Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Psalm 127[a]
Need of Divine Assistance
1 A song of ascents. Of Solomon.
[b]If the Lord does not build the house,[c]
those who construct it labor in vain.
If the Lord does not guard the city,
those who keep watch over it do so in vain.
2 It is useless for you to rise earlier
and delay taking your rest at night,
toiling relentlessly for the bread you eat;
for while those he loves sleep,
he provides all of this for them.[d]
3 [e]Behold, children are a gift from the Lord,
a reward of the fruit of the womb.
4 Like arrows in the hands of a warrior
are the children born in one’s youth.[f]
5 Blessed is the man
who has filled his quiver with them.
He will never be forced to retreat
when he is confronted by his enemies at the city gate.[g]
Chapter 4
Boaz Marries Ruth. 1 So Boaz went to the city gate and sat down there. The relative of whom Boaz had spoken was passing by, so he said, “Come over here, my friend, and sit down.” So he came over and sat down.[a] 2 He gathered ten of the elders of the city and said, “Sit down,” and they sat down.
3 Then he said to the next of kin, “Naomi has come back from the land of Moab and is selling the parcel of land that belonged to our kinsman Elimelech. 4 I thought that I would tell this to you. Buy it in the presence of those who dwell here and in the presence of the elders. If you intend to redeem it as next of kin, then redeem it. If you do not intend to redeem it, then tell me so that I can know, for there is no one else besides you to redeem the land, and then I am next in line.” He said, “I will redeem it.” 5 Then Boaz said, “When you acquire the field, you also receive the hand of Ruth the Moabite, the wife of the deceased, to raise up the name of the deceased for an inheritance.” 6 But the kinsman said, “I cannot redeem it for myself, lest I endanger my own inheritance. You can exercise my right of next of kin, for I cannot redeem it.”
7 Now in those days in Israel it was the custom that when there was an act of redemption or of the exchange of lands, one man would take off his sandal and give it to the other in order to confirm the action. This was an act of confirming actions in Israel. 8 So the kinsman said to Boaz, “Buy it for yourself,” and he took off his sandal.
9 Boaz then said to the elders and to all the people, “You are witnesses today that I have bought from Naomi all that belonged to Elimelech, and all that belonged to Chilion and all that belonged to Mahlon. 10 Moreover, I have acquired Ruth, the Moabite, the wife of Mahlon, to be my wife, to perpetuate the name of the deceased for an inheritance so that the name of the deceased not disappear from among his brethren nor from the gates of his native place. You are witnesses today.”
Reconciliation Already Obtained. 6 At the appointed time, while we were still helpless, Christ died for the ungodly. 7 Indeed, it is seldom that anyone will die for a just person, although perhaps for a good person someone might be willing to die. 8 Thus, God proved his love for us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us.
9 And so, now that we have been justified by Christ’s blood, how much more certainly will we be saved through him from divine retribution.[a] 10 For if, while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, how much more certain it is that, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by his life. 11 And not only that, but we now even trust exultantly in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have already been granted reconciliation.
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