Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

²⁰ The Lord rewarded me according to my righteousness (my conscious integrity and sincerity with Him); according to the cleanness of my hands has He recompensed me.

²¹ For I have kept the ways of the Lord and have not wickedly departed from my God.

²² For all His ordinances were before me, and I put not away His statutes from me.

²³ I was upright before Him and blameless with Him, ever [on guard] to keep myself free from my sin and guilt.

²⁴ Therefore has the Lord recompensed me according to my righteousness (my uprightness and right standing with Him), according to the cleanness of my hands in His sight.

²⁵ With the kind and merciful You will show Yourself kind and merciful, with an upright man You will show Yourself upright,

²⁶ With the pure You will show Yourself pure, and with the perverse You will show Yourself contrary.

²⁷ For You deliver an afflicted and humble people but will bring down those with haughty looks.

²⁸ For You cause my lamp to be lighted and to shine; the Lord my God illumines my darkness.

²⁹ For by You I can run through a troop, and by my God I can leap over a wall.

³⁰ As for God, His way is perfect! The word of the Lord is tested and tried; He is a shield to all those who take refuge and put their trust in Him.

3 Then Naomi her mother-in-law said to Ruth, My daughter, shall I not seek rest or a home for you, that you may prosper?

² And now is not Boaz, with whose maidens you were, our relative? See, he is winnowing barley tonight at the threshing floor.

³ Wash and anoint yourself therefore, and put on your best clothes and go down to the threshing floor, but do not make yourself known to the man until he has finished eating and drinking.

⁴ But when he lies down, notice the place where he lies; then go and uncover his feet and lie down. And he will tell you what to do.

⁵ And Ruth said to her, All that you say to me I will do.

⁶ So she went down to the threshing floor and did just as her mother-in-law had told her.

⁷ And when Boaz had eaten and drunk and his heart was merry, he went to lie down at the end of the heap of grain. Then [Ruth] came softly and uncovered his feet and lay down.

¹⁷ But as the time for the fulfillment of the promise drew near which God had made to Abraham, the [Hebrew] people increased and multiplied in Egypt,

¹⁸ Until [the time when] there arose over Egypt another and a different king who did not know Joseph [neither knowing his history and services nor recognizing his merits].^(A)

¹⁹ He dealt treacherously with and defrauded our race; he abused and oppressed our forefathers, forcing them to expose their babies so that they might not be kept alive.^(B)

²⁰ At this juncture Moses was born, and was exceedingly beautiful in God’s sight. For three months he was nurtured in his father’s house;^(C)

²¹ Then when he was exposed [to perish], the daughter of Pharaoh rescued him and took him and reared him as her own son.^(D)

²² So Moses was educated in all the wisdom and culture of the Egyptians, and he was mighty (powerful) in his speech and deeds.

²³ And when he was in his fortieth year, it came into his heart to visit his kinsmen the children of Israel [^[a]to help them and to care for them].

²⁴ And on seeing one of them being unjustly treated, he defended the oppressed man and avenged him by striking down the Egyptian and slaying [him].

²⁵ He expected his brethren to understand that God was granting them deliverance by his hand [taking it for granted that they would accept him]; but they did not understand.

²⁶ Then on the next day he ^[b]suddenly appeared to some who were quarreling and fighting among themselves, and he urged them to make peace and become reconciled, saying, Men, you are brethren; why do you abuse and wrong one another?

²⁷ Whereupon the man who was abusing his neighbor pushed [Moses] aside, saying, Who appointed you a ruler (umpire) and a judge over us?

²⁸ Do you intend to slay me as you slew the Egyptian yesterday?

²⁹ At that reply Moses sought safety by flight and he was an exile and an alien in the country of Midian, where he became the father of two sons.^(E)