Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
94 The Lord is a God who punishes people.
God, come punish them.
2 You are the judge of the whole earth.
Give proud people the punishment they deserve.
3 Lord, how long will the wicked have their fun?
How much longer?
4 How much longer will those criminals
brag about the evil they did?
5 Lord, they hurt your people
and make them suffer.
6 They kill widows and foreigners living in our country.
They murder orphans.
7 And they say the Lord does not see them doing these evil things!
They say the God of Jacob does not know what is happening.
8 You evil people are foolish.
When will you learn your lesson?
You are so stupid!
You must try to understand.
9 God made our ears,
so surely he can hear what is happening!
He made our eyes,
so surely he can see you!
10 The one who disciplines nations will surely correct you.
He is the one who teaches us everything.
11 The Lord knows what people are thinking.
He knows that their thoughts are like a puff of wind.
12 Lord, great blessings belong to those you discipline,
to those you teach from your law.
13 You help them stay calm when trouble comes.
You will help them until the wicked are put in their graves.
14 The Lord will not leave his people.
He will not leave them without help.
15 Justice will return and bring fairness.
And those who want to do right will be there to see it.
16 No one helped me fight against the wicked.
No one stood with me against those who do evil.
17 And if the Lord had not helped me,
I would have been silenced by death.
18 I know I was ready to fall,
but, Lord, your faithful love supported me.
19 I was very worried and upset,
but you comforted me and made me happy!
20 You don’t help crooked judges.
They use the law to make life hard for the people.
21 They attack those who do right.
They say innocent people are guilty and put them to death.
22 But the Lord is my place of safety, high on the mountain.
God, my Rock, is my safe place!
23 He will punish those evil judges for the bad things they did.
He will destroy them because they sinned.
The Lord our God will destroy them.
7 Then he gave Boaz something to show that he was serious. During that time in Israel, when people bought property, one person took off a sandal and gave it to the other person. This was like signing an agreement. 8 So when the close relative said to Boaz, “You buy the land,” he took off his sandal and gave it to Boaz.[a]
9 Then Boaz said to the elders and all the people, “You are witnesses today that I am buying from Naomi everything that belonged to Elimelech, Kilion, and Mahlon. 10 I also take Ruth to be my wife. Then the dead man’s property will continue to belong to his family. And he will always be remembered by his family and the people in his hometown. You are all witnesses of what I am doing today.”
11 So all the elders and the people who were near the city gates said, “We are witnesses to all of this. And may the Lord bless this woman who is coming into your home to be like Rachel and Leah. They are the ones who had many children to make the people of Israel strong. And may you become powerful in the tribe of Ephrathah and famous in Bethlehem! 12 May the Lord bless you with many children through Ruth. May your family become great like the family of Perez,[b] the son Tamar bore for Judah.”
13 So Boaz married Ruth. The Lord allowed Ruth to become pregnant, and she had a son. 14 The women there said to Naomi, “Praise the Lord who gave you this child.[c] May he become famous in Israel. 15 He will make you alive again and care for you in your old age. Your daughter-in-law made it happen because she bore this child for you. She loves you, and she is better for you than seven sons.”
16 Naomi took the boy, held him in her arms, and cared for him. 17 The neighbors gave the boy his name. These women said, “Naomi has a son now!”[d] They named him Obed. Obed was the father of Jesse, and Jesse was the father of David.
The Family of Ruth and Boaz
18 This is the family history of Perez:
Perez was the father of Hezron.
19 Hezron was the father of Ram.
Ram was the father of Amminadab.
20 Amminadab was the father of Nahshon.
Nahshon was the father of Salmon.
21 Salmon was the father of Boaz.
Boaz was the father of Obed.
22 Obed was the father of Jesse.
Jesse was the father of David.
Jesus Goes to His Hometown(A)
16 Jesus traveled to Nazareth, the town where he grew up. On the Sabbath day he went to the synagogue as he always did. He stood up to read. 17 The book of Isaiah the prophet was given to him. He opened the book and found the place where this is written:
18 “The Spirit of the Lord is on me.
He has chosen me to tell good news to the poor.
He sent me to tell prisoners that they are free
and to tell the blind that they can see again.
He sent me to free those who have been treated badly
19 and to announce that the time has come for the Lord to show his kindness.” (B)
20 Jesus closed the book, gave it back to the helper, and sat down. As everyone in the synagogue watched him closely, 21 he began to speak to them. He said, “While you heard me reading these words just now, they were coming true!”
22 Everyone there said good things about Jesus. They were amazed to hear him speak such wonderful words. They said, “How is this possible? Isn’t he Joseph’s son?”
23 Jesus said to them, “I know you will tell me the old saying: ‘Doctor, heal yourself.’ You want to say, ‘We heard about the things you did in Capernaum. Do those same things here in your own hometown!’” 24 Then he said, “The truth is, a prophet is not accepted in his own hometown.
25-26 “During the time of Elijah it did not rain in Israel for three and a half years. There was no food anywhere in the whole country. There were many widows in Israel during that time. But the fact is, Elijah was sent to none of those widows in Israel. He was sent only to a widow in Zarephath, a town in Sidon.
27 “And there were many people with leprosy living in Israel during the time of the prophet Elisha. But none of them were healed; the only one was Naaman. And he was from the country of Syria, not Israel.”
28 When the people in the synagogue heard this, they were very angry. 29 They got up and forced Jesus to go out of town. Their town was built on a hill. They took Jesus to the edge of the hill to throw him off. 30 But he walked through the middle of the crowd and went away.
Copyright © 2006 by Bible League International