Ruth 2-4

New Catholic Bible

Chapter 2

Ruth and Boaz.^{[a] 1} Naomi’s husband had a kinsman, a very wealthy man from the clan of Elimelech, whose name was Boaz. ² Ruth the Moabite said to Naomi, “Let me go now to the field and glean ears of corn after one in whose sight I might find favor.” So she said, “Go, my daughter.”

³ She left and went and gleaned in the field after the reapers. It happened that she arrived at a portion of the field that belonged to Boaz of the clan of Elimelech.^{[b] 4} Just then Boaz arrived from Bethlehem and he said to the reapers, “The Lord be with you.” They answered him, “The Lord bless you.” ⁵ Boaz asked his foreman of the harvesters, “Whose young woman is this?” ⁶ The foreman of the harvesters answered, “The young woman is a Moabite. She came back with Naomi from the land of Moab. ⁷ She said, ‘Please let me glean and gather the sheaves after the harvesters.’ She arrived early this morning and has continued working continuously until now, except for a short rest in the shelter.”

⁸ So Boaz said to Ruth, “Listen to me, my daughter. Do not go and glean in any other field and do not go away from here. Stay here with my servant girls. ⁹ Keep your eyes on the field that they are reaping, and follow after them. I have told the young men not to bother you. When you are thirsty, go to the water jars and drink from what the young men have drawn.” ¹⁰ She bowed down with her face to the ground and said, “Why have I, a foreigner, found favor in your sight that you should take notice of me?” ¹¹ But Boaz answered her, “I have been informed of all that you have done for your mother-in-law since your husband died, how you left your father and your mother and the land of your birth and came to live with a people whom you had not previously known. ¹² May the Lord repay you for what you have done. May you be richly rewarded by the Lord, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have taken refuge.”^{[c] 13} Then she said, “May I continue to find favor in your sight, my lord. You have comforted me and shown kindness to your servant, even though I am not really one of your servants.”

¹⁴ At mealtime Boaz said to her, “Come over here and have some bread and dip it into the sour wine.” She sat alongside the reapers. He served her so much roasted grain that she ate until she was full and there was still some left over.

¹⁵ When she got up to glean, Boaz gave orders to his men: “Even if she gathers among the sheaves, do not reproach her. ¹⁶ Let some fall out from the bundles and leave it there for her to glean, but do not chastise her.”

¹⁷ So she gleaned in the field until the evening. She threshed out what she had gleaned, and it amounted to an ephah of barley. ¹⁸ She gathered it up and went back into the city. She showed her mother-in-law what she had gleaned, and she also brought out and gave her what she had saved after she was full. ¹⁹ Her mother-in-law asked her, “Where did you glean today and where did you work? May he who took notice of you be blessed.” She told her mother-in-law with whom she had worked, “The name of the man with whom I worked today is Boaz.” ²⁰ Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, “May he be blessed by the Lord who has not withdrawn his favor from the living nor the dead.” Then Naomi said to her, “The man is one of our relatives, one of our closest relations.”^{[d] 21} Ruth the Moabite added, “He said to me, ‘You should stay close to my young men until they have finished my harvest.’ ” ²² So Naomi said to Ruth, her daughter-in-law, “It is good for you to go out with his servant girls, lest you be harmed in some other field.”

²³ So Ruth stayed close to the servant girls of Boaz to glean until the barley and the wheat harvests were over, and she continued to live with her mother-in-law.

Chapter 3^[e]

Naomi Instructs Ruth. ¹ Then Naomi, her mother-in-law, said to her, “My daughter, should I not seek a home for you so that you may find security? ² Is not Boaz, with whose servant girls you were, our relative? Tonight he will be winnowing barley on the threshing floor. ³ Bathe and perfume yourself and put on your best clothes. Go down to the floor, but do not let him know you are there until he has finished eating and drinking. ⁴ When he lies down to sleep, note the place where he is lying. Go and uncover his feet and lie down. He will tell you what you should do.” ⁵ She said to her, “I will do whatever you say.”

⁶ She went down to the floor and did everything just as her mother-in-law had instructed her. ⁷ When Boaz had finished eating and drinking and was feeling a bit merry, he went over to lie down at the far end of the grain pile. She quietly approached, uncovered his feet and lay down.

