August 20, 2027

1Once back in the time of the judges there was a famine in the land; so a man from Bethlehem of Judah left home with his wife and two sons to reside on the plateau of Moab. 3Elimelech, the husband of Naomi, died, and she was left with her two sons. 4They married Moabite women, one named Orpah, the other Ruth. When they had lived there about ten years, 5both Mahlon and Chilion died also, and the woman was left with neither her two boys nor her husband. 6She and her daughters-in-law then prepared to go back from the plateau of Moab because word had reached her there that the LORD had seen to his people’s needs and given them food. 14Again they wept aloud; then Orpah kissed her mother-in-law good-bye, but Ruth clung to her. 15“See now,” she said, “your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and her god. Go back after your sister-in-law!” 16But Ruth said, “Do not press me to go back and abandon you! Wherever you go I will go, wherever you lodge I will lodge. Your people shall be my people and your God, my God. 22Thus it was that Naomi came back with her Moabite daughter-in-law Ruth, who accompanied her back from the plateau of Moab. They arrived in Bethlehem at the beginning of the barley harvest.

5II - Blessed the one whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the LORD, his God, 6The maker of heaven and earth, the seas and all that is in them, Who keeps faith forever, 7secures justice for the oppressed, who gives bread to the hungry. The LORD sets prisoners free; 8the LORD gives sight to the blind. The LORD raises up those who are bowed down; the LORD loves the righteous. 9The LORD protects the resident alien, comes to the aid of the orphan and the widow, but thwarts the way of the wicked. 10The LORD shall reign forever, your God, Zion, through all generations! Hallelujah!

4Make known to me your ways, LORD; teach me your paths. 5Guide me by your fidelity and teach me, for you are God my savior, for you I wait all the day long.

34When the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together, 35and one of them [a scholar of the law] tested him by asking, 36“Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?” 37He said to him, “You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. 38This is the greatest and the first commandment. 39The second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. 40The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments.” The Question About David’s Son.