Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

3 One day Naomi said to Ruth, “My dear, isn’t it time that I try to find a husband for you and get you happily married again? ² The man I’m thinking of is Boaz! He has been so kind to us and is a close relative. I happen to know that he will be winnowing barley tonight out on the threshing floor. ³ Now do what I tell you—bathe and put on some perfume and some nice clothes and go on down to the threshing floor, but don’t let him see you until he has finished his supper. ⁴ Notice where he lies down to sleep; then go and lift the cover off his feet and lie down there, and he will tell you what to do concerning marriage.”

⁵ And Ruth replied, “All right. I’ll do whatever you say.”

¹³ So Boaz married Ruth, and when he slept with her, the Lord gave her a son.

¹⁴ And the women of the city said to Naomi, “Bless the Lord who has given you this little grandson; may he be famous in Israel. ¹⁵ May he restore your youth and take care of you in your old age; for he is the son of your daughter-in-law who loves you so much, and who has been kinder to you than seven sons!”

^16-17 Naomi took care of the baby, and the neighbor women said, “Now at last Naomi has a son again!”

And they named him Obed. He was the father of Jesse and grandfather of King David.

127 Unless the Lord builds a house, the builders’ work is useless. Unless the Lord protects a city, sentries do no good. ² It is senseless for you to work so hard from early morning until late at night, fearing you will starve to death; for God wants his loved ones to get their proper rest.

³ Children are a gift from God; they are his reward. ⁴ Children born to a young man are like sharp arrows to defend him.

⁵ Happy is the man who has his quiver full of them. That man shall have the help he needs when arguing with his enemies.^[a]

²⁴ For Christ has entered into heaven itself to appear now before God as our Friend. It was not in the earthly place of worship that he did this, for that was merely a copy of the real temple in heaven. ²⁵ Nor has he offered himself again and again, as the high priest down here on earth offers animal blood in the Holy of Holies each year. ²⁶ If that had been necessary, then he would have had to die again and again, ever since the world began. But no! He came once for all, at the end of the age, to put away the power of sin forever by dying for us.

²⁷ And just as it is destined that men die only once, and after that comes judgment, ²⁸ so also Christ died only once as an offering for the sins of many people; and he will come again, but not to deal again with our sins.

This time he will come bringing salvation to all those who are eagerly and patiently waiting for him.

³⁸ Here are some of the other things he taught them at this time:

“Beware of the teachers of religion! For they love to wear the robes of the rich and scholarly, and to have everyone bow to them as they walk through the markets. ³⁹ They love to sit in the best seats in the synagogues and at the places of honor at banquets— ⁴⁰ but they shamelessly cheat widows out of their homes and then, to cover up the kind of men they really are, they pretend to be pious by praying long prayers in public. Because of this, their punishment will be the greater.”

⁴¹ Then he went over to the collection boxes in the Temple and sat and watched as the crowds dropped in their money. Some who were rich put in large amounts. ⁴² Then a poor widow came and dropped in two pennies.

^43-44 He called his disciples to him and remarked, “That poor widow has given more than all those rich men put together! For they gave a little of their extra fat,^[a] while she gave up her last penny.”