Ruth 3:7–15

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.