Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

Naomi and Ruth Return to Bethlehem

⁶ Some time later Naomi heard that the Lord had blessed his people by giving them good crops; so she got ready to leave Moab with her daughters-in-law. ⁷ They started out together to go back to Judah, but on the way ⁸ she said to them, “Go back home and stay with your mothers. May the Lord be as good to you as you have been to me and to those who have died. ⁹ And may the Lord make it possible for each of you to marry again and have a home.”

So Naomi kissed them good-bye. But they started crying ¹⁰ and said to her, “No! We will go with you to your people.”

¹¹ “You must go back, my daughters,” Naomi answered. “Why do you want to come with me? Do you think I could have sons again for you to marry? ¹² Go back home, for I am too old to get married again. Even if I thought there was still hope, and so got married tonight and had sons, ¹³ would you wait until they had grown up? Would this keep you from marrying someone else? No, my daughters, you know that's impossible. The Lord has turned against me, and I feel very sorry for you.”^[a]

¹⁴ Again they started crying. Then Orpah kissed her mother-in-law good-bye and went back home,^[b] but Ruth held on to her. ¹⁵ So Naomi said to her, “Ruth, your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and to her god.^[c] Go back home with her.”

¹⁶ But Ruth answered, “Don't ask me to leave you! Let me go with you. Wherever you go, I will go; wherever you live, I will live. Your people will be my people, and your God will be my God. ¹⁷ Wherever you die, I will die, and that is where I will be buried. May the Lord's worst punishment come upon me if I let anything but death^[d] separate me from you!”

¹⁸ When Naomi saw that Ruth was determined to go with her, she said nothing more.

The Promise of the Lord's Coming

3 My dear friends, this is now the second letter I have written you. In both letters I have tried to arouse pure thoughts in your minds by reminding you of these things. ² I want you to remember the words that were spoken long ago by the holy prophets, and the command from the Lord and Savior which was given you by your apostles. ^3 (A)First of all, you must understand that in the last days some people will appear whose lives are controlled by their own lusts. They will make fun of you ⁴ and will ask, “He promised to come, didn't he? Where is he? Our ancestors have already died, but everything is still the same as it was since the creation of the world!” ^5 (B)They purposely ignore the fact that long ago God gave a command, and the heavens and earth were created. The earth was formed out of water and by water, ^6 (C)and it was also by water, the water of the flood, that the old world was destroyed. ⁷ But the heavens and the earth that now exist are being preserved by the same command of God, in order to be destroyed by fire. They are being kept for the day when godless people will be judged and destroyed.

^8 (D)But do not forget one thing, my dear friends! There is no difference in the Lord's sight between one day and a thousand years; to him the two are the same. ⁹ The Lord is not slow to do what he has promised, as some think. Instead, he is patient with you, because he does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants all to turn away from their sins.

^10 (E)But the Day of the Lord will come like a thief. On that Day the heavens will disappear with a shrill noise, the heavenly bodies will burn up and be destroyed, and the earth with everything in it will vanish.^[a]