Ruth 1–4

Chapter 1

Naomi Widowed

¹Now it came about in the days ^awhen the judges ¹governed, that there was ^ba famine in the land. And a certain man ^cof Bethlehem in Judah went to sojourn in the land of Moab ²with his wife and his two sons.

²The name of the man was Elimelech, and the name of his wife, Naomi; and the names of his two sons were Mahlon and Chilion, Ephrathites of Bethlehem in Judah. Now they ^aentered the land of Moab and remained there.

³Then Elimelech, Naomi’s husband, died; and she was left with her two sons.

⁴They took for themselves Moabite women as wives; the name of the one was Orpah and the name of the other Ruth. And they lived there about ten years.

⁵Then ¹both Mahlon and Chilion also died, and the woman was bereft of her two children and her husband.

⁶Then she arose with her daughters-in-law that she might return from the land of Moab, for she had heard in the land of Moab that the Lord had ^avisited His people in ^bgiving them food.

⁷So she departed from the place where she was, and her two daughters-in-law with her; and they went on the way to return to the land of Judah.

⁸And Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, “Go, return each of you to her mother’s house. ^aMay the Lord deal kindly with you as you have dealt with the dead and with me.

⁹“May the Lord grant that you may find rest, each in the house of her husband.” Then she kissed them, and they lifted up their voices and wept.

¹⁰And they said to her, “No, but we will surely return with you to your people.”

¹¹But Naomi said, “Return, my daughters. Why should you go with me? Have I yet sons in my womb, that ^athey may be your husbands?

¹²“Return, my daughters! Go, for I am too old to have a husband. If I said I have hope, if I should even have a husband tonight and also bear sons,

¹³would you therefore wait until they were grown? Would you therefore refrain from marrying? No, my daughters; for it is ¹harder for me than for you, for ^athe hand of the Lord has gone forth against me.”

Ruth’s Loyalty

¹⁴And they lifted up their voices and wept again; and Orpah kissed her mother-in-law, but Ruth clung to her.

¹⁵Then she said, “Behold, your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and her ^agods; return after your sister-in-law.”

¹⁶But Ruth said, “Do not urge me to leave you or turn back from following you; for where you go, I will go, and where you lodge, I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God, my God.

¹⁷“Where you die, I will die, and there I will be buried. Thus may ^athe Lord do to me, and worse, if anything but death parts you and me.”

¹⁸When ^ashe saw that she was determined to go with her, she ¹said no more to her.

¹⁹So they both went until they came to Bethlehem. And when they had come to Bethlehem, ^aall the city was stirred because of them, and ¹the women said, “Is this Naomi?”

²⁰She said to them, “Do not call me ¹Naomi; call me ²Mara, for ^3athe Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me.

²¹“I went out full, but ^athe Lord has brought me back empty. Why do you call me Naomi, since the Lord has witnessed against me and ¹the Almighty has afflicted me?”

²²So Naomi returned, and with her Ruth the Moabitess, her daughter-in-law, who returned from the land of Moab. And they came to Bethlehem at ^athe beginning of barley harvest.

Chapter 2

Ruth Gleans in Boaz’ Field

¹Now Naomi had ¹a kinsman of her husband, a ²man of great wealth, of the family of ^aElimelech, whose name was Boaz.

²And Ruth the Moabitess said to Naomi, “Please let me go to the field and ^aglean among the ears of grain after one in whose sight I may find favor.” And she said to her, “Go, my daughter.”

³So she departed and went and gleaned in the field after the reapers; and ¹she happened to come to the portion of the field belonging to Boaz, who was of the family of Elimelech.

⁴Now behold, Boaz came from Bethlehem and said to the reapers, “^aMay the Lord be with you.” And they said to him, “May the Lord bless you.”

⁵Then Boaz said to his servant who was ¹in charge of the reapers, “Whose young woman is this?”

⁶The servant ¹in charge of the reapers replied, “She is the young Moabite woman who returned with Naomi from the land of Moab.

⁷“And she said, ‘Please let me glean and gather after the reapers among the sheaves.’ Thus she came and has remained from the morning until now; she has been sitting in the house for a little while.”

⁸Then Boaz said to Ruth, “¹Listen carefully, my daughter. Do not go to glean in another field; furthermore, do not go on from this one, but stay here with my maids.

⁹“Let your eyes be on the field which they reap, and go after them. Indeed, I have commanded the servants not to touch you. When you are thirsty, go to the ¹water jars and drink from what the servants draw.”

¹⁰Then she ^afell on her face, bowing to the ground and said to him, “Why have I found favor in your sight that you should take notice of me, since I am a foreigner?”

¹¹Boaz replied to her, “All that you have done for your mother-in-law after the death of your husband has been fully reported to me, and how you left your father and your mother and the land of your birth, and came to a people that you did not previously know.

