Ruth 3
1 Postquam autem reversa est ad socrum suam, audivit ab ea: Filia mea, quæram tibi requiem, et providebo ut bene sit tibi.
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 Booz iste, cujus puellis in agro juncta es, propinquus noster est, et hac nocte aream hordei ventilat.
Is not Boaz, with whose girls you have been, a relative of ours?
3 Lavare igitur, et ungere, et induere cultioribus vestimentis, et descende in aream: non te videat homo, donec esum potumque finierit.
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 Quando autem ierit ad dormiendum, nota locum in quo dormiat: veniesque et discooperies pallium, quo operitur a parte pedum, et projicies te, et ibi jacebis: ipse autem dicet quid agere debeas.
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 Quæ respondit: Quidquid præceperis, faciam.
‘I will do as you say.’ Ruth said to her.
6 Descenditque in aream, et fecit omnia quæ sibi imperaverat socrus.
So she went down to the threshing-floor and did just as her mother-in-law told her.
7 Cumque comedisset Booz, et bibisset, et factus esset hilarior, issetque ad dormiendum juxta acervum manipulorum, venit abscondite, et discooperto pallio, a pedibus ejus se projecit.
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 Et ecce, nocte jam media expavit homo, et conturbatus est: viditque mulierem jacentem ad pedes suos,
At midnight the man was startled and turned over, and there was a woman lying at his feet!
9 et ait illi: Quæ es? Illaque respondit: Ego sum Ruth ancilla tua: expande pallium tuum super famulam tuam, quia propinquus es.
‘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 Et ille: Benedicta, inquit, es a Domino, filia, et priorem misericordiam posteriore superasti: quia non est secuta juvenes, pauperes sive divites.
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 Noli ergo metuere, sed quidquid dixeris mihi, faciam tibi. Scit enim omnis populus, qui habitat intra portas urbis meæ, mulierem te esse virtutis.
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 Nec abnuo me propinquum, sed est alius me propinquior.
Now it is true that I am a near relative, but there is another man nearer than I.
13 Quiesce hac nocte: et facto mane, si te voluerit propinquitatis jure retinere, bene res acta est: sin autem ille noluerit, ego te absque ulla dubitatione suscipiam, vivit Dominus. Dormi usque mane.
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 Dormivit itaque ad pedes ejus, usque ad noctis abscessum. Surrexit itaque antequam homines se cognoscerent mutuo, et dixit Booz: Cave ne quis noverit quod huc veneris.
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 Et rursum: Expande, inquit, pallium tuum, quo operiris, et tene utraque manu. Qua extendente, et tenente, mensus est sex modios hordei, et posuit super eam. Quæ portans ingressa est civitatem,
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 et venit ad socrum suam. Quæ dixit ei: Quid egisti, filia? Narravitque ei omnia, quæ sibi fecisset homo.
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 Et ait: Ecce sex modios hordei dedit mihi, et ait: Nolo vacuam te reverti ad socrum tuam.
‘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 Dixitque Noëmi: Expecta, filia, donec videamus quem res exitum habeat: neque enim cessabit homo, nisi compleverit quod locutus est.
‘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.’
