Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
II
5 Blessed the one whose help is the God of Jacob,
whose hope is in the Lord, his God,
6 The maker of heaven and earth,
the seas and all that is in them,(A)
Who keeps faith forever,
7 secures justice for the oppressed,(B)
who gives bread to the hungry.
The Lord sets prisoners free;(C)
8 the Lord gives sight to the blind.
The Lord raises up those who are bowed down;(D)
the Lord loves the righteous.
9 The Lord protects the resident alien,
comes to the aid of the orphan and the widow,(E)
but thwarts the way of the wicked.
10 The Lord shall reign forever,
your God, Zion, through all generations!(F)
Hallelujah!
13 Boaz took Ruth. When they came together as husband and wife, the Lord enabled her to conceive and she bore a son. 14 Then the women said to Naomi, “Blessed is the Lord who has not failed to provide you today with a redeemer. May he become famous in Israel! 15 He will restore your life and be the support of your old age, for his mother is the daughter-in-law who loves you. She is worth more to you than seven sons!” 16 Naomi took the boy, cradled him[a] against her breast, and cared for him. 17 The neighbor women joined the celebration: “A son has been born to Naomi!”(A) They named him Obed. He was the father of Jesse, the father of David.
11 Since everything is to be dissolved in this way, what sort of persons ought [you] to be, conducting yourselves in holiness and devotion,(A) 12 [a]waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God,(B) because of which the heavens will be dissolved in flames and the elements melted by fire. 13 But according to his promise we await new heavens and a new earth[b] in which righteousness dwells.(C)
14 Therefore, beloved, since you await these things, be eager to be found without spot or blemish before him, at peace. 15 And consider the patience of our Lord as salvation, as our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given to him, also wrote to you,(D) 16 speaking of these things[c] as he does in all his letters. In them there are some things hard to understand that the ignorant and unstable distort to their own destruction, just as they do the other scriptures.
V. Final Exhortation and Doxology[d]
17 Therefore, beloved, since you are forewarned, be on your guard not to be led into the error of the unprincipled and to fall from your own stability.(E) 18 But grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory now and to the day of eternity. [Amen.](F)
Scripture texts, prefaces, introductions, footnotes and cross references used in this work are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC All Rights Reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.