¹²“^aMay the Lord reward your work, and your wages be full from the Lord, the God of Israel, ^bunder whose wings you have come to seek refuge.”

¹³Then she said, “I have found favor in your sight, my lord, for you have comforted me and indeed have spoken ¹kindly to your maidservant, though I am not like one of your maidservants.”

¹⁴At mealtime Boaz said to her, “¹Come here, that you may eat of the bread and dip your piece of bread in the vinegar.” So she sat beside the reapers; and he ²served her roasted grain, and she ate and was satisfied ^aand had some left.

¹⁵When she rose to glean, Boaz commanded his servants, saying, “Let her glean even among the sheaves, and do not insult her.

¹⁶“Also you shall purposely pull out for her some grain from the bundles and leave it that she may glean, and do not rebuke her.”

¹⁷So she gleaned in the field until evening. Then she beat out what she had gleaned, and it was about an ephah of barley.

¹⁸She took it up and went into the city, and her mother-in-law saw what she had gleaned. She also took it out and ^agave ¹Naomi what she had left after ²she was satisfied.

¹⁹Her mother-in-law then said to her, “Where did you glean today and where did you work? May he who ^atook notice of you be blessed.” So she told her mother-in-law with whom she had worked and said, “The name of the man with whom I worked today is Boaz.”

²⁰Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, “^aMay he be blessed of the Lord who has not withdrawn his kindness to the living and to the dead.” Again Naomi said to her, “The man is ¹our relative, he is one of our ²closest relatives.”

²¹Then Ruth the Moabitess said, “¹Furthermore, he said to me, ‘You should stay close to my servants until they have finished all my harvest.’ ”

²²Naomi said to Ruth her daughter-in-law, “It is good, my daughter, that you go out with his maids, so that others do not fall upon you in another field.”

²³So she stayed close by the maids of Boaz in order to glean until ^athe end of the barley harvest and the wheat harvest. And she lived with her mother-in-law.

Chapter 3

Boaz Will Redeem Ruth

¹Then Naomi her mother-in-law said to her, “My daughter, shall I not seek ¹security for you, that it may be well with you?

²“Now is not Boaz ^aour ¹kinsman, with whose maids you were? Behold, he winnows barley at the threshing floor tonight.

³“Wash yourself therefore, and anoint yourself and put on your best clothes, and go down to the threshing floor; but do not make yourself known to the man until he has finished eating and drinking.

⁴“It shall be when he lies down, that you shall ¹notice the place where he lies, and you shall go and uncover his feet and lie down; then he will tell you what you shall do.”

⁵She said to her, “^aAll that you say I will do.”

⁶So she went down to the threshing floor and did according to all that her mother-in-law had commanded her.

⁷When Boaz had eaten and drunk and ^ahis heart was merry, he went to lie down at the end of the heap of grain; and she came secretly, and uncovered his feet and lay down.

⁸It happened in the middle of the night that the man was startled and ¹bent forward; and behold, a woman was lying at his feet.

⁹He said, “Who are you?” And she answered, “I am Ruth your maid. So spread your covering over your maid, for you are a ¹close relative.”

¹⁰Then he said, “^aMay you be blessed of the Lord, my daughter. You have shown your last kindness to be better than the first by not going after young men, whether poor or rich.

¹¹“Now, my daughter, do not fear. I will do for you whatever you ¹ask, for all my people in the ²city know that you are ^aa woman of excellence.

¹²“Now it is true I am a ¹close relative; however, there is a relative closer than I.

¹³“Remain this night, and when morning comes, ^aif he will ¹redeem you, good; let him redeem you. But if he does not wish to redeem you, then I will redeem you, ^bas the Lord lives. Lie down until morning.”

¹⁴So she lay at his feet until morning and rose before one could recognize another; and he said, “^aLet it not be known that the woman came to the threshing floor.”

¹⁵Again he said, “Give me the cloak that is on you and hold it.” So she held it, and he measured six measures of barley and laid it on her. Then ¹she went into the city.

¹⁶When she came to her mother-in-law, she said, “¹How did it go, my daughter?” And she told her all that the man had done for her.

¹⁷She said, “These six measures of barley he gave to me, for he said, ‘Do not go to your mother-in-law empty-handed.’ ”

¹⁸Then she said, “Wait, my daughter, until you know how the matter ¹turns out; for the man will not rest until he has ²settled it today.”

Chapter 4

The Marriage of Ruth

¹Now Boaz went up to the gate and sat down there, and behold, ^athe ¹close relative of whom Boaz spoke was passing by, so he said, “Turn aside, ²friend, sit down here.” And he turned aside and sat down.

²He…