Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
5 Blessed is the one whose help is the God of Jacob,
whose hope is on Yahweh as his God,
6 who made heaven and earth,
the sea and all that is in them,
the one who keeps faith[a] forever,
7 who executes justice for the oppressed,
who gives food for the hungry.
Yahweh sets prisoners free;
8 Yahweh opens the eyes of the blind;
Yahweh raises up those bowed down;
Yahweh loves the righteous;
9 Yahweh protects[b] the strangers.
He helps up the orphan and the widow,
but the way of the wicked he thwarts.[c]
10 Yahweh will reign forever,
Your God, O Zion, throughout all generations.[d]
Praise Yah.[e]
Naomi Returns with Ruth
6 And she got up, she and her daughters-in-law, and returned from the countryside of Moab, because she had heard in the countryside of Moab that Yahweh had come to the aid of[a] his people to give food to them. 7 So she set out from the place where she was[b] and her two daughters-in-law with her, and they went on the way to return to the land of Judah.
8 But Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, “Go, each of you return to her mother’s house. May Yahweh show kindness to you[c] just as you did with the dead and with me. 9 May Yahweh grant that you[d] find a resting place, each in the house of her husband.” And she kissed them, and they lifted up their voices and cried.
10 And they said to her, “No, we want to return with you to your people.” 11 And Naomi said, “Return, my daughters. Why do you still want to go with me?[e] Are there sons in my womb[f] that may be husbands for you? 12 Turn back, my daughters! Go, for I am too old to have a husband.[g] If I should think there is hope for me, even if I should have a husband this night, and even if I should bear sons, 13 would you therefore wait until they were grown? Would you therefore refrain from marrying?[h] No, my daughters, for it is far more bitter to me than to you. For the hand of Yahweh has gone out against me.” 14 And they lifted up their voices and cried again. And Orpah kissed her mother-in-law goodbye, but Ruth clung to her. 15 And she said, “Look, your sister-in-law has returned to her people and to her gods. Return after your sister-in-law too.”
16 But Ruth said, “Do not urge[i] me to leave you or to return from following you![j] For where you go, I will go, and where you lodge, I will lodge. Your people will be my people and your God will be my God. 17 Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried. So may Yahweh do to me, and even more, unless[k] death separates you and me!”[l] 18 When Naomi saw that she was determined to go with her, she said no more.[m]
The Coming Day of the Lord
3 Dear friends, this is already the second letter I am writing to you, in both of which I am attempting to stir up your sincere mind by a reminder, 2 to remember the words proclaimed beforehand by the holy prophets and the commandment of the Lord and Savior through your apostles, 3 above all knowing this, that in the last days scoffers will come with scoffing, following according to their own desires 4 and saying, “Where is the promise of his coming? For ever since[a] the fathers fell asleep, all things have continued just as they have been from the beginning of creation.” 5 For when[b] they maintain this, it escapes their notice that the heavens existed long ago and the earth held together out of water and through water by the word of God, 6 by means of which things the world that existed at that time was destroyed by[c] being inundated with water. 7 But by the same word the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly people.
8 Now, dear friends, do not let this one thing escape your notice, that one day with the Lord is like a thousand years, and a thousand years is like one day. 9 The Lord is not delaying the promise, as some consider slowness, but is being patient toward you, because he[d] does not want any to perish, but all to come to repentance. 10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will disappear with a rushing noise, and the celestial bodies will be destroyed by[e] being burned up, and the earth and the deeds done on it will be disclosed.
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