Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

Naomi Widowed

1 In the days when the judges governed [Israel], there was a famine in the land [of Canaan]. And a certain man of Bethlehem in Judah went to live temporarily in the ^[a]country of Moab with his wife and his two sons. ² The man’s name was Elimelech and his wife’s name was Naomi and his two sons were named Mahlon and Chilion. They were Ephrathites from Bethlehem in Judah. They went to the country of Moab and stayed there. ³ Then Elimelech, Naomi’s husband, died, and she was left [a widow] with her two sons. ⁴ They took wives from the Moabite women; the name of the one was Orpah, and the name of the other was Ruth. They lived there about ten years; ⁵ and then both Mahlon and Chilion also died, so the woman [Naomi] was left without her two sons and her husband.

⁶ Then she set out with her daughters-in-law to return from the country of Moab, for she had heard in Moab how the Lord had taken care of His people [of Judah] in giving them food. ⁷ So she left the place where she was living, her two daughters-in-law with her, and they started on the way back to the land of Judah. ⁸ But Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, “Go back, each of you return to your mother’s house. May the Lord show kindness to you as you have shown kindness to the dead and to me. ⁹ May the Lord grant that you find rest, each one in the home of her husband.” Then she kissed them [goodbye], and they wept aloud. ¹⁰ And they said to her, “No, we will go with you to your people [in Judah].” ¹¹ But Naomi said, “Go back, my daughters, why should you go with me? Do I still have sons in my womb that may become your husbands? ¹² Go back, my daughters, go, for I am too old to have a husband. If I said I have hope, and if I actually had a husband tonight and even gave birth to sons, ¹³ would you wait until they were grown? Would you go without marrying? No, my daughters; for it is much more ^[b]difficult for me than for you, because the Lord’s hand has gone against me.”

Ruth’s Loyalty

¹⁴ Then they wept aloud again; and Orpah kissed her mother-in-law [goodbye], but Ruth clung to her.

¹⁵ Then Naomi said, “Look, your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and to her gods; turn back and follow your sister-in-law.” ¹⁶ But Ruth said, “Do not urge me to leave you or to turn back from following you; for where you go, I will go, and where you lodge, I will lodge. Your people will be my people, and your God, my God. ¹⁷ Where you die, I will die, and there I will be buried. May the Lord do the same to me [as He has done to you], and more also, if anything but death separates me from you.” ¹⁸ When Naomi saw that Ruth was determined to go with her, she said nothing more.

The Lord an Abundant Helper.

¹¹ But when Christ appeared as a High Priest of the good things to come [that is, true spiritual worship], He entered through the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not a part of this [material] creation. ¹² He went once for all into the Holy Place [the Holy of Holies of heaven, into the presence of God], and not through the blood of goats and calves, but through His own blood, having obtained and secured eternal redemption [that is, the salvation of all who personally believe in Him as Savior]. ¹³ For if the sprinkling of [ceremonially] defiled persons with the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a [burnt] heifer is sufficient for the cleansing of the body,^{(A) 14} how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal [Holy] Spirit willingly offered Himself unblemished [that is, without moral or spiritual imperfection as a sacrifice] to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works and lifeless observances to serve the ever living God?

²⁸ Then one of the scribes [an expert in Mosaic Law] came up and listened to them arguing [with one another], and noticing that Jesus answered them well, asked Him, “Which commandment is first and most important of all?”^{(A) 29} Jesus answered, “The first and most important one is: ‘Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord; ³⁰ and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul (life), and with all your mind (thought, understanding), and with all your strength.’^{(B) 31} This is the second: ‘You shall [unselfishly] ^[a]love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”^{(C) 32} The scribe said to Him, “Admirably answered, Teacher; You truthfully stated that He is One, and there is no other but Him; ³³ and to love Him with all the heart and with all the understanding and with all the strength, and to [unselfishly] love one’s neighbor as oneself, is much more than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.”^{(D) 34} When Jesus saw that he answered thoughtfully and intelligently, He said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” And after that, no one would dare to ask Him any more questions.