1 It came to pass in the days when the judges ruled, that there was a famine in the land. And a man from Bethlehem in Judah went to live in the fields of Moab, he and his wife and two of his sons.
2 The name of that man was Elimelech, and his wife’s name was Naomi; and the names of his sons were Mahlon and Chilion, Ephrathites of Bethlehem in Judah. So they came to the fields of Moab and stayed there.
3 And Elimelech, Naomi’s husband, died, and she was left with her two sons,
4 who took Moabite wives for themselves; the name of one was Orpah, and the name of the other was Ruth; and they lived there about ten years.
5 And both of them also died, Mahlon and Chilion, thus leaving the woman destitute of her two sons and her husband.
6 So she rose up with her daughters-in-law, and returned from the fields of Moab; for he heard in the field of Moab that the Lord had visited his people to give them bread.
7 So he left the place where he had been, and with her two daughters-in-law, and they began to walk to return to the land of Judah.
8 And Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, Go, return each of you to her mother’s house; Jehovah show mercy to you, as you have done to the dead and to me.
9 May the Lord grant that you may find rest, each in her husband’s house. Then she kissed them, and they lifted up their voices and wept,
10 and said to her, Surely we will go with you to your people.
11 And Naomi answered, Return, my daughters; why should you go with me? Do I have more children in my womb, who can be your husbands?
12 Return, my daughters, and depart; because I’m too old to have a husband. And even if she said: I have hope, and tonight she was with a husband, and even gave birth to children,
13 would you wait for them until they grew up? Did you have to keep from marrying because of your love for them? No, my daughters; I have greater bitterness than you, because the hand of the Lord has come out against me.
14 And they lifted up their voices again and wept; and Orpah kissed her mother-in-law, but Ruth remained with her.
15 And Naomi said, Behold, your sister-in-law has returned to her people and to her gods; you turn after her.
16 Ruth answered, Do not beg me to leave you and depart from you; for wherever you go, I will go, and wherever you live, I will live. Your people will be my people, and your God my God.
17 Where you die, I will die, and there I will be buried; Jehovah may do so to me, and furthermore, that only death will separate us two.
18 And when Naomi saw that she was so determined to go with her, he said no more.
19 So the two of them walked until they came to Bethlehem; And it came to pass, when they had entered Bethlehem, that the whole city was moved because of them, and said, Is this not Naomi?
20 And she answered them, Do not call me Naomi, but call me Mara; because the Almighty has put me in great bitterness.
21 I left full, but the Lord has returned to me empty-handed. Why will you call me Naomi, since the Lord has testified against me, and the Almighty has afflicted me?
22 So Naomi returned, and Ruth the Moabite her daughter-in-law with her; She returned from the fields of Moab, and they arrived at Bethlehem at the beginning of the barley harvest.
1 Naomi had a relative of her husband, a rich man of the family of Elimelech, whose name was Boaz.
2 And Ruth the Moabite said to Naomi, Please let me go into the field, and I will gather grain after him in whose eyes I find favor. And she answered: Go, my daughter.
3 So she went, and when she came, she gleaned in the field after the reapers; And it came to pass that that part of the field belonged to Boaz, who was of the family of Elimelech.
4 And behold, Boaz came from Bethlehem, and said to the reapers, The Lord be with you. And they answered: Jehovah bless you.
5 And Boaz said to his servant, the steward of the reapers, Whose young woman is this?
6 And the servant, the steward of the reapers, answered and said: She is the young Moabite girl who returned with Naomi from the fields of Moab;
7 And she said, Please let me gather and gather after the reapers among the sheaves. So she came in, and she has been there since morning until now, not resting even for a moment.
8 Then Boaz said to Ruth, Hear, my daughter, do not go gleaning into another field, nor pass from here; and here you will be with my maids.
9 Look carefully at the field they reap, and follow them; because I have ordered the servants not to bother you. And when you are thirsty, go to the vessels and drink of the water that the servants draw.
10 Then she lowered her face and bowed to the ground and said to him, “Why have I found favor in your eyes that you should recognize me, since I am a foreigner?”
11 And Boaz answered and said to her, I have known all that you have done with your mother-in-law after the death of your husband, and that you left your father and your mother and the land where you were born, and have come to a people that you did not know before. .
12 May the Lord reward your work, and may your reward be fulfilled from the Lord God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge.
13 And she said, My Lord, may I find favor in your sight; because you have comforted me, and because you have spoken to the heart of your servant, although I am not even like one of your handmaids.
14 And Boaz said to him at mealtime, Come here, and eat of the bread, and dip your morsel in the vinegar. And she sat by the reapers, and he gave her some of the porridge, and she ate of it until she was satisfied with it, and there was left over.
15 Then she rose to glean. And Boaz commanded her servants, saying, Let her also gather ears among the sheaves, and do not put her to shame;
16 And you shall also let some of her sheaves fall for her, and leave it for her to gather, and do not rebuke her.
17 So he gleaned in the field until evening, and he harvested what he had gathered, and it was about an ephah of barley.
18 And he took it, and went into the city; and his mother-in-law saw what she had collected. She also then took out what she had left after being satisfied, and she gave it to him.
19 And her mother-in-law said to him, Where have you gleaned today? and where have you worked? Blessed be he who has recognized you. And she told her mother-in-law with whom he had worked, and said, The name of the man with whom I have worked today is Boaz.
