Ruth 4:1–7

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.