Ruth*

1 Now it came about in the days when the judges+ administered justice that a famine+ arose in the land, and a man proceeded to go from Bethʹle·hem+ in Judah to reside as an alien in the fields of Moʹab,+ he with his wife and his two sons. 2 And the man’s name was E·limʹe·lech,* and his wife’s name Naʹo·mi, and the names of his two sons were Mahʹlon and Chilʹi·on, Ephʹrath·ites*+ from Bethʹle·hem in Judah. Eventually they came to the fields of Moʹab and continued there.

3 In time E·limʹe·lech the husband of Naʹo·mi died, so that she remained with her two sons. 4 Later the men took wives for themselves, Moʹab·ite women.+ The name of the one was Orʹpah, and the name of the other Ruth.+ And they went on dwelling there for about ten years. 5 In time the two of them, Mahʹlon* and Chilʹi·on,* also died, so that the woman remained without her two children and her husband. 6 And she proceeded to get up with her daughters-in-law and to return from the fields of Moʹab, for she had heard in the field of Moʹab that Jehovah had turned his attention to* his people+ by giving them bread.+

7 And she went her way out from the place where she had continued,+ and both of her daughters-in-law were with her, and they kept walking on the road to return to the land of Judah. 8 Finally Naʹo·mi said to both of her daughters-in-law: “Go, return, each one to the house of her mother. May Jehovah exercise loving-kindness* toward YOU,+ just as YOU have exercised it toward the men now dead and toward me.+ 9 May Jehovah make a gift+ to YOU, and do YOU find a resting-place+ each one in the house of her husband.” Then she kissed+ them, and they began to raise their voices and weep. 10 And they kept saying to her: “No, but with you we shall return to your people.”+ 11 But Naʹo·mi said: “Return, my daughters. Why should YOU go with me? Do I still have sons in my inward parts, and will they have to become YOUR husbands?+ 12 Return, my daughters, go, for I have grown too old to get to belong to a husband. If I had said I had hope also that I should certainly become a husband’s tonight and also should certainly bear sons,+ 13 would YOU keep waiting for them* until they could grow up? Would YOU keep yourselves secluded for them so as not to become a husband’s? No, my daughters, for it is very bitter to me because of YOU, that the hand of Jehovah has gone out against me.”+

14 At that they raised their voices and wept some more, after which Orʹpah kissed her mother-in-law. As for Ruth, she stuck with her.+ 15 So she said: “Look! Your widowed sister-in-law* has returned to her people and her gods.+ Return with your widowed sister-in-law.”+

16 And Ruth proceeded to say: “Do not plead with me to abandon you, to turn back from accompanying you;* for where you go I shall go, and where you spend the night I shall spend the night.+ Your people will be my people,+ and your God my God.+ 17 Where you die I shall die,+ and there is where I shall be buried. May Jehovah do so to me and add+ to it if anything but death should make a separation between me and you.”

18 When she got to see that she was persistent about going with her,+ then she left off speaking to her. 19 And they both continued on their way until they came to Bethʹle·hem.+ And it came about that as soon as they came to Bethʹle·hem, all the city became stirred up over them,+ and the women kept saying: “Is this Naʹo·mi?”+ 20 And she would say to the women: “Do not call me Naʹo·mi.* Call me Maʹra,* for the Almighty*+ has made it very bitter for me.+ 21 I was full when I went,+ and it is empty-handed that Jehovah has made me return.+ Why should YOU call me Naʹo·mi, when it is Jehovah that has humiliated me+ and the Almighty that has caused me calamity?”+

22 Thus Naʹo·mi made her return, Ruth the Moʹab·ite woman, her daughter-in-law, being with her when returning from the fields of Moʹab;+ and they came to Bethʹle·hem+ at the commencement of barley harvest.+

2 Now Naʹo·mi had a kinsman*+ of her husband, a man mighty in wealth,+ of the family of E·limʹe·lech, and his name was Boʹaz.*+

2 In time Ruth the Moʹab·ite woman said to Naʹo·mi: “Let me go, please, to the field and glean+ among the ears of grain following after whoever it is in whose eyes I may find favor.” So she said to her: “Go, my daughter.” 3 At that she went off and entered and began to glean in the field behind the harvesters.+ Thus by chance she lighted on the tract of the field belonging to Boʹaz,+ who was of the family of E·limʹe·lech.+ 4 And, look! Boʹaz came from Bethʹle·hem and proceeded to say to the harvesters: “Jehovah be with YOU.”+ In turn they would say to him: “Jehovah bless you.”+

5 Subsequently Boʹaz+ said to the young man who was set over the harvesters: “To whom does this young woman belong?” 6 So the young man set over the harvesters answered and said: “The young woman is a Moʹab·i·tess,+ who returned with Naʹo·mi from the field of Moʹab.+ 7 Then she said, ‘Let me glean,+ please, and I shall certainly gather among the cut-off ears of grain behind the harvesters.’ So she entered and kept on her feet from that time in the morning until her sitting down just now in the house a little while.”+

