Ruth 1:6–2:23
6 And she got up, she and her daughters-in-law, and returned from the countryside of Moab, because she had heard in the countryside of Moab that Yahweh had ⌊come to the aid of⌋f his people to give food to them. 7 So she set out from the place ⌊where she was⌋g and her two daughters-in-law with her, and they went on the way to return to the land of Judah.
8 But Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, “Go, each of you return to her mother’s house. May Yahweh ⌊show kindness to you⌋h just as you did with the dead and with me. 9 May Yahweh ⌊grant that you⌋i find a resting place, each in the house of her husband.” And she kissed them, and they lifted up their voices and cried.
10 And they said to her, “No, we want to return with you to your people.” 11 And Naomi said, “Return, my daughters. ⌊Why do you still want to go with me⌋?j Are there sons ⌊in my womb⌋k that may be husbands for you? 12 Turn back, my daughters! Go, for ⌊I am too old to have a husband⌋.l If I should think there is hope for me, even if I should have a husband this night, and even if I should bear sons, 13 would you therefore wait until they were grown? Would you therefore ⌊refrain from marrying⌋?m No, my daughters, for it is far more bitter to me than to you. For the hand of Yahweh has gone out against me.” 14 And they lifted up their voices and cried again. And Orpah kissed her mother-in-law goodbye, but Ruth clung to her. 15 And she said, “Look, your sister-in-law has returned to her people and to her gods. Return after your sister-in-law too.”
16 But Ruth said, “⌊Do not urge⌋n me to leave you or to return from ⌊following you⌋!o For where you go, I will go, and where you lodge, I will lodge. Your people will be my people and your God will be my God. 17 Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried. So may Yahweh do to me, ⌊and even more, unless⌋p death ⌊separates you and me⌋!”q 18 When Naomi saw that she was determined to go with her, ⌊she said no more⌋.r
19 So the two of them went until they came to Bethlehem. ⌊And when they came⌋s to Bethlehem, all of the town was stirred because of them. And they said, “Is this Naomi?” 20 And she said to them, “You should not call me Naomi; call me Mara, for Shaddait has ⌊caused me to be very bitter⌋.u 21 I went away full, but Yahweh brought me back empty-handed! Why call me Naomi ⌊when Yahweh has testified against me⌋v and Shaddaiw has brought calamity upon me?” 22 So Naomi returned, and Ruth the Moabite her daughter-in-law with her, returning from the countryside of Moab. And they came to Bethlehem at the beginning of the harvest of barley.
2 ⌊Now⌋a Naomi ⌊had a relative of her husband⌋,b ⌊a prominent rich man⌋c from the clan of Elimelech, whose name was Boaz. 2 And Ruth the Moabite said to Naomi, “Please let me go to the field and glean among the ears of grain after someone in whose eyes I may find favor.” And she said to her, “Go, my daughter.” 3 So she went and came and gleaned in the field behind the reapers. And she happened by chance upon the tract of field ⌊belonging to⌋d Boaz, who was from the clan of Elimelech. 4 And look, Boaz came from Bethlehem and said to the reapers, “May Yahweh be with you.” And they said to him, “May Yahweh bless you.” 5 And Boaz said to his servant ⌊in charge of the reapers⌋,e “To whom does this young woman belong?” 6 And ⌊the servant in charge of the reapers⌋f said, “She is a Moabite girl returning with Naomi from the countryside of Moab. 7 And she said, ‘Please let me glean and let me gather among the sheaves behind the reapers.’ So she came and remained from the morning up to now. ⌊She is sitting for a little while in the house⌋.”g
8 And Boaz said to Ruth, “⌊Listen carefully⌋,h my daughter, go no longer to glean in another field. Moreover, do not leave from this one, but ⌊stay close⌋i with my young women. 9 Keep your eyes on the field that they reap and go after them. Have I not ordered the servants not to bother you? And if you get thirsty, you shall go to the containers and drink from where the servants have drawn.” 10 And she fell on her face and bowed down to the ground and said to him, “Why have I found favor in your eyes by recognizing me—for I am a foreigner?” 11 And Boaz answered and said to her, “All that you have done for your mother-in-law after the death of your husband was fully told to me. How you left your father and mother and the land of your birth, and you went to a people that you did not know ⌊before⌋.j 12 May Yahweh reward your work and may a full reward be given to you from Yahweh, the God of Israel, under whose wings you came to take refuge.” 13 And she said, “May I find favor in your eyes, my lord, for you have comforted me and have spoken ⌊kindly to your servant⌋,k and I am not one of your servants.”
14 And Boaz said to her ⌊at mealtime⌋,l “Come here and eat from the bread and dip your morsel in the wine vinegar.” So she sat beside the gleaners, and he offered to her roasted grain. And she ate and was satisfied, and she had some left over. 15 And she got up to glean, and Boaz instructed his servants saying, “Let her also glean between the sheaves and do not reproach her. 16 And also pull out for her from your bundles and leave it so that she may glean—and do not rebuke her.”
17 So she gleaned in the field until the evening and she beat out what she had gleaned, and it was about an ephah of barley. 18 And she picked it up and went to the town. Her mother-in-law saw how much she had gleaned. And she took it out and gave to her what she had left over ⌊after being satisfied⌋.m 19 And her mother-in-law said to her, “Where did you glean ⌊today⌋n and where did you work? May he who took notice of you be blessed.” And she told her mother-in-law ⌊with whom she had worked⌋o and said, “The name of the man who I worked with today is Boaz.” 20 And Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, “May he be blessed by Yahweh, whose loyal love has not forsaken the living or the dead.” And Naomi said to her, “The man is a close relative for us, he is one of our redeemers.” 21 And Ruth the Moabite said, “Also, he said to me, ‘You shall stay close with the servants which are mine until they have finished all of the harvest which is mine.’ ” 22 And Naomi said to Ruth her daughter-in-law, “It is good, my daughter, that you go out with his maidservants so that you will not ⌊be bothered⌋p in another field.” 23 So she stayed close with the maidservants of Boaz to glean until the end of the barley harvest and wheat harvest. And she lived with her mother-in-law.