1

1 There was a famine in the land in the days when the judges ruled. And a man of Bethlehem in Judah went to live in the country of Moab, he and his wife and his two sons.

2 The man was Elimelech, and his wife was Naomi, and the two sons were Mahlon and Chilion, Ephrathites of Bethlehem in Judah. They went to Moab and stayed there.

3 Naomi’s husband Elimelech died. And she was left with her two sons.

4 They took two women of Moab as their wives. One was Orpah and the other Ruth. They made their home there for about ten years.

5 Mahlon and Chilion also died. Naomi was left all alone. She had no husband or sons.

6 Some time later Naomi heard that Jehovah blessed his people by giving them good crops. So she got ready to leave Moab with her daughters-in-law.

7 They started out together to go back to Judah.

8 On the way she said to them: »Go back home and stay with your mothers. Jehovah should be as good to you as you have been to me and to those who have died.

9 »May Jehovah make it possible for each of you to marry again and have a home.« Then Naomi kissed them good-bye and they cried.

10 They said to her: »No! We will go with you to your people.«

11 »You must go back, my daughters,« Naomi replied. »Why do you want to come with me? Do you think I could have sons again for you to marry?

12 »Return home, my daughters. I am too old to get married again. Even if I thought there was still hope, and got married and had sons,

13 »would you wait for them to grow up? Would this keep you from marrying someone else? No, my daughters, you know that is not possible. Jehovah has turned against me. I feel sorry for you.«

14 They started crying again. Orpah kissed her mother-in-law good-bye and went back home. Ruth held on to her.

15 Naomi said to her: »Ruth, your sister-in-law went back to her people and her gods. Go back home with her.

16 Ruth replied: »Do not ask me to leave you! Let me go with you. Wherever you go, I will go; wherever you live, I will live. Your people will be my people, and your God will be my God.

17 »Wherever you die, I will die. That is where I will be buried. May Jehovah’s worst punishment come upon me if I let anything but death separate me from you!«

18 When she saw that Ruth was determined to go with her, she said no more.

19 The two of them traveled to Bethlehem. When they arrived at Bethlehem the whole town was excited because of them. The women said: »Is this Naomi?«

20 She said: »Do not call me Naomi meaning pleasant . Call me Mara, because the Almighty has made my life bitter.

21 »I went away full, and Jehovah sent me back empty. Why do you give me the name Naomi, seeing that Jehovah has given witness against me, and the Almighty has brought sorrow to me?«

22 So Naomi came back out of the country of Moab. Ruth the Moabitess, her daughter-in-law, came with her. They came to Bethlehem in the first days of the barley harvest.

2

1 Boaz was a relative of Naomi. He was a wealthy man from the family of Elimelech.

2 Ruth the Moabitess said to Naomi: »Now let me go into the fields and pick up the heads of grain after anyone in whose eyes I find favor.« She said to her: »Go, my daughter.«

3 So she went and picked up the heads of grain in the field after the cutters. By chance she went into that part of the field owned by Boaz, who was of the family of Elimelech.

4 Boaz came from Bethlehem. He said to the grain-cutters, »Jehovah is with you.« They answered: »Jehovah gives you his blessing.«

5 Boaz asked his servant who was in authority over the cutters: »Whose young woman is this?«

6 The servant said: »It is a Moabite girl who came back with Naomi out of the country of Moab.«

7 She said to me: »Let me come into the grain-field and pick up the grain after the cutters.« So she came, and has been here from morning till now, without resting even for a minute.

8 Then Boaz said to Ruth: »Listen to me, my daughter; do not go to pick up the grain in another field. Do not leave here, but stay with my servant girls.

9 »Keep your eyes on the field the men are harvesting and follow with the girls. I told the men not to touch you. When you are thirsty, drink from the water jars the men keep filled.«

10 Then she bowed down on her face to the earth, and said to him: »Why have I found favor in your eyes? For you give me attention and I am a foreigner.«

11 Boaz answered: »I have heard about everything you have done for your mother-in-law after the death of your husband. You went away from your father and mother and the land of your birth, and came to a people who are strange to you.

12 »May Jehovah reward you for what you have done. May you have a full reward from Jehovah the God of Israel, to whom you have come for protection!«

13 Ruth answered: »You are very kind to me, sir. You make me feel better by speaking gently to me, even though I do not even have the standing of one of your servants.«

14 At mealtime Boaz said to her: »Come here, that you may eat of the bread and dip your piece of bread in the vinegar.« So she sat beside the reapers. He served her roasted grain. She ate and was satisfied and had some left over.

15 She rose to glean. Boaz commanded his servants, saying: »Let her glean among the sheaves, and do not bother her.

16 »Pull some heads of grain out of what has been corded up and drop them for her to take. Say no sharp word to her.«

17 She gathered the heads of grain till evening. After crushing out the seed, it came to about an ephah of grain.

18 She carried it back to town to show her mother-in-law what she gathered. She kept enough for herself and gave Naomi the rest.

