1 There was a time when judges ruled Israel. There was not enough food for the people to eat. A man, called Elimelech, lived in Bethlehem in Judah. Elimelech had a wife and two sons. Elimelech’s wife was called Naomi and his sons were called Mahlon and Kilion. They were Ephrathites. Because there was not enough food, Elimelech and his family left Bethlehem. They went to live in Moab. 2
3 Elimelech died while they were living in Moab. Naomi and her two sons remained there and
4 Naomi’s sons married women from Moab. Mahlon married a woman called Ruth. And Kilion married a woman called Orpah.
5 Both Mahlon and Kilion died after they had all lived in Moab for about ten years. Naomi was completely alone, without her husband or her sons. 6 Naomi received news from Judah that God had helped his people. There was now enough food in Judah again. Naomi decided to return to Judah.
7 She and her sons’ wives left their home in Moab. They began to travel together along the road towards Judah.
8 On the way to Judah, Naomi spoke to Ruth and Orpah. She said, ‘Return to your mothers’ homes and stay there. Your husbands are dead now. But you were kind to them when they were alive. And you have been kind to me. I pray that God will be as kind to you. I also pray that God will give each of you another husband and a new home.’
9 Naomi kissed them and Ruth and Orpah began to cry.
10 They said to Naomi, ‘No! We will go with you to your people.’
11 But Naomi said, ‘Return to your own country, my daughters. You should not want to come with me. I will not have other sons. You cannot marry them.
12 Return to your own country, my daughters. I am too old to have another husband. Think about this. I might even marry another husband tonight. Then I might give birth to sons. Those sons would grow up and they would become men. Then you could marry them.
13 But I am sure that you do not want to wait for so many years, my daughters. This is painful for you. It is more painful for me. God has caused bad things to happen to me.’
14 Ruth and Orpah wept again. Orpah kissed Naomi and she said goodbye. But Ruth would not leave Naomi. She held on to Naomi.
15 Naomi said to Ruth, ‘Orpah has returned to her family. She has returned to the gods of Moab. Go with her.’
16 Ruth said to Naomi, ‘Do not say that I must leave you. I want to go with you. I want to live with you. You belong to Israel’s people. I will belong to them also. Your God will be my God.
17 I want to die in the place where you die. I want someone to bury me there. Even when I die, I want to be with you. I must not leave you before I die. If I do, God should be very angry with me.’
18 Naomi understood that Ruth would not return to her own country. Then Naomi stopped saying that Ruth should leave her.
19 Naomi and Ruth travelled together to Bethlehem. The people in Bethlehem were very surprised when they saw them. The women from the town said, ‘Is this really Naomi?’
20 Naomi said to them, ‘Do not call me Naomi. Call me Mara. God has made my life very sad.
21 I left here with my husband and my two sons. God has brought me back here without them. You should not call me Naomi. God has caused trouble to happen to me.’ 22 So Naomi returned from Moab with Ruth. Ruth was from Moab, and she was the wife of Naomi’s son Mahlon. Naomi and Ruth arrived in Bethlehem when the people were cutting down barley in the fields. 1 Boaz was an important man. He was in the family of Elimelech, Naomi’s husband.
2 Ruth, the woman from Moab, said to Naomi, ‘Let me go to the fields. I will walk behind anyone who lets me. Then I will pick up the barley that he lets fall.’ Naomi said, ‘Go my daughter.’
3 So she went to the fields. And she began to pick up the barley that the men let fall. It happened that she worked in one of Boaz’s fields. Boaz was from Elimelech’s family. 4 Just then, Boaz arrived from Bethlehem and he spoke to the workers. ‘I ask God to be with you’, he said. ‘We pray that God will do good things for you’, they said.
5 Boaz asked the leader of his workers, ‘Whose young woman is that?’
6 The leader said, ‘She is that young woman from Moab, who returned from Moab with Naomi.
7 She asked, “Please let me walk behind the workers. Then I can pick up the barley that they let fall.” She has worked in the field from morning until now. She only had a short rest in the hut.’