⁸ In the middle of the night, the man was startled when he turned over and there was a woman at his feet. ⁹ He said, “Who are you?” She answered, “I am Ruth, your handmaid. Spread your covering^[f] over your handmaid, for you are my next of kin.” ¹⁰ He said, “May you be blessed by the Lord, my daughter. This latter kindness you have shown is greater than the former, for you have not sought after the young men, whether poor or rich. ¹¹ Now, my daughter, do not fear. I will give you whatever you ask, for all of my people in the city know that you are a virtuous woman. ¹² It is true that we are close relatives, but there is another relative closer than I. ¹³ Remain this night. When morning comes, if he fulfills his duty as next of kin, then good, let him do it. But if he will not fulfill his duty as next of kin, then I will fulfill that duty for you. I swear, as the Lord lives. Now lie down until the morning.”

¹⁴ So she laid at his feet until the morning, and she arose before it was possible to recognize another person. Then he said, “Do not let it be known that a woman came to the threshing floor.” ¹⁵ He also said, “Bring over your shawl and hold it open.” As she held it, he measured out six measures of barley and laid it upon her. She then went into the city.

¹⁶ When she came to her mother-in-law, she said, “How did it go, my daughter?” She told her all that the man had done for her. ¹⁷ Then she said, “He gave me these six measures of barley, for he said to me, ‘Do not go to your mother-in-law empty-handed.’ ” ¹⁸ Then she said, “Wait here, my daughter, until the matter has worked itself out, for the man will not rest until he has brought it to a conclusion today.”^[g]

Chapter 4

Boaz Marries Ruth. ¹ So Boaz went to the city gate and sat down there. The relative of whom Boaz had spoken was passing by, so he said, “Come over here, my friend, and sit down.” So he came over and sat down.^{[h] 2} He gathered ten of the elders of the city and said, “Sit down,” and they sat down.

³ Then he said to the next of kin, “Naomi has come back from the land of Moab and is selling the parcel of land that belonged to our kinsman Elimelech. ⁴ I thought that I would tell this to you. Buy it in the presence of those who dwell here and in the presence of the elders. If you intend to redeem it as next of kin, then redeem it. If you do not intend to redeem it, then tell me so that I can know, for there is no one else besides you to redeem the land, and then I am next in line.” He said, “I will redeem it.” ⁵ Then Boaz said, “When you acquire the field, you also receive the hand of Ruth the Moabite, the wife of the deceased, to raise up the name of the deceased for an inheritance.” ⁶ But the kinsman said, “I cannot redeem it for myself, lest I endanger my own inheritance. You can exercise my right of next of kin, for I cannot redeem it.”

⁷ Now in those days in Israel it was the custom that when there was an act of redemption or of the exchange of lands, one man would take off his sandal and give it to the other in order to confirm the action. This was an act of confirming actions in Israel. ⁸ So the kinsman said to Boaz, “Buy it for yourself,” and he took off his sandal.

⁹ Boaz then said to the elders and to all the people, “You are witnesses today that I have bought from Naomi all that belonged to Elimelech, and all that belonged to Chilion and all that belonged to Mahlon. ¹⁰ Moreover, I have acquired Ruth, the Moabite, the wife of Mahlon, to be my wife, to perpetuate the name of the deceased for an inheritance so that the name of the deceased not disappear from among his brethren nor from the gates of his native place. You are witnesses today.”

¹¹ All the people who were in the gateway and the elders said, “We are witnesses. May the Lord make the woman who is coming into your home like Rachel and Leah, both of whom built up the house of Israel. May you prosper in Ephrathah and be renowned in Bethlehem. ¹² May your home be like that of Perez, whom Tamar bore to Judah, because of the children that the Lord will give you through this young woman.”

¹³ So Boaz took Ruth and she became his wife. He slept with her, and the Lord granted that she conceive, and she bore a son. ¹⁴ The women said to Naomi, “Blessed be the Lord, who has not left you without a next of kin; may his name be famous throughout Israel.^{[i] 15} He will renew your life and support you in your old age. Your daughter-in-law, who loves you and who is worth more than seven sons to you, has borne him.”

¹⁶ Naomi then took the child and laid him in her lap. She became his nurse. ¹⁷ The neighbor women gave him a name, saying, “A son is born to Naomi.” They called him Obed.^[j] He was the father of Jesse, the father of David. ^18 [k]This is the genealogy of Perez: Perez was the father of Hezron; ¹⁹ Hezron was the father of Ram; Ram was the father of Amminadab; ²⁰ Amminadab was the father of Nahshon; Nahshon was the father of Salmon; ²¹ Salmon was the father of Boaz; Boaz was the father of Obed; ²² Obed was the father of Jesse; and Jesse was the father of David.