Ruth 3–4

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 took ten men of the ^aelders of the city and said, “Sit down here.” So they sat down.

³Then he said to the ¹closest relative, “Naomi, who has come back from the land of Moab, has to sell the piece of land ^awhich belonged to our brother Elimelech.

⁴“So I thought to ¹inform you, saying, ‘^aBuy it before those who are sitting here, and before the elders of my people. If you will redeem it, redeem it; but if ²not, tell me that I may know; for ^bthere is no one but you to redeem it, and I am after you.’ ” And he said, “I will redeem it.”

⁵Then Boaz said, “On the day you buy the field from the hand of Naomi, you must also acquire Ruth the Moabitess, the widow of the deceased, in order ^ato raise up the name of the deceased on his inheritance.”

^6aThe ¹closest relative said, “I cannot redeem it for myself, because I would ²jeopardize my own inheritance. Redeem it for yourself; you may have my right of redemption, for I cannot redeem it.”

⁷Now this was ^athe custom in former times in Israel concerning the redemption and the exchange of land to confirm any matter: a man removed his sandal and gave it to another; and this was the manner of attestation in Israel.

⁸So the ¹closest relative said to Boaz, “Buy it for yourself.” And he removed his sandal.

⁹Then Boaz said to the elders and all the people, “You are witnesses today that I have bought from the hand of Naomi all that belonged to Elimelech and all that belonged to Chilion and Mahlon.

¹⁰“Moreover, I have acquired Ruth the Moabitess, the widow of Mahlon, to be my wife in order to raise up the name of the deceased on his inheritance, so ^athat the name of the deceased will not be cut off from his brothers or from the ¹court of his birth place; you are witnesses today.”

¹¹All the people who were in the ¹court, and the elders, said, “We are witnesses. May the Lord make the woman who is coming into your home ^alike Rachel and Leah, both of whom built the house of Israel; and may you achieve ²wealth in Ephrathah and ³become famous in Bethlehem.

¹²“Moreover, may your house be like the house of ^aPerez whom Tamar bore to Judah, through the ¹offspring which the Lord will give you by this young woman.”

¹³So Boaz took Ruth, and she became his wife, and he went in to her. And ^athe Lord ¹enabled her to conceive, and she gave birth to a son.

¹⁴Then the ^awomen said to Naomi, “Blessed is the Lord who has not left you without a ¹redeemer today, and may his name ²become famous in Israel.

¹⁵“May he also be to you a restorer of life and a sustainer of your old age; for your daughter-in-law, who loves you ^1aand is better to you than seven sons, has given birth to him.”

The Line of David Began Here

¹⁶Then Naomi took the child ¹and laid him in her lap, and became his nurse.

¹⁷The neighbor women gave him a name, saying, “A son has been born to Naomi!” So they named him Obed. He is the father of Jesse, the father of David.

¹⁸Now these are the generations of Perez: ^ato Perez ¹was born Hezron,

¹⁹and to Hezron was born Ram, and to Ram, Amminadab,

²⁰and to Amminadab was born Nahshon, and to Nahshon, Salmon,

²¹and to Salmon was born Boaz, and to Boaz, Obed,

²²and to Obed was born Jesse, and to Jesse, David.