8 Boaz said to Ruth, ‘Young woman, listen to me. Do not go and pick up barley in another field. Do not go away from here. Stay here with my servant girls.
9 Watch where the men work. And walk behind the girls. I have said that the workers should not touch you. The workers have filled the jars with water. When you need water, go to those jars. And drink from the jars.’
10 Ruth went down on her knees in front of Boaz. She said, ‘Why did you choose to be kind to me? I am a foreign woman.’
11 Boaz said, ‘People have told me all about you. When your husband died, you did many things for Naomi. You left your father and your mother and your country. You came to live with people who were strangers to you.
12 You have done many good things. I pray that God will do good things for you. You have come to Israel to be safe. I pray that the God of Israel will give you many good things.’
13 Ruth said, ‘Master, you have caused me to feel good by your kind words. I am not as important as one of your servant girls. But you have been kind to me. I hope that you will continue to be kind to me.’
14 When it was time to eat, Boaz said to Ruth, ‘Come here. Take some bread and make it wet with the wine vinegar.’ 15 After this, she returned to work in the field. Boaz said to his workers, ‘If she picks up barley near you, do not hurt her.
16 It would be good to help her. You can let some barley drop for her to pick up. And do not be angry with her.’
17 Ruth worked in the field until evening. Then she hit her barley with a stick until the seeds came out. She had about 22 litres of seeds. 18 She carried the seeds to the town. Naomi saw how much Ruth had picked. Ruth also gave to Naomi the barley seeds that Ruth could not eat.
19 Naomi asked her, ‘Where did you work today? I want God to do good things for the man who was kind to you.’ Then Ruth told Naomi about the man that she had worked with. ‘The man that I worked with today is called Boaz’, she said.
20 ‘I pray that God will do good things for him’, said Naomi to Ruth. ‘God has not stopped being kind to people who are alive. He is kind to those who are dead too. That man is in my husband’s family. He is one of our kinsmen-redeemers.’ 21 Then Ruth, the woman from Moab, said, ‘He even said to me, “Stay with my workers until they have finished the work.” ’
22 Naomi said to Ruth, ‘It will be good for you, my daughter, to go with his girls. The workers in another field might hurt you.’
23 So Ruth worked next to Boaz’s servant girls until they finished the work. She lived with Naomi.
1 One day, Naomi said to Ruth, ‘My daughter, I must find a home for you. There you will have everything that you need.
2 You have worked with Boaz’s servant girls. Boaz is in our family. Tonight he will winnow barley on the threshing floor.’ 3 ‘Wash yourself’, said Naomi. ‘Put oil that has a beautiful smell on yourself. Put on your best clothes. Then go down to the threshing floor. Do not let him know that you are there. Wait until he has finished his food and drink.
4 After that, he will lie down. Then you will see where he is lying. Go and lift the cloth from his feet. Lie down. Then he will say what you should do.’
5 ‘I will do whatever you say’, said Ruth.
6 So she went down to the threshing floor. And she did everything that Naomi had asked her to do. 7 Boaz was happy when he had finished his food and drink. He had put the barley seeds together in one place. Boaz lay down next to the seeds. Ruth was very quiet and she went to him. She lifted the cloth that covered his feet. Then she lay down.
8 In the middle of the night, something caused Boaz to feel afraid. He moved. Then he saw a woman who was lying at his feet.
9 ‘Who are you?’ he asked. ‘I am your servant Ruth’, she said. ‘Put the corner of the cloth that covers your feet over me. You are a kinsman-redeemer.’
10 ‘Young woman, I pray that God will do good things for you’, he replied. ‘You were kind to Naomi earlier. Now you have been more kind to me. You have seen young men who are rich. And you have seen young men who are poor. You have not tried to marry any of these.
11 And now, young woman, do not be afraid. All the people in this town know that you are a good woman. So I will do everything for you that you ask.
