Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
20 The Lord repaid[a] me for my godly deeds;[b]
he rewarded[c] my blameless behavior.[d]
21 For I have obeyed the Lord’s commands;[e]
I have not rebelled against my God.[f]
22 For I am aware of all his regulations,[g]
and I do not reject his rules.[h]
23 I was innocent before him,
and kept myself from sinning.[i]
24 The Lord rewarded me for my godly deeds;[j]
he took notice of my blameless behavior.[k]
25 You prove to be loyal[l] to one who is faithful;[m]
you prove to be trustworthy[n] to one who is innocent.[o]
26 You prove to be reliable[p] to one who is blameless,
but you prove to be deceptive[q] to one who is perverse.[r]
27 For you deliver oppressed[s] people,
but you bring down those who have a proud look.[t]
28 Indeed,[u] you light my lamp, Lord.[v]
My God[w] illuminates the darkness around me.[x]
29 Indeed,[y] with your help[z] I can charge against[aa] an army;[ab]
by my God’s power[ac] I can jump over a wall.[ad]
30 The one true God acts in a faithful manner;[ae]
the Lord’s promise[af] is reliable.[ag]
He is a shield to all who take shelter[ah] in him.
Naomi Instructs Ruth
3 At that time,[a] Naomi, her mother-in-law, said to her, “My daughter, I must find a home for you so you will be secure.[b] 2 Now Boaz, with whose female servants you worked, is our close relative.[c] Look, tonight he is winnowing barley at the threshing floor.[d] 3 So bathe yourself,[e] rub on some perfumed oil,[f] and get dressed up.[g] Then go down[h] to the threshing floor. But don’t let the man know you’re there until he finishes his meal.[i] 4 When he gets ready to go to sleep,[j] take careful notice of the place where he lies down. Then go, uncover his legs,[k] and lie down[l] beside him.[m] He will tell[n] you what you should do.” 5 Ruth replied to Naomi,[o] “I will do everything you have told[p] me[q] to do.”[r]
Ruth Visits Boaz
6 So she went down to the threshing floor and did everything her mother-in-law had instructed her to do.[s] 7 When Boaz had finished his meal and was feeling satisfied, he lay down to sleep at the far end of the grain heap.[t] Then Ruth[u] crept up quietly,[v] uncovered his legs,[w] and lay down beside him.[x]
17 “But as the time drew near for God to fulfill the promise he had declared to Abraham,[a] the people increased greatly in number[b] in Egypt, 18 until another king who did not know about[c] Joseph ruled[d] over Egypt.[e] 19 This was the one who exploited[f] our people[g] and was cruel to our ancestors,[h] forcing them to abandon[i] their infants so they would die.[j] 20 At that time Moses was born, and he was beautiful[k] to God. For[l] three months he was brought up in his father’s house, 21 and when he had been abandoned,[m] Pharaoh’s daughter adopted[n] him and brought him up[o] as her own son. 22 So Moses was trained[p] in all the wisdom of the Egyptians and was powerful[q] in his words and deeds. 23 But when he was about forty years old, it entered his mind[r] to visit his fellow countrymen[s] the Israelites.[t] 24 When[u] he saw one of them being hurt unfairly,[v] Moses[w] came to his defense[x] and avenged the person who was mistreated by striking down the Egyptian. 25 He thought his own people[y] would understand that God was delivering them[z] through him,[aa] but they did not understand.[ab] 26 The next day Moses[ac] saw two men[ad] fighting, and tried to make peace between[ae] them, saying, ‘Men, you are brothers; why are you hurting one another?’ 27 But the man who was unfairly hurting his neighbor pushed[af] Moses[ag] aside, saying, ‘Who made[ah] you a ruler and judge over us? 28 You don’t want to kill me the way you killed the Egyptian yesterday, do you?’[ai] 29 When the man said this,[aj] Moses fled and became a foreigner[ak] in the land of Midian, where he became the father of two sons.
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