Ruth 3–4

Chapter 3

¹And Naomi her mother-in-law said to her, My daughter, shall I not seek rest for thee, that it may be well with thee? ²And now, is not Boaz of our kindred, with whose maidens thou wast? Behold, he is winnowing barley in the threshing-floor to-night. ³Wash thyself therefore, and anoint thyself, and put thy raiment upon thee, and go down to the floor; make not thyself known to the man, until he shall have done eating and drinking. ⁴And it shall be, when he lies down, that thou shalt mark the place where he shall have lain down, and thou shalt go in, and uncover his feet, and lay thyself down; and he will shew thee what thou shalt do. ⁵And she said to her, All that thou sayest will I do.

⁶And she went down to the floor, and did according to all that her mother-in-law had bidden her. ⁷And Boaz ate and drank, and his heart was merry, and he went to lie down at the end of the heap of corn. Then she went softly, and uncovered his feet, and laid herself down. ⁸And it came to pass at midnight, that the man was startled, and turned himself; and behold, a woman lay at his feet. ⁹And he said, Who art thou? And she answered, I am Ruth, thy handmaid: spread thy skirt over thy handmaid; for thou hast the right of redemption. ¹⁰And he said, Blessed be thou of Jehovah, my daughter! Thou hast shewn more kindness at the end than at the first, inasmuch as thou followedst not young men, whether poor or rich. ¹¹And now, my daughter, fear not: all that thou sayest will I do to thee; for all the gate of my people knows that thou art a woman of worth. ¹²And now, truly I am one that has the right of redemption, yet there is one that has the right of redemption who is nearer than I. ¹³Stay over to-night, and it shall be in the morning, if he will redeem thee, well—let him redeem; but if he like not to redeem thee, then will I redeem thee, as Jehovah liveth. Lie down until the morning.

¹⁴And she lay at his feet until the morning; and she rose up before one could know another. And he said, Let it not be known that a woman came into the threshing-floor. ¹⁵And he said, Bring the cloak that thou hast upon thee, and hold it. And she held it, and he measured six measures of barley, and laid it on her; and he went into the city. ¹⁶And she came to her mother-in-law; and she said, Who art thou, my daughter? And she told her all that the man had done to her. ¹⁷And she said, These six measures of barley gave he me; for he said to me, Go not empty to thy mother-in-law. ¹⁸Then she said, Be still, my daughter, until thou know how the matter will fall; for the man will not rest until he have completed the matter this day.

Chapter 4

¹And Boaz went up to the gate, and sat down there. And behold, he that had the right of redemption, of whom Boaz had spoken, came by. And he said, Thou, such a one, turn aside, sit down here. And he turned aside and sat down. ²And he took ten men of the elders of the city, and said, Sit down here. And they sat down. ³And he said to him that had the right of redemption: Naomi, who is come back out of the country of Moab, sells the allotment that was our brother Elimelech’s. ⁴And I thought I would apprise thee of it and say, Buy it in the presence of the inhabitants, and in the presence of the elders of my people. If thou wilt redeem it, redeem; but if thou wilt not redeem, tell me, that I may know; for there is none to redeem besides thee; and I am after thee. And he said, I will redeem it. ⁵And Boaz said, On the day thou buyest the field of the hand of Naomi, thou must buy it also of Ruth the Moabitess, the wife of the dead, to raise up the name of the dead upon his inheritance. ⁶And he that had the right of redemption said, I cannot redeem it for myself, lest I mar mine own inheritance. Redeem thou for thyself what I should redeem, for I cannot redeem it. ⁷Now this was the custom in former time in Israel concerning redemption and concerning exchange, to confirm the whole matter: a man drew off his sandal, and gave it to his neighbour, and this was the mode of attestation in Israel. ⁸And he that had the right of redemption said to Boaz, Buy for thyself; and he drew off his sandal.

⁹And Boaz said to the elders and all the people, Ye are witnesses this day, that I have bought all that was Elimelech’s, and all that was Chilion’s and Mahlon’s, of the hand of Naomi; ¹⁰moreover Ruth the Moabitess, the wife of Mahlon, have I purchased to be my wife, to raise up the name of the dead upon his inheritance, that the name of the dead be not cut off from among his brethren and from the gate of his place: ye are witnesses this day. ¹¹And all the people that were in the gate and the elders said, We are witnesses. Jehovah make the woman that cometh into thy house like Rachel and like Leah, which two did build the house of Israel; and acquire power in Ephratah, and make thyself a name in Bethlehem; ¹²and let thy house become like the house of Pherez, whom Tamar bore to Judah, of the seed which Jehovah shall give thee of this young woman.

¹³And Boaz took Ruth, and she became his wife; and he went in unto her, and Jehovah gave her conception, and she bore a son. ¹⁴And the women said to Naomi, Blessed be Jehovah who hath not left thee this day without one that has the right of redemption, and may his name be famous in Israel! ¹⁵And he shall be to thee a restorer of thy life, and a nourisher of thine old age; for thy daughter-in-law who loves thee, who is better to thee than seven sons, has borne him. ¹⁶And Naomi took the child, and laid it in her bosom, and became nurse to it. ¹⁷And the women her neighbours gave it a name, saying, There is a son born to Naomi. And they called his name Obed. He is the father of Jesse, the father of David. ¹⁸Now these are the generations of Pherez. Pherez begot Hezron, ¹⁹and Hezron begot Ram, and Ram begot Amminadab, ²⁰and Amminadab begot Nahshon, and Nahshon begot Salmon, ²¹and Salmon begot Boaz, and Boaz begot Obed, ²²and Obed begot Jesse, and Jesse begot David.