Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

The 1st Hallelujah Psalm^[a]

¹⁰ Ruth went down on her knees with her head towards the ground in front of Boaz. She said, ‘I am a foreign woman. So why do you choose to be so kind to me? Why are you taking care of me?’

¹¹ Boaz replied, ‘People have told me all about you. When your husband died, you helped Naomi very much. You chose to leave your father, your mother and your country. You came here to live with people who were strangers to you. ¹² You have done many good things. So I pray that the Lord will do good things for you in return. You have come here to be safe with the Lord, who is Israel's God. I pray that he will bless you.’

¹³ Ruth said, ‘Thank you, sir. You are being very kind to me. Your words cause me to feel happy and strong. I am not even as important as one of your servant girls, but you have been kind to me.’

¹⁴ When it was time to eat a meal, Boaz said to Ruth, ‘Come here and eat with us. Take some bread and mix it with the wine.’ So Ruth sat down to eat with the workers. Boaz gave her some grain that someone had cooked. She ate all that she wanted, and she still had some with her.

A story about a good man from Samaria

²⁵ A teacher of God's Law stood up. He wanted to see how Jesus would answer his question. So he asked Jesus, ‘Teacher, what must I do so that I can live with God for ever?’

²⁶ ‘What does God's Law say?’ Jesus asked. ‘What do you understand when you read it?’

²⁷ The man replied, ‘It says that we must love the Lord our God with all our mind and with all our strength. We must love him with all that we are and in all that we think. It also says that we must love other people as much as we love ourselves.’^[a]

²⁸ ‘You have told me the right answer,’ Jesus said. ‘If you do this, you will have true life with God.’

²⁹ But the man wanted to show that he had been right to ask a question. So he asked, ‘Who are the people near to me that I must love?’

³⁰ Jesus answered him with a story: ‘A man was going down the road from Jerusalem to Jericho town. On the way, some men attacked him. They took away all his clothes and they hit him with sticks. He was almost dead when they left him. ³¹ But it happened that a priest from the temple was going down that road. He saw the man, who was lying there. But he walked past him on the other side of the road. ³² A Levite was also going down the road. He came to the place where the man was lying. He saw him. But he also walked past on the other side of the road.^[b]

³³ But then a man from Samaria was also travelling along the road. And he came to the place where the man was lying. When he saw him, he felt very sorry for him. ³⁴ He went across to him. He poured oil and wine on the places where he was bleeding.^[c] Then he tied those places with clean cloths. After that, he put the man on his own donkey to carry him. They arrived at a small hotel. He took the man in there and he was kind to him.^[d]

³⁵ The next day, the man from Samaria took out two silver coins from his purse.^[e] He gave the money to the man that was taking care of the hotel. “Be kind to this man for me,” he said. “This money may not be enough. When I return, I will pay you for any more that you have spent on him.” ’

³⁶ Then Jesus asked the teacher of God's Law a question. He said, ‘Three men saw the man that was lying on the road. Which of them showed love to him, like a real friend?’

³⁷ The teacher answered, ‘It was the man who was kind to him.’

Then Jesus said to him, ‘Yes. So you should go and do the same for other people.’