Ruth 3–4

Naomi’s Plan

3Then Naomi, Ruth’s mother-in-law, said to her, “My daughter, I must find a suitable home for you, one that will be good for you. ²Now Boaz, whose young women you worked with, is our close relative. ⁿ Tonight he will be working at the threshing floor. ³Wash yourself, put on perfume, change your clothes, and go down to the threshing floor. But don’t let him know you’re there until he has finished his dinner. ⁴Watch him so you will know where he lies down to sleep. When he lies down, go and lift the cover off his feet ⁿ and lie down. He will tell you what you should do.”

⁵Then Ruth answered, “I will do everything you say.”

⁶So Ruth went down to the threshing floor and did all her mother-in-law told her to do. ⁷After his evening meal, Boaz felt good and went to sleep lying beside the pile of grain. Ruth went to him quietly and lifted the cover from his feet and lay down.

⁸About midnight Boaz was startled and rolled over. There was a woman lying near his feet! ⁹Boaz asked, “Who are you?”

She said, “I am Ruth, your servant girl. Spread your cover over me, because you are a relative who is supposed to take care of me.” ⁿ

¹⁰Then Boaz said, “The Lord bless you, my daughter. This act of kindness is greater than the kindness you showed to Naomi in the beginning. You didn’t look for a young man to marry, either rich or poor. ¹¹Now, my daughter, don’t be afraid. I will do everything you ask, because all the people in our town know you are a good woman. ¹²It is true that I am a relative who is to take care of you, but you have a closer relative than I. ¹³Stay here tonight, and in the morning we will see if he will take care of you. If he decides to take care of you, that is fine. But if he refuses, I will take care of you myself, as surely as the Lord lives. So stay here until morning.”

¹⁴So Ruth stayed near his feet until morning but got up while it was still too dark to recognize anyone. Boaz thought, “People in town must not know that the woman came here to the threshing floor.” ¹⁵So Boaz said to Ruth, “Bring me your shawl and hold it open.”

So Ruth held her shawl open, and Boaz poured six portions of barley into it. Boaz then put it on her head and went back to the city.

¹⁶When Ruth went back to her mother-in-law, Naomi asked, “How did you do, my daughter?”

Ruth told Naomi everything that Boaz did for her. ¹⁷She said, “Boaz gave me these six portions of barley, saying, ‘You must not go home without a gift for your mother-in-law.’ ”

¹⁸Naomi answered, “Ruth, my daughter, wait here until you see what happens. Boaz will not rest until he has finished doing what he should do today.”

Boaz Marries Ruth

4Boaz went to the city gate and sat there until the close relative he had mentioned passed by. Boaz called to him, “Come here, friend, and sit down.” So the man came over and sat down. ²Boaz gathered ten of the elders of the city and told them, “Sit down here!” So they sat down.

³Then Boaz said to the close relative, “Naomi, who has come back from the country of Moab, wants to sell the piece of land that belonged to our relative Elimelech. ⁴So I decided to tell you about it: If you want to buy back the land, then buy it in front of the people who are sitting here and in front of the elders of my people. But if you don’t want to buy it, tell me, because you are the only one who can buy it, and I am next after you.”

The close relative answered, “I will buy back the land.”

⁵Then Boaz explained, “When you buy the land from Naomi, you must also marry Ruth, the Moabite, the dead man’s wife. That way, the land will stay in the dead man’s name.”

⁶The close relative answered, “I can’t buy back the land. If I did, I might harm what I can pass on to my own sons. I cannot buy the land back, so buy it yourself.”

⁷Long ago in Israel when people traded or bought back something, one person took off his sandal and gave it to the other person. This was the proof of ownership in Israel.

⁸So the close relative said to Boaz, “Buy the land yourself,” and he took off his sandal.

⁹Then Boaz said to the elders and to all the people, “You are witnesses today. I am buying from Naomi everything that belonged to Elimelech and Kilion and Mahlon. ¹⁰I am also taking Ruth, the Moabite who was the wife of Mahlon, as my wife. I am doing this so her dead husband’s property will stay in his name and his name will not be separated from his family and his hometown. You are witnesses today.”

¹¹So all the people and elders who were at the city gate said, “We are witnesses. May the Lord make this woman, who is coming into your home, like Rachel and Leah, who had many children and built up the people of Israel. May you become powerful in the district of Ephrathah and famous in Bethlehem. ¹²As Tamar gave birth to Judah’s son Perez, ⁿ may the Lord give you many children through Ruth. May your family be great like his.”

¹³So Boaz took Ruth home as his wife and had sexual relations with her. The Lord let her become pregnant, and she gave birth to a son. ¹⁴The women told Naomi, “Praise the Lord who gave you this grandson. May he become famous in Israel. ¹⁵He will give you new life and will take care of you in your old age because of your daughter-in-law who loves you. She is better for you than seven sons, because she has given birth to your grandson.”

¹⁶Naomi took the boy, held him in her arms, and cared for him. ¹⁷The neighbors gave the boy his name, saying, “This boy was born for Naomi.” They named him Obed. Obed was the father of Jesse, and Jesse was the father of David.

¹⁸This is the family history of Perez, the father of Hezron. ¹⁹Hezron was the father of Ram, who was the father of Amminadab. ²⁰Amminadab was the father of Nahshon, who was the father of Salmon. ²¹Salmon was the father of Boaz, who was the father of Obed. ²²Obed was the father of Jesse, and Jesse was the father of David.