Ruth 1–2

¹And it cometh to pass, in the days of the judging of the judges, that there is a famine in the land, and there goeth a man from Beth-Lehem-Judah to sojourn in the fields of Moab, he, and his wife, and his two sons. ²And the name of the man is Elimelech, and the name of his wife Naomi, and the name of his two sons Mahlon and Chilion, Ephrathites from Beth-Lehem-Judah; and they come into the fields of Moab, and are there. ³And Elimelech husband of Naomi dieth, and she is left, she and her two sons; ⁴and they take to them wives, Moabitesses: the name of the one is Orpah, and the name of the second Ruth; and they dwell there about ten years. ⁵And they die also, both of them—Mahlon and Chilion—and the woman is left of her two children and of her husband.

⁶And she riseth, she and her daughters-in-law, and turneth back from the fields of Moab, for she hath heard in the fields of Moab that God hath looked after His people,—to give to them bread. ⁷And she goeth out from the place where she hath been, and her two daughters-in-law with her, and they go in the way to turn back unto the land of Judah. ⁸And Naomi saith to her two daughters-in-law, ‘Go, turn back, each to the house of her mother; Jehovah doth with you kindness as ye have done with the dead, and with me; ⁹Jehovah doth grant to you, and find ye rest each in the house of her husband;’ and she kisseth them, and they lift up their voice and weep. ¹⁰And they say to her, ‘Surely with thee we go back to thy people.’ ¹¹And Naomi saith, ‘Turn back, my daughters; why do ye go with me? are there yet to me sons in my bowels that they have been to you for husbands? ¹²Turn back, my daughters, go, for I am too aged to be to a husband; though I had said, There is for me hope, also, I have been to-night to a husband, and also I have borne sons: ¹³for them do ye wait till that they grow up? for them do ye shut yourselves up, not to be to a husband? nay, my daughters, for more bitter to me than to you, for the hand of Jehovah hath gone out against me.’ ¹⁴And they lift up their voice, and weep again, and Orpah kisseth her mother-in-law, and Ruth hath cleaved to her. ¹⁵And she saith, ‘Lo, thy sister-in-law hath turned back unto her people, and unto her god, turn thou back after thy sister-in-law.’ ¹⁶And Ruth saith, ‘Urge me not to leave thee—to turn back from after thee; for whither thou goest I go, and where thou lodgest I lodge; thy people is my people, and thy God my God. ¹⁷Where thou diest I die, and there I am buried; thus doth Jehovah to me, and thus doth He add—for death itself doth part between me and thee.’ ¹⁸And she seeth that she is strengthening herself to go with her, and she ceaseth to speak unto her.

¹⁹And they go both of them till their coming in to Beth-Lehem; and it cometh to pass at their coming in to Beth-Lehem, that all the city is moved at them, and they say, ‘Is this Naomi?’ ²⁰And she saith unto them, ‘Call me not Naomi; call me Mara, for the Almighty hath dealt very bitterly to me, ²¹I went out full, and empty hath Jehovah brought me back, why do ye call me Naomi, and Jehovah hath testified against me, and the Almighty hath done evil to me?’ ²²And Naomi turneth back, and Ruth the Moabitess her daughter-in-law with her, who hath turned back from the fields of Moab, and they have come in to Beth-Lehem at the commencement of barley-harvest.

Chapter 2

¹And Naomi hath an acquaintance of her husband’s, a man mighty in wealth, of the family of Elimelech, and his name is Boaz. ²And Ruth the Moabitess saith unto Naomi, ‘Let me go, I pray thee, into the field, and I gather among the ears of corn after him in whose eyes I find grace;’ and she saith to her, ‘Go, my daughter.’ ³And she goeth and cometh and gathereth in a field after the reapers, and her chance happeneth—the portion of the field is Boaz’s who is of the family of Elimelech.

⁴And lo, Boaz hath come from Beth-Lehem, and saith to the reapers, ‘Jehovah is with you;’ and they say to him, ‘Jehovah doth bless thee.’ ⁵And Boaz saith to his young man who is set over the reapers, ‘Whose is this young person?’ ⁶And the young man who is set over the reapers answereth and saith, ‘A young woman—Moabitess—she is, who came back with Naomi from the fields of Moab, ⁷and she saith, Let me glean, I pray thee—and I have gathered among the sheaves after the reapers; and she cometh and remaineth since the morning and till now; she sat in the house a little. ⁸And Boaz saith unto Ruth, ‘Hast thou not heard, my daughter? go not to glean in another field, and also, pass not over from this, and thus thou dost cleave to my young women: ⁹thine eyes are on the field which they reap, and thou hast gone after them; have not I charged the young men not to touch thee? when thou art athirst then thou hast gone unto the vessels, and hast drunk from that which the young men draw.’ ¹⁰And she falleth on her face, and boweth herself to the earth, and saith unto him, ‘Wherefore have I found grace in thine eyes, to discern me, and I a stranger?’ ¹¹And Boaz answereth and saith to her, ‘It hath thoroughly been declared to me all that thou hast done with thy mother-in-law, after the death of thy husband, and thou dost leave thy father, and thy mother, and the land of thy birth, and dost come in unto a people which thou hast not known heretofore. ¹²Jehovah doth recompense thy work, and thy reward is complete from Jehovah, God of Israel, under whose wings thou hast come to take refuge.’ ¹³And she saith, ‘Let me find grace in thine eyes, my lord, because thou hast comforted me, and because thou hast spoken unto the heart of thy maid-servant, and I—I am not as one of thy maid-servants.’ ¹⁴And Boaz saith to her, ‘At meal-time come nigh hither, and thou hast eaten of the bread, and dipped thy morsel in the vinegar.’ And she sitteth at the side of the reapers, and he reacheth to her roasted corn, and she eateth, and is satisfied, and leaveth. ¹⁵And she riseth to glean, and Boaz chargeth his young men, saying, ‘Even between the sheaves she doth glean, and ye do not cause her to blush; ¹⁶and also ye do surely cast to her of the handfuls—and have left, and she hath gleaned, and ye do not push against her.’

¹⁷And she gleaneth in the field till the evening, and beateth out that which she hath gleaned, and it is about an ephah of barley; ¹⁸and she taketh it up, and goeth into the city, and her mother-in-law seeth that which she hath gleaned, and she bringeth out and giveth to her that which she left from her satiety. ¹⁹And her mother-in-law saith to her, ‘Where hast thou gleaned to-day? and where hast thou wrought? may he who is discerning thee be blessed.’ And she declareth to her mother-in-law with whom she hath wrought, and saith, ‘The name of the man with whom I have wrought to-day is Boaz.’ ²⁰And Naomi saith to her daughter-in-law, ‘Blessed is he of Jehovah who hath not forsaken His kindness with the living and with the dead;’ and Naomi saith to her, ‘The man is a relation of ours; he is of our redeemers.’ ²¹And Ruth the Moabitess saith, ‘Also he surely said unto me, Near the young people whom I have thou dost cleave till they have completed the whole of the harvest which I have.’ ²²And Naomi saith unto Ruth her daughter-in-law, ‘Good, my daughter, that thou goest out with his young women, and they come not against thee in another field.’ ²³And she cleaveth to the young women of Boaz to glean, till the completion of the barley-harvest, and of the wheat-harvest, and she dwelleth with her mother-in-law.

Chapter 3