Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
The Lord, an Abundant Helper.
146 [a]Praise [b]the Lord!
(A)Praise the Lord, my soul!
2 I will praise the Lord (B)while I live;
I will (C)sing praises to my God while I [c]have my being.
3 (D)Do not trust in noblemen,
In [d]mortal (E)man, in whom there is (F)no salvation.
4 His (G)spirit departs, he (H)returns to [e]the earth;
On that very day his (I)plans perish.
5 (J)Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob,
Whose (K)hope is in the Lord his God,
6 Who (L)made heaven and earth,
The (M)sea and everything that is in them;
Who (N)keeps [f]faith forever;
7 Who (O)executes justice for the oppressed;
Who (P)gives food to the hungry.
The Lord (Q)frees the prisoners.
8 The Lord (R)opens the eyes of those who are blind;
The Lord (S)raises up those who are bowed down;
The Lord (T)loves the righteous.
9 The Lord (U)watches over strangers;
He [g](V)supports the fatherless and the widow,
But He [h]thwarts (W)the way of the wicked.
10 The Lord will (X)reign forever,
Your God, Zion, to all generations.
[i]Praise [j]the Lord!
Ruth Gleans in Boaz’s Field
2 Now Naomi had [a]a relative of her husband, a [b]man of great wealth, of the family of (A)Elimelech, whose name was Boaz. 2 And Ruth the Moabitess said to Naomi, “Please let me go to the field and (B)glean among the ears of grain following one in whose eyes I may find favor.” And she said to her, “Go, my daughter.” 3 So she left and went and gleaned in the field after the reapers; and [c]she happened to come to the portion of the field belonging to Boaz, who was of the family of Elimelech. 4 Now behold, Boaz came from Bethlehem and said to the reapers, “(C)May the Lord be with you.” And they said to him, “May the Lord bless you.” 5 Then Boaz said to his servant who was [d]in charge of the reapers, “Whose young woman is this?” 6 And the servant [e]in charge of the reapers replied, “She is the young Moabite woman who returned with Naomi from the land of Moab. 7 And she said, ‘Please let me glean and gather after the reapers among the sheaves.’ So she came and has remained from the morning until now; she has been sitting in the house for a little while.”
8 Then Boaz said to Ruth, “[f]Listen carefully, my daughter. Do not go to glean in another field; furthermore, do not go on from this one, but join my young women here. 9 Keep your eyes on the field which they reap, and go after them. Indeed, I have ordered the servants not to touch you. When you are thirsty, go to the [g]water jars and drink from what the servants draw.”
Justification by Faith
21 But now apart [a]from the Law (A)the righteousness of God has been revealed, being (B)witnessed by the [b]Law and the Prophets, 22 but it is the (C)righteousness of God through (D)faith (E)in Jesus Christ for (F)all those [c]who believe; for (G)there is no distinction, 23 for all [d](H)have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 being justified as a gift (I)by His grace through (J)the redemption which is in Christ Jesus, 25 whom God displayed publicly as (K)a [e]propitiation [f](L)in His blood through faith. This was to demonstrate His righteousness, [g]because in God’s merciful (M)restraint He (N)let the sins previously committed go unpunished; 26 for the demonstration, that is, of His righteousness at the present time, so that He would be just and the justifier of the one who [h]has faith in Jesus.
27 Where then is (O)boasting? It has been excluded. By (P)what kind of law? Of works? No, but by a law of faith. 28 [i]For (Q)we maintain that a person is justified by faith apart from works [j]of the Law. 29 Or (R)is God the God of Jews only? Is He not the God of Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles also, 30 since indeed (S)God (T)who will justify the [k]circumcised [l]by faith and the [m]uncircumcised through faith (U)is one.
31 Do we then nullify [n]the Law through faith? (V)Far from it! On the contrary, we (W)establish the Law.
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