Ruth 3–4

Ruth’s Redemption Assured

3Then Naomi her mother-in-law said to her, “My daughter, ^ashall I not seek ^bsecurity ¹for you, that it may be well with you? ²Now Boaz, ^cwhose young women you were with, is he not our relative? In fact, he is winnowing barley tonight at the threshing floor. ³Therefore wash yourself and ^danoint yourself, put on your best garment and go down to the threshing floor; but do not make yourself known to the man until he has finished eating and drinking. ⁴Then it shall be, when he lies down, that you shall notice the place where he lies; and you shall go in, uncover his feet, and lie down; and he will tell you what you should do.”

⁵And she said to her, “All that you say to me I will do.”

⁶So she went down to the threshing floor and did according to all that her mother-in-law instructed her. ⁷And after Boaz had eaten and drunk, and ^ehis heart was cheerful, he went to lie down at the end of the heap of grain; and she came softly, uncovered his feet, and lay down.

⁸Now it happened at midnight that the man was startled, and turned himself; and there, a woman was lying at his feet. ⁹And he said, “Who are you?”

So she answered, “I am Ruth, your maidservant. ^fTake ²your maidservant under your wing, for you are ^ga ³close relative.”

¹⁰Then he said, ^h“Blessed are you of the Lord, my daughter! For you have shown more kindness at the end than ⁱat the beginning, in that you did not go after young men, whether poor or rich. ¹¹And now, my daughter, do not fear. I will do for you all that you request, for all the people of my town know that you are ^ja virtuous woman. ¹²Now it is true that I am a ^kclose relative; however, ^lthere is a relative closer than I. ¹³Stay this night, and in the morning it shall be that if he will ^mperform the duty of a close relative for you—good; let him do it. But if he does not want to perform the duty for you, then I will perform the duty for you, ⁿas the Lord lives! Lie down until morning.”

¹⁴So she lay at his feet until morning, and she arose before one could recognize another. Then he said, ^o“Do not let it be known that the woman came to the threshing floor.” ¹⁵Also he said, “Bring the ⁴shawl that is on you and hold it.” And when she held it, he measured six ephahs of barley, and laid it on her. Then ⁵she went into the city.

¹⁶When she came to her mother-in-law, she said, ⁶“Is that you, my daughter?”

Then she told her all that the man had done for her. ¹⁷And she said, “These six ephahs of barley he gave me; for he said to me, ‘Do not go empty-handed to your mother-in-law.’ ”

¹⁸Then she said, ^p“Sit still, my daughter, until you know how the matter will turn out; for the man will not rest until he has concluded the matter this day.”

Boaz Redeems Ruth

4Now Boaz went up to the gate and sat down there; and behold, ^athe close relative of whom Boaz had spoken came by. So Boaz said, “Come aside, ¹friend, sit down here.” So he came aside and sat down. ²And he took ten men of ^bthe elders of the city, and said, “Sit down here.” So they sat down. ³Then he said to the close relative, “Naomi, who has come back from the country of Moab, sold the piece of land ^cwhich belonged to our brother Elimelech. ⁴And I thought to ²inform you, saying, ^d‘Buy it back ^ein the presence of the inhabitants and the elders of my people. If you will redeem it, redeem it; but if ³you will not redeem it, then tell me, that I may know; ^ffor there is no one but you to redeem it, and I am next 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 buy it from Ruth the Moabitess, the wife of the dead, ^gto ⁴perpetuate the name of the dead through his inheritance.”

^6hAnd the close relative said, “I cannot redeem it for myself, lest I ruin my own inheritance. You redeem my right of redemption for yourself, for I cannot redeem it.”

⁷ⁱNow this was the custom in former times in Israel concerning redeeming and exchanging, to confirm anything: one man took off his sandal and gave it to the other, and this was a confirmation in Israel.

⁸Therefore the close relative said to Boaz, “Buy it for yourself.” So he took off his sandal. ⁹And Boaz said to the elders and all the people, “You are witnesses this day that I have bought all that was Elimelech’s, and all that was Chilion’s and Mahlon’s, from the hand of Naomi. ¹⁰Moreover, Ruth the Moabitess, the widow of Mahlon, I have acquired as my wife, to perpetuate the name of the dead through his inheritance, ^jthat the name of the dead may not be cut off from among his brethren and from ⁵his position at the gate. You are witnesses this day.”

¹¹And all the people who were at the gate, and the elders, said, “We are witnesses. ^kThe Lord make the woman who is coming to your house like Rachel and Leah, the two who ^lbuilt the house of Israel; and may you prosper in ^mEphrathah and be famous in ⁿBethlehem. ¹²May your house be like the house of ^oPerez, ^pwhom Tamar bore to Judah, because of ^qthe offspring which the Lord will give you from this young woman.”

Descendants of Boaz and Ruth

¹³So Boaz ^rtook Ruth and she became his wife; and when he went in to her, ^sthe Lord gave her conception, and she bore a son. ¹⁴Then ^tthe women said to Naomi, “Blessed be the Lord, who has not left you this day without a ⁶close relative; and may his name be famous in Israel! ¹⁵And may he be to you a restorer of life and a ⁷nourisher of your old age; for your daughter-in-law, who loves you, who is ^ubetter to you than seven sons, has borne him.” ¹⁶Then Naomi took the child and laid him on her bosom, and became a nurse to him. ^17vAlso the neighbor women gave him a name, saying, “There is a son born to Naomi.” And they called his name Obed. He is the father of Jesse, the father of David.

^18wNow this is the genealogy of Perez: ^xPerez begot Hezron; ¹⁹Hezron begot Ram, and Ram begot Amminadab; ²⁰Amminadab begot ^yNahshon, and Nahshon begot ^zSalmon; ⁸²¹Salmon begot Boaz, and Boaz begot Obed; ²²Obed begot Jesse, and Jesse begot ^aDavid.