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Rute Akumana ndi Bowazi

Naomi anali ndi mʼbale wake wolemera kwambiri wochokera ku banja la mwamuna wake Elimeleki, dzina lake Bowazi.

Tsiku lina Rute, Mmowabu uja anati kwa Naomi, “Mundilole kuti ndikakunkhe barele ku munda wa munthu aliyense amene akandikomere mtima.” Naomi anati kwa iye, “Pita mwana wanga.”

Choncho Rute ananyamuka kupita kukakunkha ku minda yokololedwa kale. Tsono zinangochitika kuti Rute anafika mʼmunda wa Bowazi, yemwe anali wochokera ku banja la Elimeleki.

Posakhalitsa Bowazi anafika kuchokera ku Betelehemu ndipo analonjera okolola aja kuti, “Yehova akhale nanu!”

Iwo anayankha kuti, “Yehova akudalitseni.”

Bowazi anafunsa kapitawo wake amene ankayangʼanira okolola aja kuti, “Mayi uyo ndi ndani?”

Kapitawo uja anayankha kuti, “Mayiyu ndi Mmowabu amene anabwera ndi Naomi kuchokera ku dziko la Mowabu. Iye anandipempha kuti, ‘Chonde mundilole kuti ndikunkhe barele mʼminda moti akololamo kale.’ Iye wakhala akukunkha kuyambira mmawa mpaka tsopano lino osapuma nʼpangʼono pomwe.”

Choncho Bowazi anati kwa Rute, “Tamvera mwana wanga, usapite kukakunkha mʼmunda wina, ndipo usachoke mʼmunda uno. Koma uzitsata adzakazi angawa. Uziyangʼana munda akukolola anyamatawo akamakolola mʼmundamu, ndipo iwe uzitsata pambuyo pawo. Ndawawuza anyamatawo kuti asakuvutitse. Ndipo ukamva ludzu, uzipita ku mitsuko ndi kukamwa madzi amene anyamatawa atunga.”

10 Atamva zimenezi Rute anawerama nazolikitsa nkhope yake pansi. Kenaka anafunsa kuti, “Mwandikomera mtima chotere mlendo ngati ine chifukwa chiyani?”

11 Bowazi anayankha kuti, “Ine ndawuzidwa zonse zimene wakhala ukuchitira apongozi ako chimwalirire mwamuna wako. Ndamvanso kuti unasiya abambo ndi amayi ako komanso dziko la kwanu ndi kubwera kudzakhala ndi anthu amene sumawadziwa ndi kale lonse. 12 Yehova akubwezere pa zimene wachitazi. Yehova Mulungu wa Israeli, amene wabwera pansi pa mapiko ake kuti akuteteze, akupatse mphotho yayikulu.”

13 Rute anati, “Mwandikomera mtima, mbuye wanga. Ndipo mwandisangalatsa ndi kundiyankhula mwa chifundo ngakhale sindili mmodzi mwa adzakazi anu.”

14 Nthawi ya chakudya cha masana Bowazi anati kwa iye, “Bwera kuno, utenge buledi ndi kusunsa nthongo mu vinyo.” Choncho anakhala pansi pafupi ndi okololawo, ndipo Bowazi anamupatsa chakudya ndi nyama yowotcha. Anadya chilichonse amafuna ndipo chakudya china chinatsalako.

15 Atanyamuka kuti azikakunkha, Bowazi analangiza anyamata ake kuti, “Ngakhale mayiyu azikunkha pakati pa mitolo musamuletse ndi kumuchititsa manyazi. 16 Koma muzimusololerako ngala zina za mʼmitolo ndi kumusiyira kuti azikunkha ndipo musamukalipire.”

17 Choncho Rute anakunkha mʼmundamo mpaka madzulo. Kenaka anapuntha barele anakunkhayo, ndipo anakwanira pafupifupi makilogalamu khumi.

18 Anasenza barele uja kupita naye ku mudzi, nakaonetsa apongozi ake. Kenaka anatulutsa chakudya chimene chinatsalira atakhuta chija ndi kupatsa apongozi ake.

19 Apongozi akewo anamufunsa kuti, “Kodi lero unakakunkha kuti? Unakagwira kuti ntchitoyi? Adalitsike munthu amene anakukomera mtimayo.” Ndipo Rute anawuza mpongozi wake za munthu amene ku malo ake anakagwirako ntchito. Iye anati, “Munthuyo dzina lake ndi Bowazi.”

20 Naomi anati kwa mpongozi wakeyo, “Munthu ameneyu amudalitse Yehova, amene sanasiye kuchitira chifundo anthu amoyo ndi akufa omwe. Anatinso munthu ameneyu ndi mnansi wapaphata. Ndiye ali ndi udindo wotisamalira.”

