Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

God Will Pay Back His Enemies

⁷ Long ago in Israel when people traded or bought back something, one person took off his sandal and gave it to the other person. This was their proof of purchase.

⁸ So the close relative said, “Buy the land yourself.” And then he took off his sandal.

⁹ Then Boaz spoke to the elders and to all the people. He said, “You are witnesses today of what I am buying from Naomi. I am buying everything that belonged to Elimelech and Kilion and Mahlon. ¹⁰ I am also taking Ruth as my wife. She is the Moabite who was the wife of Mahlon. I am doing this so her dead husband’s property will stay with his family. This way, his name will not be separated from his family and his land. You are witnesses this day.”

¹¹ So all the people and elders who were at the city gate said, “We are witnesses. This woman will be coming into your home. We hope the Lord will make her like Rachel and Leah. They had many children. So the people of Israel grew in number. May you become powerful in the district of Ephrathah. May you become famous in Bethlehem! ¹² Tamar gave birth to Judah’s son Perez.^[a] In the same way, may the Lord give you many children through Ruth. And may your family be great like his.”

¹³ So Boaz took Ruth and married her. The Lord let her become pregnant, and she gave birth to a son. ¹⁴ The women told Naomi, “Praise the Lord who gave you this grandson. And may he become famous in Israel. ¹⁵ He will give you new life. And he will take care of you in your old age. This happened because of your daughter-in-law. She loves you. And she is better for you than seven sons. She has given birth to your grandson.”

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, “This boy was born for Naomi.” The neighbors named him Obed. Obed was Jesse’s father. And Jesse was the father of David.

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, and Jesse was the father of David.

¹⁶ Jesus traveled to Nazareth, where he had grown up. On the Sabbath day he went to the synagogue as he always did. Jesus 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:

²⁰ Jesus closed the book, gave it back, and sat down. Everyone in the synagogue was watching Jesus closely. ²¹ He began to speak to them. He said, “While you heard these words just now, they were coming true!”

²² All the people praised Jesus. They were amazed at the beautiful words he spoke. They asked, “Isn’t this Joseph’s son?”

²³ Jesus said to them, “I know that 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 things here in your own town!’” ²⁴ Then Jesus said, “I tell you the truth. A prophet is not accepted in his own town. ²⁵ What I say is true. 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. And there were many widows in Israel during that time. ²⁶ But Elijah was sent to none of those widows. He was sent only to a widow in Zarephath, a town in Sidon. ²⁷ And there were many with a harmful skin disease living in Israel during the time of the prophet Elisha. But none of them were healed except Naaman, who was from the country of Syria.”

²⁸ When all the people in the synagogue heard these things, they became very angry. ²⁹ They got up and forced Jesus out of town. The town was built on a hill. They took Jesus to the edge of the hill and wanted to throw him off. ³⁰ But Jesus walked through the crowd and went on his way.