Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

37 To David. [The psalm of David.] Do not thou follow wicked men; neither love thou men doing wickedness. (The song of David. Do not thou follow the wicked; nor love thou those who do wickedly.)

² For they shall wax dry swiftly as hay; and they shall fall down soon as the worts of herbs. (For they shall quickly grow dry like the hay, or the grass; and soon they shall fall down like the best herbs, or the plants.)

³ Hope thou in the Lord, and do thou goodness (Trust thou in the Lord, and do good); and inhabit thou the land, and thou shalt be fed with his riches.

⁴ Delight thou in the Lord; and he shall give to thee the askings of thine heart.

⁵ Show thy way to the Lord; and hope in him, and he shall do. (Give all thy ways to the Lord, and trust in him; and he shall make it happen.)

⁶ And he shall lead out thy rightfulness as light, and thy doom as midday; (And he shall lead forth thy righteousness like the light, and thy judgement like the midday sun;)

⁷ be thou subject to the Lord, and pray thou him. Do not thou follow him, that hath prosperity in his way; (nor) a man doing unrightfulness. (be thou subject to the Lord, and wait thou for him. Do not thou follow a man, simply because he hath prospered along his way; nor a man doing unrighteousness, or wickedness.)

⁸ Cease thou of ire, and forsake strong vengeance; do not thou follow, that thou do wickedly. (Cease thou from anger, and abandon taking vengeance; do not thou follow after these things, so that thou do wickedly.)

⁹ For they, that do wickedly, shall be destroyed; but they that suffer the Lord, shall inherit the land. (For they, who do wickedly, shall be destroyed; but they who hope in the Lord, shall inherit the earth.)

¹⁰ And yet a little, and a sinner shall not be (For after but just a little time, that sinner shall not be); and thou shalt seek his place, and thou shalt not find it.

¹¹ But mild men shall inherit the land (And the humble, or the meek, shall inherit the earth); and shall delight in the multitude of peace.

¹² A sinner shall ambush the rightful man; and he shall gnash with his teeth on him. (A sinner shall attack a righteous man; and he shall gnash on him with his teeth.)

¹³ But the Lord shall scorn the sinner; for he beholdeth that his day cometh.

¹⁴ Sinners have drawn out sword; they bent their bow. To deceive a poor man and needy; to strangle rightful men of heart. (The sinners have drawn out their swords; they have bent their bows. Yea, to destroy the poor and the needy; and to kill those with an upright heart.)

¹⁵ Their sword enter into the heart of themselves; and their bow be broken. (But their swords shall enter into their own hearts; and their bows shall be broken.)

¹⁶ Better is a little thing to a just man; than many riches of sinners. (Better is the little that the righteous have; than the many riches of the sinners.)

¹⁷ For the arms of sinners shall be all-broken; but the Lord confirmeth just men. (For the strength of the sinners shall be all-broken; but the Lord upholdeth the righteous.)

2 Forsooth (there was) a mighty man and a man of great riches, Boaz by name, (who) was (a) kinsman of Elimelech.

² And Ruth of Moab said to her mother-in-law, If thou commandest, I shall go into the field, and I shall gather ears of corn that flee the hands of (the) reapers, wherever I shall find grace of an husbandman merciful in me (wherever I shall find favour from a farmer, who is merciful to me). To whom she answered, Go, my daughter.

³ Therefore she went, and gathered ears of corn after the backs of (some) reapers. And it befelled, that Boaz was (the) lord of that field, (he) that was of the kindred of Elimelech.

⁴ And lo! (one day) Boaz came from Bethlehem. And he said to his reapers, The Lord be with you. And they answered to him, The Lord bless thee.

⁵ And Boaz said to the young man that was chief over the reapers, Who is this damsel?

⁶ And he answered, This is the woman of Moab, that came with Naomi from the country of Moab;

⁷ and she prayed, that she should gather ears of corn leaving behind, and follow the steps of [the] reapers; and from the morrowtide till now she standeth in the field, and soothly neither at a moment she turned again home. (and she prayed us, that she could gather some ears of corn that were left behind, and follow the steps of the reapers; and so from the morning until now she standeth in the field, and not for a moment hath she purposed to return home.)

⁸ And Boaz said to Ruth, Daughter, hear thou; go thou not into another field to gather, neither go (thou) away from this place, but be thou joined to my damsels,

⁹ and follow thou where they reap; for I [have] commanded to my young men, that no man be dis-easeful to thee; but also if thou thirstest, go to the fardels, and drink waters, of which my young men drink (and if thou thirstest, go and drink from the water jars, which my young men have filled).

¹⁰ And she felled on her face, and worshipped on the earth; and she said to him, Whereof is this to me, that I should find grace before thine eyes, that thou wouldest know me, a strange woman? (And she fell on her face, and honoured him on the ground; and she said to him, Whereof is this to me, that I should find favour in thine eyes, and that thou wouldest acknowledge me, who is but a stranger?)

¹¹ To whom Boaz answered, All things be told to me, that thou hast done to thy mother-in-law after the death of thine husband (All things have been told to me, what thou hast done for thy mother-in-law after the death of thy husband), and that thou hast forsaken thy father and thy mother, and the land that thou were born in, and thou art come to a people, that thou hast not known before.

¹² The Lord yield to thee for thy work, and receive thou full meed of the Lord God of Israel, to whom thou camest, and under whose wings thou fleddest. (May the Lord reward thee for thy good deeds, yea, may thou receive thy full reward from the Lord God of Israel, to whom thou hast come, and under whose wings thou hast fled.)

¹³ And she said, My lord, I have found grace before thine eyes, and thou hast comforted me, and thou hast spoken to the heart of thine handmaid, which am not like one of thine handmaids. (And she said, My lord, for I have found favour in thine eyes, and thou hast spoken to the heart of thy servantess, though I am not equal to one of thy servantesses, yea, thou hast greatly comforted me.)

¹⁴ And Boaz said to her, When the hour of eating is, come thou hither, and eat bread, and wet thy morsel in vinegar. Therefore she sat at the side of [the] reapers; and he directed to her pottage, and she ate, and was filled; and she took the remnants. (And Boaz said to her, When it is time to eat, come thou here, and eat bread, and wet thy morsel in the vinegar. And so she sat beside the reapers; and Boaz passed her some roasted grain, and she ate, and was fulfilled; and she took up the remnants.)

¹⁵ And she rose from thence to gather the ears of corn, by custom. And Boaz commanded to his young men, and said, Also if she will reap with you, forbid ye not her, (And then she rose up from there to gather the ears of corn again, as was her custom. And Boaz commanded to his young men, and said, Yea, if she will reap with you, forbid ye her not,)

¹⁶ and also cast ye forth to her handfuls of purpose (and also throw ye forth to her some handfuls on purpose), and suffer ye those to abide, that she gather those without shame; and no man reprove her gathering them.

5 Do now, ye rich men, weep ye, yelling in your wretchednesses that shall come to you.

² Your riches be rotten, and your clothes be eaten of moths.

³ Your gold and silver hath rusted, and the rust of them shall be to you into witnessing, and shall eat your fleshes, as fire. Ye have treasured to you wrath in the last days.

⁴ Lo! the hire of your workmen, that reaped your fields, which is defrauded of you [which is frauded of you], crieth; and the cry of them hath entered into the ears of the Lord of hosts.

⁵ Ye have eaten on the earth, and in your lecheries ye have nourished your hearts. In the day of slaying

⁶ ye brought, and slew the just man, and he against-stood not you [and he withstood you not].