8 Later Boʹaz said to Ruth: “You have heard, have you not, my daughter? Do not go away to glean in another field,+ and you must also not cross over from this place, and in that way you should keep close by my young women.+ 9 Let your eyes be on the field that they will harvest, and you must go with them. Have I not commanded the young men not to touch+ you? When you are thirsty, you must also go to the vessels and drink from what the young men will draw.”+

10 At that she fell upon her face and bowed down to the earth+ and said to him: “How is it I have found favor in your eyes so that I am taken notice of, when I am a foreigner?”+ 11 Then Boʹaz answered and said to her: “The report+ was fully made to me of all that you have done to your mother-in-law after the death of your husband,+ and how you proceeded to leave your father and your mother and the land of your relatives and to go to a people whom you had not known formerly.+ 12 May Jehovah reward the way you act,+ and may there come to be a perfect wage+ for you from Jehovah the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to seek refuge.”+ 13 To this she said: “Let me find favor in your eyes, my lord, because you have comforted me and because you have spoken reassuringly to* your maidservant,+ although I myself may not happen to be like one of your maidservants.”+

14 And Boʹaz proceeded to say to her at mealtime: “Approach here, and you must eat some of the bread+ and dip your piece in the vinegar.” So she sat down beside the harvesters, and he would hold out roasted grain+ to her and she would eat, so that she was satisfied and yet had something left over. 15 Then she got up to glean.+ Boʹaz now commanded his young men, saying: “Let her glean also among the cut-off ears of grain, and YOU must not molest+ her. 16 And YOU should also be sure to pull out some from the bundles of ears for her, and YOU must leave them behind that she may glean them,+ and YOU must not rebuke her.”

17 And she continued to glean in the field until the evening,+ after which she beat out+ what she had gleaned, and it came to be about an eʹphah*+ of barley. 18 Then she took it up and went into the city, and her mother-in-law got to see* what she had gleaned. After that she took out what food she had left over+ when she had satisfied herself and gave it to her.

19 Her mother-in-law now said to her: “Where did you glean today, and where did you work? May the one who took notice of you become blessed.”+ So she told her mother-in-law with whom she had worked; and she went on to say: “The name of the man with whom I worked today is Boʹaz.” 20 At that Naʹo·mi said to her daughter-in-law: “Blessed be he of Jehovah,+ who has not left his loving-kindness+ toward the living and the dead.”+ And Naʹo·mi went on to say to her: “The man is related to us.+ He is one of our repurchasers.”*+ 21 Then Ruth the Moʹab·i·tess said: “He also said to me, ‘Close by the young people that are mine is where you should keep until they have finished the entire harvest that I have.’”+ 22 So Naʹo·mi+ said to Ruth her daughter-in-law:+ “It is better, my daughter, that you should go out with his young women, that they may not annoy you in another field.”+

23 And she continued to keep close by the young women of Boʹaz to glean until the harvest of the barley+ and the harvest of the wheat came to an end. And she kept on dwelling with her mother-in-law.+

3 Naʹo·mi her mother-in-law now said to her: “My daughter, ought I not to look for a resting-place+ for you, that it may go well with you? 2 And now, is not Boʹaz, with whose young women you have continued, our kinsman?+ Look! He is winnowing+ barley at the threshing floor tonight. 3 And you must wash and rub yourself with oil+ and put your mantles upon you+ and go down to the threshing floor. Do not make yourself known to the man until he has finished eating and drinking. 4 And it should occur that when he lies down, you must also take note of the place where he lies down; and you must come and uncover him at his feet and lie down; and he, for his part, will tell you what you ought to do.”

5 At that she said to her: “All that you say to me* I shall do.” 6 And she proceeded to go down to the threshing floor and to do according to all that her mother-in-law had commanded her. 7 Meantime Boʹaz ate and drank, and his heart was feeling good.+ Then he went to lie down at the extremity of the grain heap. After that she came stealthily and uncovered him at his feet and lay down. 8 And it came about at midnight that the man began to tremble. So he bent himself forward, and, look! a woman lying at his feet! 9 Then he said: “Who are you?” In turn she said: “I am Ruth your slave girl, and you must spread out your skirt over your slave girl, for you are a repurchaser.”+ 10 At that he said: “Blessed may you be of Jehovah,+ my daughter. You have expressed your loving-kindness+ better in the last instance than in the first instance,+ in not going after the young fellows whether lowly or rich. 11 And now, my daughter, do not be afraid. All that you say I shall do for you,+ for everyone in the gate* of my people is aware that you are an excellent woman.+ 12 And now while it is a fact that I am a repurchaser,+ there is also a repurchaser closer related than I am.+ 13 Lodge here tonight, and it must occur in the morning that if he will repurchase+ you, fine! Let him do the repurchasing. But if he does not take delight in repurchasing you, I will then repurchase you, I myself, as sure as Jehovah lives.+ Keep lying down until the morning.”

