Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

Naomi Returns to Judah

⁶ She and her daughters-in-law prepared to return from the country of Moab, because she had heard while living there^[a] how the Lord had come to the aid of his people, giving them relief.^{[b] 7} So she left the place where she had been, along with her two daughters-in-law, and they traveled along the return road to the land of Judah. ⁸ But along the way,^[c] Naomi told her two daughters-in-law, “Each of you go back home. Return to your mother’s house. May the Lord show his gracious love to you, as you have shown me and our loved ones who have died.^{[d] 9} May the Lord grant each of you security in your new^[e] husbands’ households.” Then she kissed them good-bye,^[f] and they cried loudly.

¹⁰ They both replied to her, “No! We’ll go back with you to your people.”

¹¹ But Naomi responded, “Go back, my daughters. Why go with me? Are there still sons to be born to me^[g] as future husbands for you? ¹² So go on back, my daughters! Be on your way! I’m too old to remarry.^[h] If I were to say that I’m hoping for a husband tonight and then also bore sons this very night,^{[i] 13} would you wait for them until they were grown? Would you refrain from marriage for them? No, my daughters! I’m more deeply grieved than you, because^[j] the Lord is working against me!”

Ruth Remains with Naomi

¹⁴ They began to cry loudly again. So Orpah kissed her mother-in-law good-bye,^[k] but Ruth remained with her. ¹⁵ Naomi told Ruth,^[l] “Look, your sister-in-law has returned to her people and to her gods. Follow your sister-in-law!”

¹⁶ But Ruth answered, “Stop urging me to abandon you and to turn back from following you. Because wherever you go, I’ll go. Wherever you live, I’ll live. Your people will be my people, and your God, my God. ¹⁷ Where you die, I’ll die and be buried. May the Lord do this to me—and more—if anything^[m] except death comes between you and me.”

¹⁸ When Naomi^[n] observed Ruth’s^[o] determination to travel with her, she ended the conversation.

Be Ready for the Day of the Lord

3 Dear friends, this is now the second of two letters^[a] I am writing to you, in which I have been trying to stimulate your pure minds by reminding you ² to recall the words spoken in the past by the holy prophets and the commandment of our Lord and Savior spoken^[b] through your apostles.

³ First of all you must understand this: In the last days mockers will come and, following their own desires, will ridicule us^{[c] 4} by saying, “What happened to the Messiah’s^[d] promise to return? Ever since our ancestors died,^[e] everything continues as it did from the beginning of creation.” ⁵ But they deliberately ignore the fact that long ago the heavens existed and the earth was formed by God’s word out of water and with water, ⁶ by which the world at that time was deluged with water and destroyed. ⁷ Now by that same word, the present heavens and earth have been reserved for fire and are being kept for the day when ungodly people will be judged and destroyed.

⁸ Don’t forget this fact, dear friends: With the Lord a single day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a single day. ⁹ The Lord is not slow about his promise, as some people understand slowness, but is being patient with you. He does not want anyone to perish, but everyone to find room for repentence. ¹⁰ But the Day of the Lord will come like a thief. On that day^[f] the heavens will disappear with a roaring sound, the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything done on it will be exposed.