Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
By David.
37 Do not be preoccupied with evildoers.
Do not envy those who do wicked things.
2 They will quickly dry up like grass
and wither away like green plants.
3 Trust the Lord, and do good things.
Live in the land, and practice being faithful.
4 Be happy with the Lord,
and he will give you the desires of your heart.
5 Entrust your ways to the Lord.
Trust him, and he will act ⌞on your behalf⌟.
6 He will make your righteousness shine like a light,
your just cause like the noonday sun.
7 Surrender yourself to the Lord, and wait patiently for him.
Do not be preoccupied with ⌞an evildoer⌟ who succeeds in his way
when he carries out his schemes.
8 Let go of anger, and leave rage behind.
Do not be preoccupied.
It only leads to evil.
9 Evildoers will be cut off ⌞from their inheritance⌟,
but those who wait with hope for the Lord will inherit the land.
10 In a little while a wicked person will vanish.
Then you can carefully examine where he was,
but there will be no trace of him.
11 Oppressed people will inherit the land
and will enjoy unlimited peace.
12 The wicked person plots against a righteous one
and grits his teeth at him.
13 The Lord laughs at him
because he has seen that his time is coming.
14 Wicked people pull out their swords and bend their bows
to kill oppressed and needy people,
to slaughter those who are decent.
15 ⌞But⌟ their own swords will pierce their hearts,
and their bows will be broken.
16 The little that the righteous person has is better
than the wealth of many wicked people.
17 The arms of wicked people will be broken,
but the Lord continues to support righteous people.
The Move to Moab and Tragedy
1 In the days when the judges were ruling, there was a famine in the land. A man from Bethlehem in Judah went with his wife and two sons to live for a while in the country of Moab. 2 The man’s name was Elimelech, his wife’s name was Naomi, and the names of their two sons were Mahlon and Chilion. They were descendants of Ephrathah from Bethlehem in the territory of Judah. They went to the country of Moab and lived there.
3 Now, Naomi’s husband Elimelech died, and she was left alone with her two sons. 4 Each son married a woman from Moab. One son married a woman named Orpah, and the other son married a woman named Ruth. They lived there for about ten years. 5 Then both Mahlon and Chilion died as well. So Naomi was left alone, without her two sons or her husband.
Departure from Moab
6 Naomi and her daughters-in-law started on the way back from the country of Moab. (While they were still in Moab she heard that the Lord had come to help his people and give them food. 7 So she left the place where she had been living, and her two daughters-in-law went with her.) They began to walk back along the road to the territory of Judah.
Naomi’s Appeal to Her Daughters-in-Law
8 Then Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, “Go back! Each of you should go back to your mother’s home. May the Lord be as kind to you as you were to me and to our loved ones who have died. 9 May the Lord repay each of you so that you may find security in a home with a husband.”
When she kissed them goodbye, they began to cry loudly. 10 They said to her, “We are going back with you to your people.”
11 But Naomi said, “Go back, my daughters. Why should you go with me? Do I have any more sons in my womb who could be your husbands? 12 Go back, my daughters. Go, because I am too old to get married again. If I said that I still have hope. … And if I had a husband tonight. … And even if I gave birth to sons, 13 would you wait until they grew up and stay single just for them? No, my daughters. My bitterness is much worse than yours because the Lord has sent me so much trouble.”
14 They began to cry loudly again. Then Orpah kissed her mother-in-law goodbye, but Ruth held on to her tightly. 15 Naomi said, “Look, your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and to her gods. Go back with your sister-in-law.”
16 But Ruth answered, “Don’t force me to leave you. Don’t make me turn back from following you. Wherever you go, I will go, and wherever you stay, I will stay. Your people will be my people, and your God will be my God. 17 Wherever you die, I will die, and I will be buried there with you. May the Lord strike me down if anything but death separates you and me!”
18 When Naomi saw that Ruth was determined to go with her, she ended the conversation.
Greeting
1 From Paul, who is a prisoner for Christ Jesus, and our brother Timothy.
To our dear coworker Philemon, 2 our sister Apphia, our fellow soldier Archippus, and the church that meets in your house.
3 Good will [a] and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ are yours!
Paul’s Prayer for Philemon
4 ⌞Philemon,⌟ I always thank my God when I mention you in my prayers because 5 I hear about your faithfulness to the Lord Jesus and your love for all of God’s people. 6 As you share the faith you have in common with others, I pray that you may come to have a complete knowledge of every blessing we have in Christ. 7 Your love ⌞for God’s people⌟ gives me a lot of joy and encouragement. You, brother, have comforted God’s people.
Paul’s Advice about Onesimus
8 Christ makes me bold enough to order you to do the right thing. 9 However, I would prefer to make an appeal on the basis of love. I, Paul, as an old man and now a prisoner for Christ Jesus, 10 appeal to you for my child Onesimus [Useful]. I became his spiritual father here in prison. 11 Once he was useless to you, but now he is very useful to both of us.
12 I am sending him back to you. This is like sending you a part of myself. 13 I wanted to keep him here with me. Then he could have served me in your place while I am in prison for spreading the Good News. 14 Yet, I didn’t want to do anything without your consent. I want you to do this favor for me out of your own free will without feeling forced to do it.
15 Maybe Onesimus was gone for a while so that you could have him back forever— 16 no longer as a slave but better than a slave—as a dear brother. He is especially dear to me, but even more so to you, both as a person and as a Christian.
17 If you think of me as your partner, welcome him as you would welcome me. 18 If he wronged you in any way or owes you anything, charge it to me. 19 I, Paul, promise to pay it back. I’m writing this with my own hand. I won’t even mention that you owe me your life. 20 So, because we’re brothers in the Lord, do something for me. Give me some comfort because of Christ. 21 I am confident as I write to you that you will do this. And I know that you will do even more than I ask.
22 One more thing—have a guest room ready for me. I hope that, because of your prayers, God will give me back to you.
Greetings from Paul’s Coworkers
23 Epaphras, who is a prisoner because of Christ Jesus like I am, 24 and my coworkers Mark, Aristarchus, Demas, and Luke send you greetings.
25 The good will of our Lord Jesus Christ be yours.
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