Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Psalm 81[a]
For the music director, according to the gittith style;[b] by Asaph.
81 Shout for joy to God, our source of strength!
Shout out to the God of Jacob!
2 Sing[c] a song and play the tambourine,
the pleasant-sounding harp, and the ten-stringed instrument.
3 Sound the ram’s horn on the day of the new moon,[d]
and on the day of the full moon when our festival begins.[e]
4 For observing the festival is a requirement for Israel;[f]
it is an ordinance given by the God of Jacob.
5 He decreed it as a regulation in Joseph,
when he attacked the land of Egypt.[g]
I heard a voice I did not recognize.[h]
6 It said:[i] “I removed the burden from his shoulder;
his hands were released from holding the basket.[j]
7 In your distress you called out and I rescued you.
I answered you from a dark thundercloud.[k]
I tested you at the waters of Meribah.[l] (Selah)
8 I said,[m] ‘Listen, my people!
I will warn[n] you.
O Israel, if only you would obey me![o]
9 There must be[p] no other[q] god among you.
You must not worship a foreign god.
10 I am the Lord, your God,
the one who brought you out of the land of Egypt.
Open your mouth wide and I will fill it.’
11 But my people did not obey me;[r]
Israel did not submit to me.[s]
12 I gave them over to their stubborn desires;[t]
they did what seemed right to them.[u]
13 If only my people would obey me![v]
If only Israel would keep my commands![w]
14 Then I would quickly subdue their enemies,
and attack[x] their adversaries.”
15 (May those who hate the Lord[y] cower in fear[z] before him.
May they be permanently humiliated.)[aa]
16 “I would feed Israel the best wheat,[ab]
and would satisfy your appetite[ac] with honey from the rocky cliffs.”[ad]
Ruth Works in the Field of Boaz
2 Now Naomi[a] had a relative[b] on her husband’s side of the family named Boaz. He was a wealthy, prominent man from the clan of Elimelech.[c] 2 One day Ruth the Moabite said to Naomi, “Let me go[d] to the fields so I can gather[e] grain behind whoever permits me to do so.”[f] Naomi[g] replied, “You may go, my daughter.” 3 So Ruth[h] went and gathered grain in the fields[i] behind the harvesters. Now she just happened to end up[j] in the portion of the field belonging to Boaz, who was from the clan of Elimelech.
Boaz and Ruth Meet
4 Now at that very moment,[k] Boaz arrived from Bethlehem and greeted[l] the harvesters, “May the Lord be with you!” They replied,[m] “May the Lord bless you!” 5 Boaz asked[n] his servant[o] in charge of the harvesters, “To whom does this young woman belong?”[p] 6 The servant in charge of the harvesters replied, “She’s the young Moabite woman who came back with Naomi from the region of Moab. 7 She asked,[q] ‘May I follow the harvesters and gather grain[r] among the bundles?’[s] Since she arrived she has been working hard[t] from this morning until now[u]—except for[v] sitting[w] in the resting hut[x] a short time.”[y]
8 So Boaz said to Ruth, “Listen carefully,[z] my dear![aa] Do not leave to gather grain in another field. You need not[ab] go beyond the limits of this field. You may go along beside[ac] my female workers.[ad] 9 Take note of[ae] the field where the men[af] are harvesting and follow behind with the female workers.[ag] I will tell the men[ah] to leave you alone.[ai] When you are thirsty, you may go to[aj] the water jars[ak] and drink some of the water[al] the servants draw.”[am]
10 Ruth[an] knelt before him with her forehead to the ground[ao] and said to him, “Why are you so kind[ap] and so attentive to me,[aq] even though[ar] I am a foreigner?”[as] 11 Boaz replied to her,[at] “I have been given a full report of[au] all that you have done for your mother-in-law following the death of your husband—how you left[av] your father and your mother, as well as your homeland, and came to live among people you did not know previously.[aw] 12 May the Lord reward your efforts![ax] May your acts of kindness be repaid fully[ay] by the Lord God of Israel, from whom you have sought protection.”[az] 13 She said, “You really are being kind to me,[ba] sir,[bb] for you have reassured[bc] and encouraged[bd] me, your servant,[be] even though I will[bf] never be like[bg] one of your servants.”[bh]
14 Later during the mealtime Boaz said to her, “Come here and have[bi] some food! Dip your bread[bj] in the vinegar.” So she sat down beside the harvesters. Then he handed[bk] her some roasted grain. She ate until she was full and saved the rest.[bl] 15 When she got up to gather grain, Boaz told[bm] his male servants, “Let her gather grain even among[bn] the bundles. Don’t chase her off![bo] 16 Make sure you pull out[bp] ears of grain for her and drop them so she can gather them up. Don’t tell her not to!”[bq] 17 So she gathered grain in the field until evening. When she threshed[br] what she had gathered, it came to about thirty pounds[bs] of barley.
Ruth Returns to Naomi
18 She carried it back to town, and her mother-in-law saw[bt] how much grain[bu] she had gathered. Then Ruth[bv] gave her the roasted grain she had saved from mealtime.[bw] 19 Her mother-in-law asked her,[bx] “Where did you gather grain today? Where did you work? May the one who took notice of you be rewarded!”[by] So Ruth[bz] told her mother-in-law with whom she had worked. She said, “The name of the man with whom I worked today is Boaz.” 20 Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, “May he be rewarded by the Lord because he[ca] has shown loyalty to the living on behalf of the dead!”[cb] Then Naomi said to her, “This man is a close relative of ours; he is our guardian.”[cc] 21 Ruth the Moabite replied, “He even[cd] told me, ‘You may go along beside my servants[ce] until they have finished gathering all my harvest!’”[cf] 22 Naomi then said to her daughter-in-law Ruth, “It is good, my daughter, that you should go out to work with his female servants.[cg] That way you will not be harmed, which could happen in another field.”[ch] 23 So Ruth[ci] worked beside[cj] Boaz’s female servants, gathering grain until the end of the barley harvest as well as the wheat harvest.[ck] After that she stayed home with her mother-in-law.[cl]
Exhortation to the Faithful
14 Therefore, dear friends, since you are waiting for[a] these things, strive to be found[b] at peace, without spot or blemish, when you come into his presence.[c] 15 And regard the patience of our Lord as salvation,[d] just as also our dear brother Paul[e] wrote to you,[f] according to the wisdom given to him, 16 speaking of these things in all his letters.[g] Some things in these letters[h] are hard to understand, things[i] the ignorant and unstable twist[j] to their own destruction, as they also do to the rest of the scriptures.[k] 17 Therefore, dear friends, since you have been forewarned,[l] be on your guard that you do not get led astray by the error of these unprincipled men[m] and fall from your firm grasp on the truth.[n] 18 But grow in the grace and knowledge[o] of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the honor both now and on[p] that eternal day.[q]
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