord is a great God, and a great King above all gods.

⁴ For in his hand are all the ends of the earth: and the heights of the mountains are his.

⁵ For the sea is his, and he made it: and his hands formed the dry land.

⁶ Come let us adore and fall down: and weep before the Lord that made us.

⁷ For he is the Lord our God: and we are the people of his pasture and the sheep of his hand.

⁸ To day if you shall hear his voice, harden not your hearts:

⁹ As in the provocation, according to the day of temptation in the wilderness: where your fathers tempted me, they proved me, and saw my works.

¹⁰ Forty years long was I offended with that generation, and I said: These always err in heart.

¹¹ And these men have not known my ways: so I swore in my wrath that they shall not enter into my rest.

¹⁴ So she slept at his feet till the night was going off. And she arose before men could know one another, and Booz said: Beware lest any man know that thou camest hither.

¹⁵ And again he said: Spread thy mantle, wherewith thou art covered, and hold it with both hands. And when she spread it and held it, he measured six measures of barley, and laid it upon her. And she carried it and went into the city,

¹⁶ And came to her mother in law; who said to her: What hast thou done, daughter? And she told her all that the man had done to her.

¹⁷ And she said: Behold he hath given me six measures of barley: for he said: I will not have thee return empty to thy mother in law.

¹⁸ And Noemi said: Wait my daughter, till we see what end the thing will have. For the man will not rest until he have accomplished what he hath said.

4 Then Booz went up to the gate, and sat there. And when he had seen the kinsman going by, of whom he had spoken before, he said to him, calling him by his name: Turn aside for a little while, and sit down here. He turned aside, and sat down.

² And Booz taking ten men of the ancients of the city, said to them: Sit ye down here.

³ They sat down, and he spoke to the kinsman: Noemi, who is returned from the country of Moab, will sell a parcel of land that belonged to our brother Elimelech.

⁴ I would have thee to understand this, and would tell thee before all that sit here, and before the ancients of my people. If thou wilt take possession of it by the right of kindred: buy it and possess it: but if it please thee not, tell me so, that I may know what I have to do. For there is no near kinsman besides thee, who art first, and me, who am second. But he answered: I will buy the field.

⁵ And Booz said to him: When thou shalt buy the field at the woman's hand, thou must take also Ruth the Moabitess, who was the wife of the deceased: to raise up the name of thy kinsman in his inheritance.

⁶ He answered: I yield up my right of next akin: for I must not cut off the posterity of my own family. Do thou make use of my privilege, which I profess I do willingly forego.

⁹ Let a widow be chosen of no less than threescore years of age, who hath been the wife of one husband.

¹⁰ Having testimony for her good works, if she have brought up children, if she have received to harbour, if she have washed the saints' feet, if she have ministered to them that suffer tribulation, if she have diligently followed every good work.

¹¹ But the younger widows avoid. For when they have grown wanton in Christ, they will marry:

¹² Having damnation, because they have made void their first faith.

¹³ And withal being idle they learn to go about from house to house: and are not only idle, but tattlers also, and busybodies, speaking things which they ought not.

¹⁴ I will therefore that the younger should marry, bear children, be mistresses of families, give no occasion to the adversary to speak evil.

¹⁵ For some are already turned aside after Satan.

¹⁶ If any of the faithful have widows, let him minister to them, and let not the church be charged: that there may be sufficient for them that are widows indeed.