Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

The Concluding Hallel—Pss 146–150^[a]

Psalm 146^[b]

Trust in God, Creator and Redeemer

^1 [c]Alleluia.

¹⁸ When she saw that she was determined to go with her, she said no more.

¹⁹ Life in Bethlehem. So they both traveled on until they came to Bethlehem. When they arrived in Bethlehem, there was a commotion among all of the inhabitants of the city on account of them. The women exclaimed, “Is this Naomi?” ²⁰ She told them, “Do not call me Naomi, call me Mara. The Almighty has made my life so very bitter. ²¹ I went away full, but the Lord has brought me back empty. Why should you call me Naomi? The Lord has brought witness against me; the Almighty has afflicted me.”

²² So Naomi returned, and Ruth, the Moabite, her daughter-in-law, went with her. They left the land of Moab and they arrived in Bethlehem at the beginning of the barley harvest.

Chapter 9

The Ancient Worship.^{[a] 1} Now the first covenant also had regulations for worship and an earthly sanctuary. ² For a tabernacle was constructed. In the outer section, called the Holy Place, were located the lampstand, the table, and the consecrated bread.

³ Behind the second veil was the tabernacle called the Holy of Holies ⁴ in which stood the gold altar of incense and the ark of the covenant overlaid on all sides with gold. In that ark were the gold jar containing the manna, and Aaron’s staff that had sprouted buds, and the tablets of the covenant. ⁵ Above it were the cherubim of glory overshadowing the place of atonement (but we cannot discuss these things in detail now). ⁶ With these arrangements for worship having been made, the priests continually enter the first tabernacle to carry out their ritual duties. ⁷ However, the high priest alone enters the second tabernacle, and he can do so only once a year, and not without the blood that he offers for himself and for the errors that the people had committed.

⁸ By this the Holy Spirit reveals to us that as long as the first tabernacle remains standing, the way into the sanctuary has not been disclosed. ⁹ This is a symbol of the present time, during which the gifts and sacrifices that are offered are unable to cleanse the conscience of the worshiper. ¹⁰ They deal only with food and drink and various ceremonial washings, regulations in regard to the body that are imposed until the coming of the new order.

¹¹ Christ Has Come.^[b] But now Christ has arrived as the high priest of the good things that have come. He has passed through the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made by human hands, that is, not a part of this creation, ¹² and he has entered once for all into the sanctuary not with the blood of goats and calves but with his own blood, thus obtaining eternal redemption.