21 Choncho Rute Mmowabuyo anati, “Iye anandiwuzanso kuti, ‘Uzitsata antchito angawa mpaka atamaliza kukolola munda wonse.’ ”

22 Naomi anati kwa Rute mpongozi wake, “Kuli bwino mwana wanga kuti uzipita ndi adzakazi ake kuopa kuti mʼmunda wa munthu wina angakuvute.”

23 Choncho Rute ankatsatira adzakazi a Bowazi namakunkha mpaka anthu atamaliza kudula barele ndi tirigu. Ndipo amakhalabe ndi mpongozi wakeyo.

Ruth Meets Boaz in the Grain Field

Now Naomi had a relative(A) on her husband’s side, a man of standing(B) from the clan of Elimelek,(C) whose name was Boaz.(D)

And Ruth the Moabite(E) said to Naomi, “Let me go to the fields and pick up the leftover grain(F) behind anyone in whose eyes I find favor.(G)

Naomi said to her, “Go ahead, my daughter.” So she went out, entered a field and began to glean behind the harvesters.(H) As it turned out, she was working in a field belonging to Boaz, who was from the clan of Elimelek.(I)

Just then Boaz arrived from Bethlehem and greeted the harvesters, “The Lord be with you!(J)

“The Lord bless you!(K)” they answered.

Boaz asked the overseer of his harvesters, “Who does that young woman belong to?”

The overseer replied, “She is the Moabite(L) who came back from Moab with Naomi. She said, ‘Please let me glean and gather among the sheaves(M) behind the harvesters.’ She came into the field and has remained here from morning till now, except for a short rest(N) in the shelter.”

So Boaz said to Ruth, “My daughter, listen to me. Don’t go and glean in another field and don’t go away from here. Stay here with the women who work for me. Watch the field where the men are harvesting, and follow along after the women. I have told the men not to lay a hand on you. And whenever you are thirsty, go and get a drink from the water jars the men have filled.”

10 At this, she bowed down with her face to the ground.(O) She asked him, “Why have I found such favor in your eyes that you notice me(P)—a foreigner?(Q)

11 Boaz replied, “I’ve been told all about what you have done for your mother-in-law(R) since the death of your husband(S)—how you left your father and mother and your homeland and came to live with a people you did not know(T) before.(U) 12 May the Lord repay you for what you have done. May you be richly rewarded by the Lord,(V) the God of Israel,(W) under whose wings(X) you have come to take refuge.(Y)

13 “May I continue to find favor in your eyes,(Z) my lord,” she said. “You have put me at ease by speaking kindly to your servant—though I do not have the standing of one of your servants.”

14 At mealtime Boaz said to her, “Come over here. Have some bread(AA) and dip it in the wine vinegar.”

When she sat down with the harvesters,(AB) he offered her some roasted grain.(AC) She ate all she wanted and had some left over.(AD) 15 As she got up to glean, Boaz gave orders to his men, “Let her gather among the sheaves(AE) and don’t reprimand her. 16 Even pull out some stalks for her from the bundles and leave them for her to pick up, and don’t rebuke(AF) her.”

17 So Ruth gleaned in the field until evening. Then she threshed(AG) the barley she had gathered, and it amounted to about an ephah.[a](AH) 18 She carried it back to town, and her mother-in-law saw how much she had gathered. Ruth also brought out and gave her what she had left over(AI) after she had eaten enough.

19 Her mother-in-law asked her, “Where did you glean today? Where did you work? Blessed be the man who took notice of you!(AJ)

Then Ruth told her mother-in-law about the one at whose place she had been working. “The name of the man I worked with today is Boaz,” she said.

20 “The Lord bless him!(AK)” Naomi said to her daughter-in-law.(AL) “He has not stopped showing his kindness(AM) to the living and the dead.” She added, “That man is our close relative;(AN) he is one of our guardian-redeemers.[b](AO)

21 Then Ruth the Moabite(AP) said, “He even said to me, ‘Stay with my workers until they finish harvesting all my grain.’”

22 Naomi said to Ruth her daughter-in-law, “It will be good for you, my daughter, to go with the women who work for him, because in someone else’s field you might be harmed.”

23 So Ruth stayed close to the women of Boaz to glean until the barley(AQ) and wheat harvests(AR) were finished. And she lived with her mother-in-law.

Footnotes

  1. Ruth 2:17 That is, probably about 30 pounds or about 13 kilograms
  2. Ruth 2:20 The Hebrew word for guardian-redeemer is a legal term for one who has the obligation to redeem a relative in serious difficulty (see Lev. 25:25-55).