17 So Ruth gathered grain in the field until evening. She beat out what she had gathered, and it was about twenty-six quartsE of barley. 18 She picked up the grain and went into the town, where her mother-in-law saw what she had gleaned. She brought out what she had left over from her meal and gave it to her.

19 Her mother-in-law said to her, “Where did you gather barley today, and where did you work? May the Lord bless the man who noticed you.”g

Ruth told her mother-in-law whom she had worked with and said, “The name of the man I worked with today is Boaz.”

20 Then Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, “May the Lordh bless him because he has not abandoned his kindness to the living or the dead.”i Naomi continued, “The man is a close relative. He is one of our family redeemers.”j

21 Ruth the Moabitess said, “He also told me, ‘Stay with my young men until they have finished all of my harvest.’ ”

22 So Naomi said to her daughter-in-law Ruth, “My daughter, it is good for you to workF with his female servants, so that nothing will happen to you in another field.” 23 Ruth stayed close to Boaz’s female servants and gathered grain until the barley and the wheat harvests were finished.k And she lived withG her mother-in-law.