Ruth 2–3

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

¹And Naomi her mother-in-law saith to her, ‘My daughter, do not I seek for thee rest, that it may be well with thee? ²and now, is not Boaz of our acquaintance, with whose young women thou hast been? lo, he is winnowing the threshing-floor of barley to-night, ³and thou hast bathed, and anointed thyself, and put thy garments upon thee, and gone down to the threshing-floor; let not thyself be known to the man till he complete to eat and to drink; ⁴and it cometh to pass when he lieth down, that thou hast known the place where he lieth down, and hast gone in, and uncovered his feet, and lain down,—and he doth declare to thee that which thou dost do.’ ⁵And she saith unto her, ‘All that thou sayest—I do.’

⁶And she goeth down to the threshing-floor, and doth according to all that her mother-in-law commanded her ⁷And Boaz eateth and drinketh, and his heart is glad; and he goeth in to lie down at the end of the heap; and she cometh in gently, and uncovereth his feet, and lieth down. ⁸And it cometh to pass, at the middle of the night, that the man trembleth, and turneth himself, and lo, a woman is lying at his feet. ⁹And he saith, ‘Who art thou?’ and she saith, ‘I am Ruth thy handmaid, and thou hast spread thy skirt over thy handmaid, for thou art a redeemer.’ ¹⁰And he saith, ‘Blessed art thou of Jehovah, my daughter; thou hast dealt more kindly at the latter end than at the beginning—not to go after the young men, either poor or rich. ¹¹And now, my daughter, fear not, all that thou sayest I do to thee, for all the gate of my people doth know that thou art a virtuous woman. ¹²And now, surely, true, that I am a redeemer, but also there is a redeemer nearer than I. ¹³Lodge to night, and it hath been in the morning, if he doth redeem thee, well: he redeemeth; and if he delight not to redeem thee, then I have redeemed thee—I; Jehovah liveth! lie down till the morning.’

¹⁴And she lieth down at his feet till the morning, and riseth before one doth discern another; and he saith, ‘Let it not be known that the woman hath come into the floor.’ ¹⁵And he saith, ‘Give the covering which is on thee, and keep hold on it;’ and she keepeth hold on it, and he measureth six measures of barley, and layeth it on her; and he goeth into the city. ¹⁶And she cometh in unto her mother-in-law, and she saith, ‘Who art thou, my daughter?’ and she declareth to her all that the man hath done to her. ¹⁷And she saith, ‘These six measures of barley he hath given to me, for he said, Thou dost not go in empty unto thy mother-in-law.’ ¹⁸And she saith, ‘Sit still, my daughter, till thou dost know how the matter falleth, for the man doth not rest except he hath completed the matter to-day.’

Chapter 4