Ruth 2
1 But there was a man related to Elimelech, a powerful man, and very wealthy, named Boaz.
Now Naomi had a relative of her husband, a worthy man of the clan of Elimelech, whose name was Boaz.
2 And Ruth, the Moabite, said to her mother-in-law, “If you order, I will go into the field and gather the ears of grain which escape the reaping hand, wherever I will find favor with the father of a family, who will be compassionate to me.” She answered her, “Go, my daughter.”
Ruth, the Moabite woman, said to Naomi, “Now let me go and glean what remains among the ears of grain in the fields. I will follow anyone in whose eyes I will find favor.” So Naomi said to her, “Go, my daughter.”
3 And so she went and gathered the ears of grain after the completion of the reaping. But it happened that this field was owned by Boaz, who was of the kindred of Elimelech.
Ruth went and gleaned what remained in the fields after they had harvested it. She happened to come to the portion of the fields belonging to Boaz, who was of the clan of Elimelek.
4 And behold, he came out of Bethlehem and said to the reapers, “The Lord be with you.” They answered him, “May the Lord bless you.”
Behold, Boaz came from Bethlehem and said to the reapers, “May Yahweh be with you.” They answered him, “May Yahweh bless you.”
5 And Boaz said to the young man who was in charge of the reapers, “Whose young woman is this?”
Then Boaz said to his servant who was supervising the reapers, “What man does this young woman belong to?”
6 He answered him, “This is the Moabite woman, who came with Naomi, from the land of the Moabites,
The servant supervising the reapers answered and said, “It is the young Moabite woman who came back with Naomi from the land of Moab.
7 and she asked to gather the remnants of the ears of grain, following the steps of the reapers, and from morning until now she has remained in the field, and, indeed, not for one moment has she returned home.”
She said to me, 'Please let me glean what remains in the field after the workers harvest the crop.' So she came here and has continued from the morning until now, except that she rested a little in the house.”
8 And Boaz said to Ruth, “Listen to me, daughter. Do not go to gather in any other field, nor depart from this place, but join with my young women,
Then Boaz said to Ruth, “Are you listening to me, my daughter? Do not go and glean in another field; do not leave my field. Instead, stay here and work with my young female workers.
9 and follow where they reap. For I have given orders to my young men, so that no one is to harass you. And so, whenever you are thirsty, go to the vessels, and drink from the waters that the young men also drink.”
Keep your eyes only on the field where the men are reaping and follow behind the other women. Have I not instructed the men not to touch you? Whenever you are thirsty, you may go to the waterpots and drink the water that the men have drawn.”
10 She, falling on her face and paying homage on the ground, said to him: “How did this happen to me, that I should find favor before your eyes, and that you would condescend to accept me, a foreign woman?”
Then she bowed down before Boaz, touching her face to the ground. She said to him, “Why have I found such favor in your eyes that you should be concerned about me, a foreigner?”
11 He answered her, “Everything has been reported to me, what things you have done for your mother-in-law after the death of your husband, and how you left your parents, and the land in which you were born, and came to a people you did not know before.
Boaz answered and said to her, “It has been reported to me, all that you have done since the death of your husband. You have left your father, mother, and the land of your birth to follow your mother-in-law and to come to a people you do not know.
12 May the Lord repay you for your work, and may you receive a full reward from the Lord, the God of Israel, to whom you have come, and under whose wings you have taken refuge.”
May Yahweh reward you for your deed. May you receive full payment from Yahweh, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have found refuge.”
13 She said, “I have found favor before your eyes, my lord, who has consoled me, and you have spoken to the heart of your handmaid, who is unlike one of your young women.”
Then she said, “Let me find favor in your eyes, my master, for you have comforted me, and you have spoken kindly to me, though I am not one of your female servants.”
14 And Boaz said to her, “When mealtime begins, come here, and eat bread, and dip your morsel in the vinegar.” And so she sat beside the reapers, and she piled up parched grain for herself, and she ate and was satisfied, and carried off the leftovers.
At mealtime Boaz said to Ruth, “Come here, and eat some of the bread, and dip your morsel in the wine vinegar.” She sat beside the reapers, and he offered her some roasted grain. She ate until she was satisfied and left the rest of it.
15 And then she arose from there, so as to gather the ears of grain, according to the custom. But Boaz commanded his servants, saying, “If she is even willing to reap with you, do not prevent her,
As she got up to gather up grain, Boaz commanded his young men, saying, “Let her gather up the grain even among the bundles, and do not tell her not to.
16 and purposely let fall some from your bundles, and allow them to remain, so that she may gather without blushing, and let no one rebuke her gathering.”
Also pull out for her some ears of grain from the bundles, and leave them for her to gather up, and do not rebuke her.”
17 And so she gathered in the field until evening. And striking and threshing with a staff what she had gathered, she found about the measure of an ephah of barley, that is, three measures.
So she gleaned in the field until evening. Then she beat out the ears of grain that she had gathered, and the grain was about an ephah of barley.
18 Carrying this, she returned into the city and showed it to her mother-in-law. Moreover, she offered it to her and even gave her the leftovers of her food, with which she had been satisfied.
She lifted it up and went into the city. Then her mother-in-law saw what she had gathered. Ruth also brought out the roasted grain left from her meal and gave it to her.
19 And her mother-in-law said to her, “Where have you gathered today, and where have you found work? Blessed is he who took pity on you!” And she informed her with whom she had been working, and she said the man’s name, that he was called Boaz.
Her mother-in-law said to her, “Where have you gleaned today? Where did you go to work? May the man who helped you be blessed.” Then Ruth told her mother-in-law about the man who owned the field where she had worked. She said, “The name of the man who owns the field where I worked today is Boaz.”
20 Naomi answered her, “May he be blessed by the Lord, because the same kindness which he provided for the living, he also kept for the dead.” And again she said: “This man is our near relative.”
Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, “May he be blessed by Yahweh, who has not left off his loyalty to the living and to the dead.” Naomi said to her, “That man is near of kin to us, one of our kinsman-redeemers.”
21 And Ruth said, “He charged me with this also, that from now on I should join with his reapers until all the crop has been reaped.”
Ruth the Moabite woman said, “Indeed, he said to me, 'You should keep close to my young men until they have finished all my harvest.'”
22 And her mother-in-law said to her, “It is better, my daughter, to go out reaping with his young women, lest in a stranger’s field someone may confront you.”
Naomi said to Ruth her daughter-in-law, “It is good, my daughter, that you go out with his young female workers, so that you do not come to harm in any other field.”
23 And so, she joined with the young women of Boaz, and from then on reaped with them, until the barley and the wheat were stored in the barns.
So she stayed close to Boaz's female workers in order to glean to the end of the barley harvest and the wheat harvest. She lived with her mother-in-law.
