Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

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.

¹¹ But Christ came as a chief priest of the good things that are now here. Christ went through a better, more perfect tent that was not made by human hands and that is not part of this created world. ¹² He used his own blood, not the blood of goats and bulls, for the sacrifice. He went into the most holy place and offered this sacrifice once and for all to free us forever.

¹³ The blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of cows sprinkled on unclean ^[a] people made their bodies holy and clean. ¹⁴ The blood of Christ, who had no defect, does even more. Through the eternal Spirit he offered himself to God and cleansed our consciences from the useless things we had done. Now we can serve the living God.

Love God and Your Neighbor^(A)

²⁸ One of the experts in Moses’ Teachings went to Jesus during the argument with the Sadducees. He saw how well Jesus answered them, so he asked him, “Which commandment is the most important of them all?”

²⁹ Jesus answered, “The most important is, ‘Listen, Israel, the Lord our God is the only Lord. ³⁰ So love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ ³¹ The second most important commandment is this: ‘Love your neighbor as you love yourself.’ No other commandment is greater than these.”

³² The expert in Moses’ Teachings said to Jesus, “Teacher, that was well said! You’ve told the truth that there is only one God and no other besides him! ³³ To love him with all your heart, with all your understanding, with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as you love yourself is more important than all the burnt offerings and sacrifices.”

³⁴ When Jesus heard how wisely the man answered, he told the man, “You’re not too far from God’s kingdom.”

After that, no one dared to ask him another question.