Ruth 3

1 And Naomi, her mother-in-law, said to her, My daughter, am I not to get you a resting-place where you may be in comfort?

One day, Naomi said to Ruth, ‘My daughter, should I not seek to secure a home for you where you will be happy and prosperous?

2 And now, is there not Boaz, our relation, with whose young women you were? See, tonight he is separating the grain from the waste in his grain-floor.

Is not Boaz, with whose girls you have been, a relative of ours?

3 So take a bath, and, after rubbing your body with sweet oil, put on your best robe, and go down to the grain-floor; but do not let him see you till he has come to the end of his meal.

Tonight he is going to winnow barley on the threshing-floor. So bathe and anoint yourself and put on your best clothes and go down to the threshing-floor. But do not make yourself known to the man until he has finished eating and drinking.

4 But see to it, when he goes to rest, that you take note of the place where he is sleeping, and go in there, and, uncovering his feet, take your place by him; and he will say what you are to do.

Then when he lies down, mark the place where he lies. Go in, uncover his feet, lie down, and then he will tell you what to do.’

5 And she said, I will do all you say.

‘I will do as you say.’ Ruth said to her.

6 So she went down to the grain-floor and did all her mother-in-law had said to her.

So she went down to the threshing-floor and did just as her mother-in-law told her.

7 Now when Boaz had taken meat and drink, and his heart was glad, he went to take his rest at the end of the mass of grain; then she came softly and, uncovering his feet, went to rest.

When Boaz had finished eating and drinking and was in a happy mood, he went to lie down at the end of the heap of grain. Then Ruth came quietly and uncovered his feet and lay down.

8 Now in the middle of the night, the man awaking from his sleep in fear, and lifting himself up, saw a woman stretched at his feet.

At midnight the man was startled and turned over, and there was a woman lying at his feet!

9 And he said, Who are you? And she answering said, I am your servant Ruth: take your servant as wife, for you are a near relation.

‘Who are you?’ he said. ‘I am Ruth your servant,’ she answered, ‘Spread your cloak over your servant, for you are a near relative.’

10 And he said, May the Lord give you his blessing, my daughter: even better than what you did at the first is this last kind act you have done, in not going after young men, with or without wealth.

He said, ‘May you be blest by the Lord, my daughter. You have shown me greater favour now than at first, for you have not followed young men, whether poor or rich.

11 And now, my daughter, have no fear; I will do for you whatever you say: for it is clear to all my townspeople that you are a woman of virtue.

My daughter, have no fear. I will do for you all that you ask, for the whole town knows that you are a virtuous woman.

12 Now it is true that I am a near relation: but there is a relation nearer than I.

Now it is true that I am a near relative, but there is another man nearer than I.

13 Take your rest here tonight; and in the morning, if he will do for you what it is right for a relation to do, very well, let him do so: but if he will not, then by the living Lord I myself will do so.

Stay here tonight, and then in the morning, if he will perform for you the duty of a kinsman, well, let him do it. But if he will not perform for you the duty of a kinsman, then as surely as the Lord lives, I will do it for you. Lie down until morning.’

14 And she took her rest at his feet till the morning: and she got up before it was light enough for one to see another. And he said, Let it not come to anyone's knowledge that the woman came to the grain-floor.

So she lay at his feet until morning, but rose before anyone could recognise her, for Boaz said, ‘No one must know that a woman came to the threshing-floor.’

15 And he said, Take your robe, stretching it out in your hands: and she did so, and he took six measures of grain and put them into it, and gave it her to take: and she went back to the town.

He also said, ‘Bring the cloak which you have on and hold it.’ So she held it while he poured into it six measures of barley and laid it on her shoulders. Then he went into the city.

16 And when she came back her mother-in-law said to her, How did it go with you, my daughter? And she gave her an account of all the man had done to her.

When Ruth came to her mother-in-law, Naomi asked, ‘Is it you, my daughter?’ Then Ruth told Naomi all that the man had done for her.

17 And she said, He gave me these six measures of grain, saying, Do not go back to your mother-in-law with nothing in your hands.

‘He gave me these six measures of barley,’ she said, ‘for he said I should not go to my mother-in-law empty-handed.’

18 Then she said, Do nothing now, my daughter, till you see what will come of this; for the man will take no rest till he has put this thing through.

‘Wait quietly, my daughter.’ Naomi said, ‘Until you know how the affair will turn out, for the man will not rest unless he settles it all today.’