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Forsooth (there was) a mighty man and a man of great riches, Boaz by name, (who) was (a) kinsman of Elimelech.

And Ruth of Moab said to her mother-in-law, If thou commandest, I shall go into the field, and I shall gather ears of corn that flee the hands of (the) reapers, wherever I shall find grace of an husbandman merciful in me (wherever I shall find favour from a farmer, who is merciful to me). To whom she answered, Go, my daughter.

Therefore she went, and gathered ears of corn after the backs of (some) reapers. And it befelled, that Boaz was (the) lord of that field, (he) that was of the kindred of Elimelech.

And lo! (one day) Boaz came from Bethlehem. And he said to his reapers, The Lord be with you. And they answered to him, The Lord bless thee.

And Boaz said to the young man that was chief over the reapers, Who is this damsel?

And he answered, This is the woman of Moab, that came with Naomi from the country of Moab;

and she prayed, that she should gather ears of corn leaving behind, and follow the steps of [the] reapers; and from the morrowtide till now she standeth in the field, and soothly neither at a moment she turned again home. (and she prayed us, that she could gather some ears of corn that were left behind, and follow the steps of the reapers; and so from the morning until now she standeth in the field, and not for a moment hath she purposed to return home.)

And Boaz said to Ruth, Daughter, hear thou; go thou not into another field to gather, neither go (thou) away from this place, but be thou joined to my damsels,

and follow thou where they reap; for I [have] commanded to my young men, that no man be dis-easeful to thee; but also if thou thirstest, go to the fardels, and drink waters, of which my young men drink (and if thou thirstest, go and drink from the water jars, which my young men have filled).

10 And she felled on her face, and worshipped on the earth; and she said to him, Whereof is this to me, that I should find grace before thine eyes, that thou wouldest know me, a strange woman? (And she fell on her face, and honoured him on the ground; and she said to him, Whereof is this to me, that I should find favour in thine eyes, and that thou wouldest acknowledge me, who is but a stranger?)

11 To whom Boaz answered, All things be told to me, that thou hast done to thy mother-in-law after the death of thine husband (All things have been told to me, what thou hast done for thy mother-in-law after the death of thy husband), and that thou hast forsaken thy father and thy mother, and the land that thou were born in, and thou art come to a people, that thou hast not known before.

12 The Lord yield to thee for thy work, and receive thou full meed of the Lord God of Israel, to whom thou camest, and under whose wings thou fleddest. (May the Lord reward thee for thy good deeds, yea, may thou receive thy full reward from the Lord God of Israel, to whom thou hast come, and under whose wings thou hast fled.)

13 And she said, My lord, I have found grace before thine eyes, and thou hast comforted me, and thou hast spoken to the heart of thine handmaid, which am not like one of thine handmaids. (And she said, My lord, for I have found favour in thine eyes, and thou hast spoken to the heart of thy servantess, though I am not equal to one of thy servantesses, yea, thou hast greatly comforted me.)

14 And Boaz said to her, When the hour of eating is, come thou hither, and eat bread, and wet thy morsel in vinegar. Therefore she sat at the side of [the] reapers; and he directed to her pottage, and she ate, and was filled; and she took the remnants. (And Boaz said to her, When it is time to eat, come thou here, and eat bread, and wet thy morsel in the vinegar. And so she sat beside the reapers; and Boaz passed her some roasted grain, and she ate, and was fulfilled; and she took up the remnants.)

15 And she rose from thence to gather the ears of corn, by custom. And Boaz commanded to his young men, and said, Also if she will reap with you, forbid ye not her, (And then she rose up from there to gather the ears of corn again, as was her custom. And Boaz commanded to his young men, and said, Yea, if she will reap with you, forbid ye her not,)

16 and also cast ye forth to her handfuls of purpose (and also throw ye forth to her some handfuls on purpose), and suffer ye those to abide, that she gather those without shame; and no man reprove her gathering them.

17 Therefore she gathered in the field till to eventide; and she beat with a rod, and shook out those things that she had gathered; and she found of barley as the measure of (an) ephah (and she found that she had about a bushel of barley).

18 Which she bare, and turned again into the city, and showed to her mother-in-law; furthermore she brought forth, and gave to her the remnants of her meat, with which meat she was (ful)filled. (Which she carried, and returned to the city, and showed to her mother-in-law; and she also brought forth, and gave her the remnants of her food, with which food she was fulfilled.)