19 Her mother-in-law said to her: »Where did you gather grain today? Where did you work? Blessed is the man who gave you this attention.« So she gave her mother-in-law an account of where she had been working, and said: »The name of the man with whom I was working today is Boaz.«

20 Naomi said to her daughter-in-law: »May Jehovah bless him. The man is kind to the living and to the dead.« Then Naomi admitted to her: »The man is of our family, one of our near relatives.«

21 Ruth the Moabitess said: »Truly, he said to me: ‘Keep near my young men till all my grain is cut.’«

22 And Naomi said to Ruth, her daughter-in-law: »It is better, my daughter, for you to go out with his servant girls, so that no danger may come to you in another field.«

23 So she kept near the servant girls of Boaz to gather the grain till the cutting of the early grain and the cutting of the late grain was ended. She continued living with her mother-in-law.

3

1 Then Naomi her mother-in-law said to her: »My daughter, Should I try to find a secure home for you where you will be well treated?

2 »Boaz is of our kindred, with whose servant girls you have been. He winnows barley tonight in the threshing floor.

3 »Wash and perfume yourself and put on your best clothes. Go down to the floor. Make yourself known to the man after he is done eating and drinking.

4 »When he lies down, notice the place where he lies down. Go in, uncover his feet and lay down. He will tell you what you should do.«

5 Ruth said: »All that you say to me I will do.«

6 She went down to the floor, and did according to all that her mother-in-law told her.

7 After Boaz ate and drank, and his heart was merry, he went to lie down at the end of the heap of barley. Ruth approached quietly, uncovered his feet, and lay down.

8 Something startled him about midnight. He saw the woman at his feet.

9 He said: »Who are you?« She answered: »I am your servant Ruth. Spread your garment over me, for you are my kinsman.«

10 He said: »You are blessed of Jehovah, my daughter: for this kindness is greater than what you showed earlier. You have not pursued younger men, whether poor or rich.

11 »And now, my daughter, have no fear. I will do for you whatever you say, for it is clear to all my townspeople that you are a woman of virtue.

12 »It is true that I am a close relative, but there is a relation nearer than I.

13 »Rest here tonight. In the morning, if he wants to redeem you, for it is right for a relation to do this, very well, let him do so. But if he will not, then as surely as Jehovah lives, I will do so.«

14 She slept there at his feet until morning. She got up before it was light enough for anyone to see. He said: »Do not let anyone know that a woman came to the grain floor.«

15 He said: »Take your robe and stretch it out in your hands.« She did so, and he took six measures of grain and put them into it. Then she went back to town.

16 When she got back, her mother-in-law asked her: »How did it go with you, my daughter?« And she gave her an account of all that the man did to her.

17 She said: »He gave me these six measures of grain, saying, ‘Do not go back to your mother-in-law with nothing in your hands.’«

18 Naomi said: »Wait until you find out what happened. The man will not rest till he sees this thing through.«

4

1 Boaz went to the public place in the town and sat down. When the kinsman-redeemer came along, the one he had mentioned, Boaz said: »Come here, and sit down.« He came and was seated.

2 Then he got ten of the responsible men of the town, and said: »Be seated here. And they took their seats.«

3 Then Boaz said to the close relative: »Naomi has come back from the country of Moab. She is offering for a price that bit of land which belonged to our brother Elimelech.

4 »I am giving you a chance to take it with the approval of those seated here, the responsible men of my people. If you are ready to do what it is right for a relative to do, then do it. If you will not do it, say so to me now. There is no one who has the right to do it but you, and after you, myself.« And he said: »I will do it.«

5 Then Boaz said: »On the day when you take this field, you will have to take with it Ruth, the Moabitess, the wife of the dead, so that you may keep the name of the dead living in his heritage.«

6 The near relative said: »I am not able to redeem it for myself, for fear of damaging the heritage I have. You may do it in my place, for I am not able to do it myself.«

7 It was the custom for the seller to take off his sandal and give to the buyer to settle a sale or exchange of property. By doing this, Israelites showed that the matter was settled.

8 So when the man said to Boaz: »You buy it,« he took off his sandal and gave it to Boaz.

9 Then Boaz said to the leaders and all the others there: »You are all witnesses today that I have bought from Naomi everything that belonged to Elimelech and to his sons Chilion and Mahlon.

10 »In addition, Ruth the Moabite, Mahlon’s widow, becomes my wife. This will keep the property in the dead man’s family, and his family line will continue among his people in his hometown. Today you are witnesses to this.«

11 The leaders and the others said: »Yes, we are witnesses. May Jehovah make your wife become like Rachel and Leah, who bore many children to Jacob. May you become rich in the clan of Ephrathah and famous in Bethlehem.

12 »May your family be like the family of Perez, the son whom Tamar gave to Judah, from the offspring that Jehovah may give you by this young woman.«

13 Boaz took Ruth to be his wife. He slept with her and Jehovah enabled her to conceive and she gave birth to a son.

14 The women said to Naomi: »A blessing on Jehovah. He has not let you be without a near relative. May his name be great in Israel.

15 »He will be a giver of new life to you. He will be your comforter when you are old, because your daughter-in-law, who in her love for you is better than seven sons, has given birth to him.«

16 Naomi took the child in her arms and took care of it.

17 Her neighbor women gave it a name. They said: »Naomi has a child.« They gave him the name of Obed: he is the father of Jesse, the father of David.

18 Now these are the generations of Perez: Perez became the father of Hezron.

19 And Hezron became the father of Ram, and Ram became the father of Amminadab.

20 And Amminadab became the father of Nahshon, and Nahshon became the father of Salmon.

21 Salmon became the father of Boaz, and Boaz became the father of Obed.

22 And Obed became the father of Jesse, and Jesse became the father of David.