Ruth 2
1 Now Naomi was related through her husband to a very wealthy man of the family of Elimelech named Boaz.
Now Naomi had a relative on her husband’s side, a prominent man of noble character from the clan of Elimelech, whose name was Boaz.
2 Ruth the Moabite said to Naomi, ‘Let me now go into the fields and gather leftover grain behind anyone who will allow me.’ ‘Go, my daughter,’ she replied.
And Ruth the Moabitess said to Naomi, “Please let me go into the fields and glean heads of grain after someone in whose sight I may find favor.” “Go ahead, my daughter,” Naomi replied.
3 So she went to glean in the field after the reapers. As it happened, she was in that part of the field which belonged to Boaz, who was of the family of Elimelech.
So Ruth departed and went out into the field and gleaned after the harvesters. And she happened to come to the part of the field belonging to Boaz, who was from the clan of Elimelech.
4 When Boaz came from Bethlehem and said to the reapers, ‘The Lord be with you,’ they answered him, ‘May the Lord bless you.’
Just then Boaz arrived from Bethlehem and said to the harvesters, “The LORD be with you.” “The LORD bless you,” they replied.
5 ‘Whose girl is this?’ Boaz asked his servant who had charge of the reapers.
And Boaz asked the foreman of his harvesters, “Whose young woman is this?”
6 The servant who had charge of the reapers replied, ‘It is the Moabite girl who came back with Naomi from the territory of Moab.
The foreman answered, “She is the Moabitess who returned with Naomi from the land of Moab.
7 She asked to be allowed to glean and gather sheaves after the reapers. So she came and has continued to work until now and she has not rested a moment in the field.’
She has said, ‘Please let me glean and gather among the sheaves after the harvesters.’ So she came out and has continued from morning until now, except that she rested a short time in the shelter.”
8 Then Boaz said to Ruth, ‘Listen, my daughter. Do not go to glean in another field nor leave this place, but stay here with my girls.
Then Boaz said to Ruth, “Listen, my daughter. Do not go and glean in another field, and do not go away from this place, but stay here close to my servant girls.
9 Watch where the men are reaping and follow the gleaners. I have told the young men not to trouble you. When you are thirsty, go to the jars and drink of that which the young men have drawn.’
Let your eyes be on the field they are harvesting, and follow along after these girls. Indeed, I have ordered the young men not to touch you. And when you are thirsty, go and drink from the jars the young men have filled.”
10 Then she bowed low and said to him, ‘Why are you so kind to me, to take interest in me when I am just a foreigner?’
At this, she fell on her face, bowing low to the ground, and said to him, “Why have I found such favor in your eyes that you should take notice of me, even though I am a foreigner?”
11 Boaz replied, ‘I have heard what you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband, and how you left your father and mother and your native land to come to a people that you did not know before.
Boaz replied, “I have been made fully aware of all you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband, how you left your father and mother and the land of your birth, and how you came to a people you did not know before.
12 May the Lord repay you for what you have done, and may you be fully rewarded by the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge.’
May the LORD repay your work, and may you receive a rich reward from the LORD, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have taken refuge.”
13 Then she said, ‘I trust I may please you, my lord, for you have comforted me and spoken kindly to your servant, although I am not really equal to one of your own servants.’
“My lord,” she said, “may I continue to find favor in your eyes, for you have comforted and spoken kindly to your maidservant, though I am not like one of your servant girls.”
14 At mealtime Boaz said to Ruth, ‘Come here and eat some of the food and dip your piece of bread in the vinegar.’ So she sat beside the reapers, and he passed her some roasted grain. She ate until she was satisfied and had some left.
At mealtime Boaz said to her, “Come over here; have some bread and dip it into the vinegar sauce.” So she sat down beside the harvesters, and he offered her roasted grain, and she ate and was satisfied and had some left over.
15 When she rose to glean, Boaz gave this order to his young men: ‘Let her glean even among the sheaves and do not disturb her.
When Ruth got up to glean, Boaz ordered his young men, “Even if she gathers among the sheaves, do not insult her.
16 Also pull out some for her from the bundles and leave for her to glean, and do not find fault with her.’
Rather, pull out for her some stalks from the bundles and leave them for her to gather. Do not rebuke her.”
17 So she gleaned in the field until evening, then beat out what she had gleaned. It was about a bushel of barley.
So Ruth gathered grain in the field until evening. And when she beat out what she had gleaned, it was about an ephah of barley.
18 Then she took it up and went into the town and showed her mother-in-law what she had gleaned. She also brought out and gave her that which she had left from her meal after she had had enough.
She picked up the grain and went into the town, where her mother-in-law saw what she had gleaned. And she brought out what she had saved from her meal and gave it to Naomi.
19 ‘Where did you glean today, and where did you work?’ asked her mother-in-law. ‘A blessing on him who took notice of you!’ So she told her mother-in-law where she had worked. ‘The name of the man with whom I worked today,’ she said, ‘is Boaz.’
Then her mother-in-law asked her, “Where did you glean today, and where did you work? Blessed be the man who noticed you.” So she told her mother-in-law where she had worked. “The name of the man I worked with today is Boaz,” she said.
20 Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, ‘May the blessing of the Lord rest on this man who has not ceased to show his loving-kindness to the living and to the dead. The man,’ she added, ‘is a near relation of ours.’
Then Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, “May he be blessed by the LORD, who has not withdrawn His kindness from the living or the dead.” Naomi continued, “The man is a close relative. He is one of our kinsman-redeemers.”
21 ‘He told me,’ Ruth said, ‘that I must keep near his young men until they have completed all his harvest.’
Then Ruth the Moabitess said, “He also told me, ‘Stay with my young men until they have finished gathering all my harvest.’”
22 Naomi said to Ruth, ‘It is best, my daughter, that you should go out with his girls because you might not be as safe in another field.’
And Naomi said to her daughter-in-law Ruth, “My daughter, it is good for you to work with his young women, so that nothing will happen to you in another field.”
23 So she gleaned with the girls of Boaz until the end of the barley and wheat harvest; but she lived with her mother-in-law.
So Ruth stayed close to the servant girls of Boaz to glean grain until the barley and wheat harvests were finished. And she lived with her mother-in-law.