12 It is true that I am in your family. But there is another kinsman-redeemer who is nearer to you.
13 Stay here for the night. In the morning, if he wants to help you, let him do it. If he will not do it, I will do it. As God is alive, I will do it. Lie here until the morning.’
14 So she lay at his feet until morning. But she got up before anyone could see her. Boaz said to her, ‘Nobody must know that a woman came to the threshing floor.’
15 He also said, ‘Bring me your small coat that you are wearing.’ She brought the coat to him and Boaz poured barley on to it. Then he put the coat on her. After that, he returned to the town. 16 When Ruth returned, Naomi asked, ‘Ruth, what happened in the night?’ Then Ruth told her everything that Boaz had done for her.
17 Then she said, ‘He also gave me all this barley and he said, “Do not return to Naomi with empty hands.” ’
18 Naomi said, ‘Ruth, you must wait. Soon you will know what will happen. The man will be sure that he finishes everything today.’
1 In the morning, Boaz went up to the gate of the town and he sat down. The kinsman-redeemer that Boaz knew came to the gate. Boaz said to him, ‘Come here, my friend, and sit down.’ So, the man went to Boaz and the man sat down. 2 Boaz chose ten important men from the town and he said, ‘Sit here.’ So they sat down.
3 Then he said to the kinsman-redeemer, ‘Naomi has returned from Moab. She wants to sell our brother Elimelech’s piece of land.
4 I thought that I should tell you about this. Now I ask you, in front of these important people, will you buy this land? If you want to buy it, then you should buy it. If you do not want to buy it, then you must tell me. Then I will know what you want to do. It is right for you to buy it. If you do not buy the land, then I can buy it.’ The kinsman-redeemer said, ‘I will buy it.’
5 Then Boaz said, ‘On the day that you buy the land from Naomi and Ruth, you must marry Ruth. Then the name of Elimelech will stay with the land.’
6 When Boaz said that, the kinsman-redeemer replied. ‘I cannot buy the land’, he said. ‘My family might lose my own land when I die. You buy the land yourself. I cannot buy it.’ 7 At this time, in Israel, when a man sold land he removed his shoe. Then he gave it to the man who had bought the land. So then, everyone could see that the first man had sold the land. They had agreed this in the law.
8 So the kinsman-redeemer said to Boaz, ‘You buy the land.’ And he removed his shoe.
9 Boaz said to all the important people, ‘You have all seen today that I have bought the land from Naomi. I have bought all the land of Elimelech, Kilion and Mahlon.
10 I will also marry Ruth, from Moab, who was the wife of Mahlon. His name and his land will stay together. Now his name will remain in his family. And this town will not lose his name. Today you have seen all this happen.’
11 Then the important men and all the other people at the gate said, ‘We have seen all that has happened. We want God to be good to the woman who is coming into your home. We pray that he will make her like Rachel and Leah. They made the family of Israel large. We pray that you will become an important man in Ephrathah. And we pray that you will become famous in Bethlehem.
12 God gave children to Perez. Perez was the son of Tamar and Judah. We pray that God will give children to you by this young woman like that.’ 13 Boaz married Ruth. God did good things for her and she had a son.
14 The women said to Naomi, ‘Thank God! Today, he did not let you have no kinsman-redeemer. We pray that Ruth’s son will become famous everywhere in Israel!
15 He will cause you to feel young again. He will be good to you when you are old. Ruth loves you. And she is better for you than seven sons would be. And now she has had this boy.’
16 Naomi took the child. She held him in her arms. She was good to him as she would be to her own son.
17 The women who lived there said, ‘Naomi has a son.’ They called him Obed. He was the father of Jesse, who was the father of David.
18 So this is the family of Perez. 19 Hezron was the father of Ram. 20 Amminadab was the father of Nahshon. 21 Salmon was the father of Boaz. 22 Obed was the father of Jesse.2
Ruth meets Boaz
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Ruth finds a husband
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Boaz marries Ruth