Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Psalm 146[a]
146 Praise the Lord.
Praise the Lord, O my soul.
2 I will praise the Lord as long as I live.
I will sing praises to my God as long as I exist.
3 Do not trust in princes,
or in human beings, who cannot deliver.[b]
4 Their life’s breath departs, they return to the ground.
On that day their plans die.[c]
5 How blessed is the one whose helper is the God of Jacob,
whose hope is in the Lord his God,
6 the one who made heaven and earth,
the sea, and all that is in them,
who remains forever faithful,[d]
7 vindicates the oppressed,[e]
and gives food to the hungry.
The Lord releases the imprisoned.
8 The Lord gives sight to the blind.
The Lord lifts up all who are bent over.[f]
The Lord loves the godly.
9 The Lord protects the resident foreigner.
He lifts up the fatherless and the widow,[g]
but he opposes the wicked.[h]
10 The Lord rules forever,
your God, O Zion, throughout the generations to come.[i]
Praise the Lord!
18 When Naomi[a] realized that Ruth[b] was determined to go with her, she stopped trying to dissuade her.[c] 19 So the two of them[d] journeyed together until they arrived in Bethlehem.
Naomi and Ruth Arrive in Bethlehem
When they entered[e] Bethlehem, the whole village was excited about their arrival.[f] The women of the village said,[g] “Can this be Naomi?”[h] 20 But she replied[i] to them,[j] “Don’t call me ‘Naomi’![k] Call me ‘Mara’[l] because the Sovereign One[m] has treated me very harshly.[n] 21 I left here full,[o] but the Lord has caused me to return empty-handed.[p] Why do you call me ‘Naomi,’ seeing that[q] the Lord has opposed me,[r] and the Sovereign One[s] has caused me to suffer?”[t] 22 So Naomi returned, accompanied by her Moabite daughter-in-law Ruth, who came back with her from the region of Moab.[u] (Now they[v] arrived in Bethlehem at the beginning of the barley harvest.)[w]
The Arrangement and Ritual of the Earthly Sanctuary
9 Now the first covenant,[a] in fact, had regulations for worship and its earthly sanctuary. 2 For a tent was prepared, the outer one,[b] which contained[c] the lampstand, the table, and the presentation of the loaves; this[d] is called the Holy Place. 3 And after the second curtain there was a tent called the holy of holies. 4 It contained the golden altar of incense and the ark of the covenant covered entirely with gold. In this ark[e] were the golden urn containing the manna, Aaron’s rod that budded, and the stone tablets of the covenant. 5 And above the ark[f] were the cherubim[g] of glory overshadowing the mercy seat. Now is not the time to speak of these things in detail. 6 So with these things prepared like this, the priests enter continually into the outer tent[h] as they perform their duties. 7 But only the high priest enters once a year into the inner tent,[i] and not without blood that he offers for himself and for the sins of the people committed in ignorance.[j] 8 The Holy Spirit is making clear that the way into the Holy Place had not yet appeared as long as the old tabernacle[k] was standing. 9 This was a symbol for the time then present, when gifts and sacrifices were offered that could not perfect the conscience of the worshiper. 10 They served only for matters of food and drink[l] and various ritual washings; they are external regulations[m] imposed until the new order came.[n]
Christ’s Service in the Heavenly Sanctuary
11 But now Christ has come[o] as the high priest of the good things to come. He passed through the greater and more perfect tent not made with hands, that is, not of this creation, 12 and he entered once for all into the Most Holy Place not by the blood of goats and calves but by his own blood, and so he himself secured[p] eternal redemption.
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