Ruth 2:1 Naomi had a relative of her husband’s, a mighty man of
wealth, of the family of Elimelech, and his name was Boaz. 2 Ruth the Moabitess
said to Naomi, “Let me now go to the field, and glean among the ears of grain
after him in whose sight I find favor.”
She said to her, “Go, my daughter.” 3 She went, and came and
gleaned in the field after the reapers; and she happened to come to the portion
of the field belonging to Boaz, who was of the family of Elimelech.
4 Behold, Boaz came from Bethlehem, and said to the reapers,
“May Yahweh be with you.”
They answered him, “May Yahweh bless you.”
5 Then Boaz said to his servant who was set over the
reapers, “Whose young lady is this?”
6 The servant who was set over the reapers answered, “It is
the Moabite lady who came back with Naomi out of the country of Moab. 7 She
said, ‘Please let me glean and gather after the reapers among the sheaves.’ So
she came, and has continued even from the morning until now, except that she
rested a little in the house.”
8 Then Boaz said to Ruth, “Listen, my daughter. Don’t go to
glean in another field, and don’t go from here, but stay here close to my
maidens. 9 Let your eyes be on the field that they reap, and go after them.
Haven’t I commanded the young men not to touch you? When you are thirsty, go to
the vessels, and drink from that which the young men have drawn.”
10 Then she fell on her face and bowed herself to the
ground, and said to him, “Why have I found favor in your sight, that you should
take knowledge of me, since I am a foreigner?”
11 Boaz answered her, “I have been told all about what you
have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband, and how you
have left your father, your mother, and the land of your birth, and have come
to a people that you didn’t know before. 12 May Yahweh repay your work, and a
full reward be given to you from Yahweh, the God of Israel, under whose wings
you have come to take refuge.”
13 Then she said, “Let me find favor in your sight, my lord,
because you have comforted me, and because you have spoken kindly to your servant,
though I am not as one of your servants.”
14 At meal time Boaz said to her, “Come here, and eat some
bread, and dip your morsel in the vinegar.”
She sat beside the reapers, and they passed her parched
grain. She ate, was satisfied, and left some of it. 15 When she had risen up to
glean, Boaz commanded his young men, saying, “Let her glean even among the
sheaves, and don’t reproach her. 16 Also pull out some for her from the
bundles, and leave it. Let her glean, and don’t rebuke her.”
17 So she gleaned in the field until evening; and she beat
out that which she had gleaned, and it was about an ephah[a] of barley. 18 She
took it up, and went into the city. Then her mother-in-law saw what she had
gleaned; and she brought out and gave to her that which she had left after she
had enough.
19 Her mother-in-law said to her, “Where have you gleaned
today? Where have you worked? Blessed be he who noticed you.”
She told her mother-in-law with whom she had worked, “The
man’s name with whom I worked today is Boaz.” 20 Naomi said to her
daughter-in-law, “May he be blessed by Yahweh, who has not abandoned his
kindness to the living and to the dead.” Naomi said to her, “The man is a close
relative to us, one of our near kinsmen.”
22 Naomi said to Ruth her daughter-in-law, “It is good, my
daughter, that you go out with his maidens, and that they not meet you in any
other field.” 23 So she stayed close to the maidens of Boaz, to glean to the
end of barley harvest and of wheat harvest; and she lived with her
mother-in-law.
3:1 Naomi her mother-in-law said to her, “My daughter, shall
I not seek rest for you, that it may be well with you? 2 Now isn’t Boaz our
kinsman, with whose maidens you were? Behold, he will be winnowing barley
tonight on the threshing floor. 3 Therefore wash yourself, anoint yourself, get
dressed, and go down to the threshing floor; but don’t make yourself known to
the man until he has finished eating and drinking. 4 It shall be, when he lies
down, that you shall note the place where he is lying. Then you shall go in,
uncover his feet, and lay down. Then he will tell you what to do.”
5 She said to her, “All that you say, I will do.” 6 She went
down to the threshing floor, and did everything that her mother-in-law told
her. 7 When Boaz had eaten and drunk, and his heart was merry, he went to lie
down at the end of the heap of grain. She came softly, uncovered his feet, and
laid down. 8 At midnight, the man was startled and turned himself; and behold,
a woman lay at his feet. 9 He said, “Who are you?”
16 When she came to her mother-in-law, she said, “How did it
go, my daughter?”
She told her all that the man had done for her. 17 She said,
“He gave me these six measures of barley; for he said, ‘Don’t go empty to your
mother-in-law.’”
18 Then she said, “Wait, my daughter, until you know what
will happen; for the man will not rest until he has settled this today.”
4:9 Boaz said to the elders and to all the people, “You are
witnesses today, that I have bought all that was Elimelech’s, and all that was
Chilion’s and Mahlon’s, from the hand of Naomi. 10 Moreover, Ruth the
Moabitess, the wife of Mahlon, I have purchased to be my wife, to raise up the
name of the dead on his inheritance, that the name of the dead may not be cut
off from among his brothers and from the gate of his place. You are witnesses
today.”
11 All the people who were in the gate, and the elders,
said, “We are witnesses. May Yahweh make the woman who has come into your house
like Rachel and like Leah, which both built the house of Israel; and treat you
worthily in Ephrathah, and be famous in Bethlehem. 12 Let your house be like
the house of Perez, whom Tamar bore to Judah, of the offspring[a] which Yahweh
will give you by this young woman.”
13 So Boaz took Ruth and she became his wife; and he went in
to her, and Yahweh enabled her to conceive, and she bore a son. 14 The women
said to Naomi, “Blessed be Yahweh, who has not left you today without a near
kinsman. Let his name be famous in Israel. 15 He shall be to you a restorer of
life and sustain you in your old age; for your daughter-in-law, who loves you,
who is better to you than seven sons, has given birth to him.” 16 Naomi took
the child, laid him in her bosom, and became nurse to him. 17 The women, her
neighbors, gave him a name, saying, “A son is born to Naomi”. They named him
Obed. He is the father of Jesse, the father of David.