14 And she kept lying at his feet until the morning and then got up before anyone could recognize another. He now said: “Do not let it be known that a woman came to the threshing floor.”+ 15 And he went on to say: “Bring the cloak that is on you, and hold it open.” So she held it open, and he proceeded to measure out six measures* of barley and to place it upon her, after which he* went into the city.

16 And she went her way to her mother-in-law, who now said: “Who are you, my daughter?” Accordingly she told her everything that the man had done to her. 17 And she went on to say: “These six measures of barley he gave me, for he said to me,* ‘Do not come empty-handed to your mother-in-law.’”+ 18 At that she said: “Sit still, my daughter, until you know how the matter will turn out, for the man will have no rest unless he has brought the matter to an end today.”+

4 As for Boʹaz, he went up to the gate+ and began to sit there. And, look! the repurchaser was passing by, whom Boʹaz had mentioned.+ Then he said: “Do turn aside, do sit down here, So-and-so.”* Hence he turned aside and sat down. 2 After that he took ten men of the older men*+ of the city and said: “Sit down here.” So they sat down.

3 He now said to the repurchaser:+ “The tract of the field that belonged to our brother E·limʹe·lech,+ Naʹo·mi, who has returned from the field of Moʹab,+ must sell. 4 As for me, I thought* that I should disclose it to you,* saying, ‘Buy it+ in front of the inhabitants and the older men of my people.+ If you will repurchase it, repurchase it; but if you will not repurchase it, do tell me, that I may know, for there is no one else but you to do the repurchasing,+ and I am next to you.’” At that he said: “I shall be the one to repurchase it.”+ 5 Then Boʹaz said: “On the day that you buy the field from Naʹo·mi’s hand, it is also from Ruth the Moʹab·i·tess, the wife of the dead man, that you must buy it so as to cause the name of the dead man to rise upon his inheritance.”+ 6 To this the repurchaser said: “I am unable to repurchase it for myself, for fear I may ruin my own inheritance. You repurchase it for yourself with my right of repurchase, because I am not able to do the repurchasing.”

7 Now this was the custom* of former times in Israel concerning the right of repurchase and concerning the exchange, to establish every sort of thing: A man had to draw his sandal+ off and give it to his fellow, and this was the attestation in Israel. 8 So when the repurchaser* said to Boʹaz: “Buy it for yourself,” he proceeded to draw his sandal off.*+ 9 Then Boʹaz said to the older men and all the people: “YOU are witnesses+ today that I do buy all that belonged to E·limʹe·lech and all that belonged to Chilʹi·on and Mahʹlon from the hand of Naʹo·mi. 10 And also Ruth the Moʹab·i·tess, the wife of Mahʹlon, I do buy for myself as a wife to cause the name of the dead man+ to rise upon his inheritance and that the name of the dead man may not be cut off from among his brothers and from the gate of his place. YOU are witnesses today.”+

11 At this all the people that were in the gate and the older men said: “Witnesses! May Jehovah grant the wife* who is coming into your house to be like Rachel+ and like Leʹah,+ both of whom built the house of Israel;+ and you prove your worth in Ephʹra·thah+ and make a notable name* in Bethʹle·hem.+ 12 And may your house become like the house of Peʹrez, whom Taʹmar bore to Judah,+ from the offspring that Jehovah will give you out of this young woman.”+

13 Accordingly Boʹaz took Ruth and she became his wife and he had relations with her. So Jehovah granted her conception+ and she bore a son. 14 And the women began to say+ to Naʹo·mi: “Blessed be Jehovah,+ who has not let a repurchaser fail for you today; that his* name may be proclaimed in Israel. 15 And he has become a restorer of your soul* and one to nourish your old age,+ because your daughter-in-law who does love you,+ who is better to you than seven sons,+ has given birth to him.” 16 And Naʹo·mi proceeded to take the child and to put it in her bosom, and she came to be its nurse. 17 Then the neighbor+ ladies gave it a name, saying: “A son has been born to Naʹo·mi.” And they began to call his name Oʹbed.*+ He is the father of Jesʹse,+ David’s father.

18 Now these are the generations of Peʹrez:+ Peʹrez became father to Hezʹron;+ 19 and Hezʹron became father to Ram; and Ram+ became father to Am·minʹa·dab; 20 and Am·minʹa·dab+ became father to Nahʹshon;+ and Nahʹshon became father to Salʹmon;* 21 and Salʹmon*+ became father to Boʹaz; and Boʹaz+ became father to Oʹbed; 22 and Oʹbed became father to Jesʹse;+ and Jesʹse became father to David.+