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And Naomi had a relative of her husband’s, an ish gibbor chayil, of the mishpochah of Elimelech; and shmo was Boaz.

And Ruth the Moabitess said unto Naomi, Let me now go to the sadeh, and glean heads of grain after him in whose sight I shall find chen (grace, favor). And she said unto her, Go, my daughter.

And she went, and came, and gleaned in the sadeh behind the kotzerim (harvesters, reapers); and it so happened that she came on a part of the sadeh belonging unto Boaz, who was of the mishpochah of Elimelech.

And, hinei, Boaz came from Beit-Lechem, and said unto the kotzerim, Hashem be with you. And they answered him, Yevarech’chah Adonoi (Hashem bless thee).

Then said Boaz unto his servant that was set over the kotzerim, Whose na’arah is this?

And the servant that was set over the kotzerim answered and said, It is the na’arah from Moav that came back with Naomi out of the sadeh of Moav.

And she said, I pray you, let me glean and gather after the kotzerim among the omarim (sheaves); so she came, and hath worked steadily from the boker even until now, except for a short rest in the bais.

Then said Boaz unto Ruth, Hearest thou not, my daughter? Go not to glean in another sadeh, neither go from hence, but abide here close by my ne’arot;

Let thine eyes be on the sadeh that they do reap, and go thou after them; have I not charged the ne’arim that they shall not touch thee? And when thou art athirst, go unto the kelim (vessels), and drink of that which the ne’arim have drawn.

10 Then she fell on her face, and bowed herself to the ground, and said unto him, Why have I found chen (favor, grace) in thine eyes, that thou shouldest take knowledge of me, seeing I am a nokhriyah (foreigner, alien)?

11 And Boaz answered and said unto her, It hath fully been shown me, all that thou hast done unto thy chamot since the mot (death) of thine ish; and how thou hast left thy av and thy em, and the eretz moledet, and art come unto an Am (people) which thou knewest not heretofore.

12 Hashem recompense thy work, and a full reward be given thee of Hashem Elohei Yisroel, under Whose wings thou art come to seek refuge.

13 Then she said, Let me find chen (favor, grace) in thy sight, adoni; for that thou hast brought nachamah (comfort) to me, and for that thou hast spoken to the lev of thine shifcha, though I be not like unto one of thine shfakhot.

14 And Boaz said unto her, At et haokhel (mealtime) come thou hither, and eat of the lechem, and dip thy morsel in the chometz. And she sat beside the kotzerim; and he offered her roasted grain, and she did eat, and was filled, and had left over [shirayim].

15 And when she was risen up to glean, Boaz commanded his ne’arim, saying, Let her glean even among the omarim, and reproach her not;

16 And let fall also some [out from the omarim] of the handfuls on purpose for her, and leave them, that she may glean them, and rebuke her not.

17 So she gleaned in the sadeh until the erev, and she threshed what she had gleaned; and it was about an ephah of seorim.

18 And she took it up, and went into the town; and her chamot saw what she had gleaned; and she brought forth, and gave to her the left over [shirayim] after she had been filled.

19 And her chamot said unto her, Where hast thou gleaned hayom (today)? And where did you work? Baruch be he who did take knowledge of thee. And she showed her chamot with whom she had worked, and said, Shem HaIsh with whom I worked hayom (today) is Boaz.

20 And Naomi said unto her kallah, Baruch hu l’Hashem asher lo azav chasdo et haChayyim v’et haMesim (Blessed be he of Hashem who hath not abandoned his chesed to the living and to the dead). And Naomi said unto her, The man is karov unto us. MiGoaleinu hu (he is one of our kinsmen redeemers).

21 And Ruth the Moabitess said, He said unto me also, Thou shalt keep close by my ne’arim, until they have ended kol HaKatzir that is mine.

22 And Naomi said unto Ruth her kallah, It is tov, my daughter, that thou go out with his ne’arot, because in someone else’s sadeh you might be harmed.

23 So she kept close by the ne’arot of Boaz to glean unto the end of katzir haseorim and of katzir chittim; and dwelt with her chamot.

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).