Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

David’s Uprightness as a Basis for God’s Judgment

God’s Uprightness as a Basis for His Judgment

God Equips David for Victory

Ruth Proposes Marriage at the Threshing Floor

3 Naomi, Ruth’s mother-in-law, said to her, “My daughter, shouldn’t I seek security^[a] for you so that you will be well taken care of? ² Isn’t Boaz, whose young women you have been with, our relative? Look, he will be winnowing barley at the threshing floor tonight. ³ So bathe, put on perfume, and dress up. Then go down to the threshing floor. Do not present yourself to the man until he has finished eating and drinking. ⁴ But when he lies down, take note of the place where he lies down. Then go up to him, uncover his legs, and lie down there. He himself will tell you what you should do.”

⁵ Ruth said to her, “All that you say to me, I will do!” ⁶ So she went down to the threshing floor, and she did everything that her mother-in-law had commanded her to do.

⁷ After Boaz ate and drank, and his heart was happy, he went to lie down at the edge of the grain pile. Then Ruth came up to him quietly, and she uncovered his legs and lay down there.

¹⁷ “As the time approached that God spoke about in the promise he had made^[a] to Abraham, the people increased and multiplied in Egypt. ¹⁸ This continued until another king who knew nothing about Joseph became ruler of Egypt. ¹⁹ He took advantage of our people in a cunning way, and he mistreated our fathers by forcing them to get rid of their babies so that they would not survive.^[b]

Stephen Defends Himself

²⁰ “At that time, Moses was born, and he was favored by God. For three months he was cared for in his father’s house. ²¹ After he was placed outside,^[c] Pharaoh’s daughter took him in and brought him up as her own son. ²² Moses was educated in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and he was powerful in his words and actions.

²³ “But when he was forty years old, it entered his mind to visit his brothers, the sons of Israel. ²⁴ When he saw one of them being mistreated, he defended him and avenged the oppressed man by striking down the Egyptian. ²⁵ He thought that his brothers would understand that God was giving them deliverance by his hand, but they did not understand. ²⁶ The next day, he came across two of them while they were fighting, and he tried to reconcile them. He said, ‘Men, you are brothers. Why are you harming each other?’ ²⁷ But the one who was harming his neighbor pushed him away, saying, ‘Who made you a ruler and a judge over us? ²⁸ Do you want to kill me the same way you killed the Egyptian yesterday?’^{[d] 29} At this remark, Moses fled and lived as an exile in the land of Midian, where he became the father of two sons.