Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
20 He set me free in the open;
he rescued me because he loves me.
III
21 The Lord acknowledged my righteousness,
rewarded my clean hands.(A)
22 For I kept the ways of the Lord;
I was not disloyal to my God.
23 For his laws were all before me,
his decrees I did not cast aside.
24 I was honest toward him;
I was on guard against sin.
25 So the Lord rewarded my righteousness,
the cleanness of my hands in his sight.
26 Toward the faithful you are faithful;
to the honest man you are honest;(B)
27 Toward the pure, you are pure;
but to the perverse you are devious.
28 For humble people you save;
haughty eyes you bring low.(C)
29 For you, Lord, give light to my lamp;
my God brightens my darkness.(D)
30 With you I can rush an armed band,
with my God to help I can leap a wall.
Chapter 3
Ruth Again Presents Herself. When Ruth was back with her mother-in-law, 1 Naomi said to her, “My daughter, should I not be seeking a pleasing home for you?(A) 2 [a]Now! Is not Boaz,(B) whose young women you were working with, a relative of ours? This very night he will be winnowing barley at the threshing floor. 3 Now, go bathe and anoint yourself; then put on your best attire and go down to the threshing floor. Do not make yourself known to the man before he has finished eating and drinking. 4 But when he lies down, take note of the place where he lies; then go uncover a place at his feet[b] and you lie down. He will then tell you what to do.” 5 “I will do whatever you say,” Ruth replied. 6 She went down to the threshing floor and did just as her mother-in-law had instructed her.
7 Boaz ate and drank to his heart’s content, and went to lie down at the edge of the pile of grain. She crept up, uncovered a place at his feet, and lay down.
17 “When the time drew near for the fulfillment of the promise that God pledged to Abraham, the people had increased and become very numerous in Egypt,(A) 18 until another king who knew nothing of Joseph came to power [in Egypt].(B) 19 He dealt shrewdly with our people and oppressed [our] ancestors by forcing them to expose their infants, that they might not survive. 20 At this time Moses was born, and he was extremely beautiful. For three months he was nursed in his father’s house;(C) 21 but when he was exposed, Pharaoh’s daughter adopted him and brought him up as her own son.(D) 22 Moses was educated [in] all the wisdom of the Egyptians and was powerful in his words and deeds.
23 (E)“When he was forty years old, he decided to visit his kinsfolk, the Israelites. 24 When he saw one of them treated unjustly, he defended and avenged the oppressed man by striking down the Egyptian. 25 He assumed [his] kinsfolk would understand that God was offering them deliverance through him, but they did not understand. 26 (F)The next day he appeared to them as they were fighting and tried to reconcile them peacefully, saying, ‘Men, you are brothers. Why are you harming one another?’ 27 Then the one who was harming his neighbor pushed him aside, saying, ‘Who appointed you ruler and judge over us? 28 Are you thinking of killing me as you killed the Egyptian yesterday?’ 29 Moses fled when he heard this and settled as an alien in the land of Midian, where he became the father of two sons.(G)
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.