Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

Ruth gives birth to a son

¹³ So Boaz married Ruth. He lived with her as his wife. The Lord blessed her so that she became pregnant. She gave birth to a son. ¹⁴ The women of Bethlehem said to Naomi, ‘We praise the Lord! Today, he has given to you a relative to take care of you! We pray that the child will become famous everywhere in Israel! ¹⁵ He will help you to feel young again. He will take care of you when you are old. Your son's wife, Ruth, has given birth to this boy. She loves you and she has helped you more than seven sons could ever do.’

¹⁶ Naomi took the child and she held him near to her. She took care of him as if he was her own son. ¹⁷ The women who lived there said, ‘Now Naomi has a son again!’ They called the boy Obed. He became the father of Jesse, who became the father of David.

¹¹ Certainly, God will destroy everything in this way one day. So think about how you should live now. You should be the kind of people that God is happy about. You should show that you belong to God. ¹² Yes, you should continue to obey God while you are waiting for Christ to return. God has chosen that day. Try to live in a way that will make that day come soon. On that day, fire will burn the whole sky. The sky will no longer be there. Heat will destroy the universe. ¹³ But God has promised to make a new sky and a new earth. That is what we are waiting for. That will be a home for everything that is good and right.^[a]

Peter finishes his letter

¹⁴ So, my friends, live in a good way, because you are waiting for these things to happen. Try very much to do what makes God happy. Then, when you meet God, he will see that you are clean. He will see that there is no trouble in your minds. ¹⁵ Remember that our Lord wants to save people from their sins. That is why he is now waiting patiently for people to turn to him before he will return. Paul has also written to you about these things. He is our friend that we love like a brother. God helped him to understand these things. ¹⁶ He wrote about them in all his letters. Some things that he has written are difficult for people to understand. Some people have weak minds and they are not sure about what they believe. They explain Paul's teaching in a way that deceives people. They also explain other things in the Bible wrongly. As a result, those people will destroy themselves and God will punish them.

¹⁷ My friends, you already know about these false teachers. So be very careful that you do not believe those bad people. Do not let them lead you away from God. You know what is true, so do not leave that safe place. ¹⁸ Instead, you must grow as believers in our Lord Jesus Christ, who saves us. Continue to know him better and better. He will be kind to you and he will help you more and more. We praise him as he deserves! He is great now and he will be great for ever!