Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

Security of Those Who Trust in the Lord, and Insecurity of the Wicked.

A Psalm of David.

Naomi Widowed

1 Now it came about in the days ^(A)when the judges ^[a]governed, that there was ^(B)a famine in the land. And a man ^(C)of Bethlehem in Judah went to reside in the land of Moab ^[b]with his wife and his two sons. ² The name of the man was Elimelech, and the name of his wife, Naomi; and the names of his two sons were Mahlon and Chilion, Ephrathites of Bethlehem in Judah. So they ^(D)entered the land of Moab and remained there. ³ Then Elimelech, Naomi’s husband, died; and she was left with her two sons. ⁴ And they took for themselves Moabite women as wives; the name of the one was Orpah, and the name of the other, Ruth. And they lived there about ten years. ⁵ Then ^[c]both Mahlon and Chilion also died, and the woman was left without her two sons and her husband.

⁶ Then she arose with her daughters-in-law to return from the land of Moab, because she had heard in the land of Moab that the Lord had ^(E)visited His people by ^(F)giving them food. ⁷ So she departed from the place where she was, and her two daughters-in-law with her; and they went on the way to return to the land of Judah. ⁸ But Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, “Go, return each of you to ^[d]your mother’s house. ^(G)May the Lord deal kindly with you as you have dealt with the dead and with me. ⁹ May the Lord grant that you may find a place of rest, each one in the house of her husband.” Then she kissed them, and they raised their voices and wept. ¹⁰ However, they said to her, “No, but we will return with you to your people.” ¹¹ But Naomi said, “Return, my daughters. Why should you go with me? Do I still have sons in my womb, that ^(H)they may be your husbands? ¹² Return, my daughters! Go, for I am too old to have a husband. If I said I have hope, if I were even to have a husband tonight and also give birth to sons, ¹³ would you therefore wait until they were grown? Would you therefore refrain from marrying? No, my daughters; for it is much more bitter for me than for you, because ^(I)the hand of the Lord has come out against me.”

Ruth’s Loyalty

¹⁴ And they raised their voices and wept again; and Orpah kissed her mother-in-law, but Ruth clung to her.

¹⁵ Then she said, “Behold, your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and her ^(J)gods; return after your sister-in-law.” ¹⁶ But Ruth said, “Do not plead with me to leave you or to turn back from following you; for where you go, I will go, and where you sleep, I will sleep. Your people shall be my people, and your God, my God. ¹⁷ Where you die, I will die, and there I will be buried. May ^(K)the Lord do so to me, and worse, if anything but death separates ^[e]me from you.” ¹⁸ When ^(L)she saw that she was determined to go with her, she stopped speaking to her about it.

Salutation

^1 (A)Paul, ^(B)a prisoner of ^(C)Christ Jesus, and ^(D)Timothy ^[a]our brother,

To Philemon our beloved brother and ^(E)fellow worker, ² and to Apphia ^[b](F)our sister, and to ^(G)Archippus our ^(H)fellow soldier, and to ^(I)the church in your house: ^3 (J)Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Philemon’s Love and Faith

^4 (K)I thank my God always, making mention of you in my prayers, ⁵ because I ^(L)hear of your love and of the faith which you have toward the Lord Jesus and toward all the ^[c]saints; ⁶ and I pray that the fellowship of your faith may become effective ^[d]through the ^(M)knowledge of every good thing which is in you ^[e]for the sake of Christ. ⁷ For I have had great ^(N)joy and comfort in your love, because the ^[f]hearts of the ^[g]saints have been ^(O)refreshed through you, brother.

⁸ Therefore, ^(P)though I have ^[h]enough confidence in Christ to order you to do what is ^(Q)proper, ⁹ yet for love’s sake I rather ^(R)appeal to you—since I am such a person as Paul, ^[i]an ^(S)old man, and now also ^(T)a prisoner of ^(U)Christ Jesus—

Plea for Onesimus, a Free Man

¹⁰ I ^(V)appeal to you for my ^(W)[j]son ^[k](X)Onesimus, whom I ^[l]fathered in my ^[m]imprisonment, ¹¹ who previously was useless to you, but now is useful both to you and to me. ¹² I have sent him back to you in person, that is, sending my very heart, ¹³ whom I wanted to keep with me, so that in your behalf he might be at my service in my ^[n](Y)imprisonment for the gospel; ¹⁴ but I did not want to do anything without your consent, so that your goodness would ^(Z)not be, in effect, by compulsion, but of your own free will. ¹⁵ For perhaps it was ^(AA)for this reason that he was separated from you for a while, that you would have him back forever, ^16 (AB)no longer as a slave, but more than a slave, ^(AC)a beloved brother, especially to me, but how much more to you, both ^(AD)in the flesh and in the Lord.

¹⁷ If then you regard me as a ^(AE)partner, accept him as you would me. ¹⁸ But if he has wronged you in any way or owes you anything, charge that to my account; ^19 (AF)I, Paul, have written this with my own hand, I will repay it (^(AG)not to ^[o]mention to you that you owe to me even your own self as well). ²⁰ Yes, brother, let me benefit from you in the Lord; ^(AH)refresh my heart in Christ.

^21 (AI)Having confidence in your obedience, I write to you, since I know that you will do even more than what I say.

²² At the same time also prepare me a ^(AJ)guest room, for ^(AK)I hope that through ^(AL)your prayers ^(AM)I will be given to you.

^23 (AN)Epaphras, my ^(AO)fellow prisoner in Christ Jesus, greets you, ²⁴ as do ^(AP)Mark, ^(AQ)Aristarchus, ^(AR)Demas, and ^(AS)Luke, my ^(AT)fellow workers.

^25 (AU)The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be ^(AV)with your spirit.^[p]