Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

Help in the Lord

An Eternity for Praise

⁶ Then Naomi set out with her daughters-in-law to return from the territory of Moab, because while she was in the territory of Moab, she had heard that the Lord had graciously visited^[a] his people by providing them with food. ⁷ So she left the place where she had been, and her two daughters-in-law left with her. They set out on the road to return to the land of Judah.

⁸ But Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, “Go back. Both of you return to your mother’s house. May the Lord show you kindness^[b] as you have shown kindness to the dead and to me. ⁹ May the Lord grant that each of you finds security^[c] in the house of a husband.” Then she kissed them, and they wept loudly.

¹⁰ But they said to her, “No, we will return with you to your people.”

¹¹ Then Naomi said, “Turn back, my daughters. Why should you go with me? Am I going to give birth to any more sons^[d] who could become your husbands? ¹² Turn back, my daughters. Go! For I am too old to be married to another husband. Suppose I say, ‘I have hope, and I will be married to another husband tonight, and I will even give birth to sons.’ ¹³ Would you wait for them until they grow up? On the basis of that hope would you give up the chance to marry another husband? No, my daughters. It is much more bitter for me than for you, because the hand of the Lord has reached out against me.”

¹⁴ They once again wept loudly. Then Orpah kissed her mother-in-law, but Ruth would not let her go.

¹⁵ Naomi said, “Look, your sister-in-law has returned to her people and to her gods. Go back! Follow your sister-in-law.”

¹⁶ But Ruth said, “Do not urge me to abandon you or to turn back from following you. Because wherever you go, I will go, and wherever you make your home, I will make my home. Your people will be my people, and your God will be my God. ¹⁷ Wherever you die, I will die, and there I will be buried. May the Lord punish me severely and double it^[e] if anything but death^[f] separates me from you.”

¹⁸ When Naomi saw that Ruth was determined to go with her, she stopped urging her.

The Destruction of the World Is Coming

3 Dear friends, this is now the second letter that I have written to you. I wrote both of them to stir up your sincere mind with a reminder ² for you to remember the words spoken earlier by the holy prophets and the command of the Lord and Savior through your apostles.

³ First, know this: In the last days scoffers will come with their mocking, following their own lusts. ⁴ They will say, “Where is this promised coming of his? For from the time that our fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they have from the beginning of the creation.” ⁵ You see, what they are intentionally forgetting is that the heavens came into existence long ago by the word of God and that the earth came together out of the water and between the waters.^{[a] 6} Through these waters the former world perished, when it was flooded with water. ⁷ And now, by that same word, the heavens and earth have been stored up for fire, since they are being kept until the day of judgment and the destruction of the ungodly. ⁸ But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: For the Lord, one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like one day. ⁹ The Lord is not slow to do what he promised, as some consider slowness. Instead, he is patient for your sakes,^[b] not wanting anyone to perish, but all to come to repentance.

Live a Holy Life

¹⁰ But the day of the Lord will come like a thief.^[c] On that day the heavens will pass away with a roar, the elements will be dissolved as they burn with great heat, and the earth and what was done on it will be burned up.^[d]