19 And her mother-in-law said to her, Where hast thou gathered this today, and where hast thou done (all) this work? Blessed be he, that had mercy on thee. And Ruth told to her mother(-in-law) with whom she (had) wrought; and she said that the man’s name was called Boaz.

20 To whom Naomi answered, Blessed be he of the Lord, for he [hath] kept also to dead men the same grace, which he gave to the quick. And again she said, He is our kinsman. (To whom Naomi answered, May the Lord bless him; yea, the Lord hath given the same favour to the living, as to the dead. And she said to Ruth, He is our kinsman.)

21 And Ruth said, Also he commanded this thing to me, that so long I should be joined to his reapers, till all his corns were reaped. (And Ruth said, And he also commanded this to me, that I should be joined to his reapers, until all his grain was harvested.)

22 To whom her mother-in-law said, My daughter, it is better, that thou go out to reap with his damsels, lest in another field any man against-stand thee.

23 And so Ruth was joined to the damsels of Boaz; and so long she reaped with them, till both the barley and the wheat were closed in the barns. (And so Ruth was joined to Boaz’s young women; and she worked with them, until all the barley and the wheat were harvested, and enclosed in the barns.)

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).

And Naomi had a kinsman of her husband's, a mighty man of wealth, of the family of Elimelech; and his name was Boaz.

And Ruth the Moabitess said unto Naomi, Let me now go to the field, and glean ears of corn after him in whose sight I shall find grace. And she said unto her, Go, my daughter.

And she went, and came, and gleaned in the field after the reapers: and her hap was to light on a part of the field belonging unto Boaz, who was of the kindred of Elimelech.

And, behold, Boaz came from Bethlehem, and said unto the reapers, The Lord be with you. And they answered him, The Lord bless thee.

Then said Boaz unto his servant that was set over the reapers, Whose damsel is this?

And the servant that was set over the reapers answered and said, It is the Moabitish damsel that came back with Naomi out of the country of Moab:

And she said, I pray you, let me glean and gather after the reapers among the sheaves: so she came, and hath continued even from the morning until now, that she tarried a little in the house.

Then said Boaz unto Ruth, Hearest thou not, my daughter? Go not to glean in another field, neither go from hence, but abide here fast by my maidens:

Let thine eyes be on the field that they do reap, and go thou after them: have I not charged the young men that they shall not touch thee? and when thou art athirst, go unto the vessels, and drink of that which the young men have drawn.

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

11 And Boaz answered and said unto her, It hath fully been shewed me, all that thou hast done unto thy mother in law since the death of thine husband: and how thou hast left thy father and thy mother, and the land of thy nativity, and art come unto a people which thou knewest not heretofore.

12 The Lord recompense thy work, and a full reward be given thee of the Lord God of Israel, under whose wings thou art come to trust.

13 Then she said, Let me find favour in thy sight, my lord; for that thou hast comforted me, and for that thou hast spoken friendly unto thine handmaid, though I be not like unto one of thine handmaidens.

14 And Boaz said unto her, At mealtime come thou hither, and eat of the bread, and dip thy morsel in the vinegar. And she sat beside the reapers: and he reached her parched corn, and she did eat, and was sufficed, and left.

15 And when she was risen up to glean, Boaz commanded his young men, saying, Let her glean even among the sheaves, and reproach her not:

16 And let fall also some of the handfuls of purpose for her, and leave them, that she may glean them, and rebuke her not.

17 So she gleaned in the field until even, and beat out that she had gleaned: and it was about an ephah of barley.

18 And she took it up, and went into the city: and her mother in law saw what she had gleaned: and she brought forth, and gave to her that she had reserved after she was sufficed.

19 And her mother in law said unto her, Where hast thou gleaned to day? and where wroughtest thou? blessed be he that did take knowledge of thee. And she shewed her mother in law with whom she had wrought, and said, The man's name with whom I wrought to day is Boaz.

20 And Naomi said unto her daughter in law, Blessed be he of the Lord, who hath not left off his kindness to the living and to the dead. And Naomi said unto her, The man is near of kin unto us, one of our next kinsmen.

21 And Ruth the Moabitess said, He said unto me also, Thou shalt keep fast by my young men, until they have ended all my harvest.

22 And Naomi said unto Ruth her daughter in law, It is good, my daughter, that thou go out with his maidens, that they meet thee not in any other field.

23 So she kept fast by the maidens of Boaz to glean unto the end of barley harvest and of wheat harvest; and dwelt with her mother in law.