Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Shout Praises to the Lord
1 Shout praises to the Lord!
With all that I am,
I will shout his praises.
2 I will sing and praise
the Lord God
as long as I live.
3 You can't depend on anyone,
not even a great leader.
4 Once they die and are buried,
that will be the end
of all their plans.
5 The Lord God of Jacob blesses
everyone who trusts him
and depends on him.
6 (A) God made heaven and earth;
he created the sea
and everything else.
God always keeps his word.
7 He gives justice to the poor
and food to the hungry.
The Lord sets prisoners free
8 and heals blind eyes.
He gives a helping hand
to everyone who falls.
The Lord loves good people
9 and looks after strangers.
He defends the rights
of orphans and widows,
but destroys the wicked.
10 The Lord God of Zion
will rule forever!
Shout praises to the Lord!
Ruth Meets Boaz
2 1-3 (A) One day, Ruth said to Naomi, “Let me see if I can find someone who will let me pick up the grain left in the fields by the harvest workers.”[a]
Naomi answered, “Go ahead, my daughter.” So immediately Ruth went out to pick up grain in a field. She didn't know it was owned by Boaz, a relative of Naomi's husband Elimelech, as well as a rich and important man.
4 When Boaz arrived from Bethlehem and went out to his field, he said to the harvest workers, “The Lord bless you!”
They replied, “And may the Lord bless you!”
5 Then Boaz asked the man in charge of the harvest workers, “Who is that young woman?”
6 The man answered, “She is the one who came back from Moab with Naomi. 7 She asked if she could pick up grain left by the harvest workers, and she has been working all morning without a moment's rest.”[b]
8 Boaz went over to Ruth and said, “I think it would be best for you not to pick up grain in anyone else's field. Stay here with the women 9 and follow along behind them, as they gather up what the men have cut. I have warned the men not to bother you, and whenever you are thirsty, you can drink from their water jars.”
God's Way of Accepting People
21 Now we see how God does make us acceptable to him. The Law and the Prophets[a] tell how we become acceptable, and it isn't by obeying the Law of Moses. 22 (A) God treats everyone alike. He accepts people only because they have faith in Jesus Christ. 23 All of us have sinned and fallen short of God's glory. 24 But God treats us much better than we deserve, and because of Christ Jesus, he freely accepts us and sets us free from our sins. 25-26 (B) God sent Christ to be our sacrifice. Christ offered his life's blood, so by faith in him we could come to God. And God did this to show that in the past he was right to be patient and forgive sinners. This also shows that God is right when he accepts people who have faith in Jesus.
27 What is left for us to brag about? Not a thing! Is it because we obeyed some law? No! It is because of faith. 28 We see that people are acceptable to God because they have faith, and not because they obey the Law. 29 Does God belong only to the Jews? Isn't he also the God of the Gentiles? Yes, he is! 30 (C) There is only one God, and he accepts Gentiles as well as Jews, simply because of their faith. 31 Do we destroy the Law by our faith? Not at all! We make it even more powerful.
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