20 And Naomi said to his daughter-in-law, May he be blessed of the Lord, for he has not withheld from the living the benevolence which he had toward those who have died. Then Naomi said to him: Our relative is that man, and one of those who can redeem us.
21 And Ruth the Moabite said, Furthermore, he said to me, Gather to my maids until they have finished all my harvest.
22 And Naomi said to her daughter-in-law Ruth, It is better, my daughter, that you go out with her maids, and that they not find you in another field.
23 So he was with Boaz’s maids gleaning until the harvest of barley and wheat was over; and he lived with his mother-in-law.
1 Then her mother-in-law Naomi said to her, “My daughter, should I not find a home for you, so that it may go well with you?”
2 Is not Boaz our kinsman, with whose maids you have been? Behold, he winnows the barley heap tonight.
3 So you shall wash and anoint yourself, and putting on your clothes, you shall go to the threshing floor; but you shall not make yourself known to the man until he has finished eating and drinking.
4 And when he lies down, you will notice the place where he lies down, and you will go and uncover his feet, and you will lie down there; and he will tell you what you should do.
5 And she answered, I will do whatever you command me.
6 So he went down to the threshing floor and did everything that his mother-in-law had commanded him.
7 And when Boaz had eaten and drunk, and his heart was content, he retired to sleep on the side of the heap. Then she came quietly, and uncovered his feet, and lay down.
8 And it came to pass at midnight that the man trembled, and turned away; and behold, a woman was lying at his feet.
9 Then he said, Who are you? And she answered, I am Ruth your servant; He spreads the hem of your cloak over your maidservant, because you are a close relative.
10 And he said, Blessed be you of the Lord, my daughter; You have done your last goodness better than your first, not going after the young, whether poor or rich.
11 Now therefore, do not fear, my daughter; I will do with you whatever you say, because all the people of my town know that you are a virtuous woman.
12 And now, although it is true that I am a close relative, yet there is a closer relative than me.
13 Spend the night here, and when it is day, if he redeems you, well, redeem yourself; But if he does not want to redeem you, I will redeem you, as the Lord lives. So he rests until morning.
14 And after he slept at his feet until morning, he arose before men could recognize one another; for he said, Let it not be known that a woman came to the threshing floor.
15 Then he said to him, Take off the cloak that you have on you, and have it on. And when she had it, he measured out six measures of barley, and put them on her; and she went to the city.
16 And when she came to her mother-in-law, she said to her, What is it, my daughter? And she told him everything that had happened to her with that man.
17 And he said, These six measures of barley he gave me, saying to me: So that you may not go to your mother-in-law empty-handed.
18 Then Naomi said, Wait, my daughter, until you know how the matter is resolved; because that man will not rest until the matter is concluded today.
1 Boaz went up to the gate and sat there; And behold, that relative of whom Boaz had spoken passed by, and said to him, Hey, so-and-so, come here and sit down. And he came and sat down.
2 Then he took ten men of the elders of the city, and said, Sit here. And they sat down.
3 Then he said to his relative, Naomi, who has returned from the countryside of Moab, is selling some of the land that our brother Elimelech owned.
4 And I decided to let you know, and tell you to buy it in the presence of those who sit here, and the elders of my people. If you want to redeem, redeem; and if you do not want to redeem, tell me so that I may know; for there is no one who redeems but you, and I after you. And he answered: I will redeem.
5 Then Boaz replied: On the same day that you buy the land from Naomi, you must also take Ruth the Moabite, the wife of the deceased, so that you may restore the name of the dead on his possession.
6 And the relative said, I cannot redeem for myself, lest I harm my inheritance. You redeem, using my right, because I will not be able to redeem.
7 There had long been this custom in Israel regarding redemption and contract, that to confirm any transaction, a man would take off his shoe and give it to his companion; and this served as a testimony in Israel.
8 Then the relative said to Boaz, You take it. And he took off his shoe.
9 And Boaz said to the elders and to all the people, You are witnesses today, that I have acquired from the hand of Naomi all that was of Elimelech, and all that was of Chilion and Mahlon.
10 And I also take Ruth the Moabite, the wife of Mahlon, to be my wife, to restore the name of the deceased upon her inheritance, so that the name of the deceased may not be blotted out from among her brothers and from the gate of the place of her. You are witnesses today.
11 And all the people who were at the door with the elders said, We are witnesses. Jehovah make the woman who comes into your house like Rachel and Leah, who built the house of Israel; and may you be distinguished in Ephrathah, and may you be renowned in Bethlehem.
12 And let your house be like the house of Perez, whom Tamar bore to Judah, because of the offspring that Jehovah gives you of that young woman.
13 So Boaz took Ruth, and she became his wife; and he came to her, and the Lord gave him permission to conceive by her and bear a son by her.
14 And the women said to Naomi, Praise be to the LORD, who has caused you to have no lack of a relative today, whose name will be celebrated in Israel;
15 who will restore your soul, and sustain your old age; for your daughter-in-law, who loves you, has given birth to him; and she is of more value to you than seven children.
16 And Naomi took the son, put him on her lap, and she became his nurse.
17 And the neighbors gave him a name, saying, A son has been born to Naomi; and they called him Obed. This is the father of Jesse, the father of David.
18 These are the generations of Perez: Perez begat Hezron,
19 Hezron begat Ram, and Ram begat Aminadab,
20 Aminadab begat Nahshon, and Nahshon begat Salmon,
21 Salmon begat Boaz, and Boaz begat Obed,
22 Obed begat Jesse, and Jesse begat David.
