Ruth 2:1–13

RUTH AND BOAZ MEET

2Now Naomi had a relative on her husband’s side. He was a prominent man of noble character^q from Elimelech’s family. His name was Boaz.

²Ruth the Moabitess asked Naomi, “Will you let me go into the fields and gather fallen grain^r behind someone with whom I find favor?”

Naomi answered her, “Go ahead, my daughter.” ³So Ruth left and entered the field to gather grain behind the harvesters. She happened^a to be in the portion of the field belonging to Boaz, who was from Elimelech’s family.

⁴Later, when Boaz arrived from Bethlehem, he said to the harvesters, “The Lord be with you.”^b

“The Lord bless you,”^c they replied.

⁵Boaz asked his servant who was in charge of the harvesters, “Whose young woman is this?”

⁶The servant answered, “She is the young Moabite woman who returned with Naomi from the territory of Moab. ⁷She asked, ‘Will you let me gather fallen grain among the bundles behind the harvesters?’ She came and has been on her feet since early morning, except that she rested a little in the shelter.”^D

⁸Then Boaz said to Ruth, “Listen, my daughter.^E Don’t go and gather grain in another field, and don’t leave this one, but stay here close to my female servants. ⁹See which field they are harvesting, and follow them. Haven’t I ordered the young men not to touch you? When you are thirsty, go and drink from the jars the young men have filled.”

¹⁰She fell facedown, bowed to the ground,^d and said to him, “Why have I found favor with you, so that you notice me, although I am a foreigner?”

¹¹Boaz answered her, “Everything you have done for your mother-in-law since your husband’s death has been fully reported to me: how you left your father and mother and your native land, and how you came to a people you didn’t previously know. ¹²May the Lord reward you for what you have done,^e and may you receive a full reward from the Lord God of Israel, under whose wings you have come for refuge.”^f

¹³“My lord,” she said, “I have found favor with you, for you have comforted and encouraged your servant, although I am not like one of your female servants.”