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 of her husband, a worthy man of 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.
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 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.
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 When Boaz came from 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 ‘Whose girl is this?’ Boaz asked his servant who had charge of the reapers.
Then Boaz said to his servant who was supervising the reapers, “What man does this young woman belong to?”
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 servant supervising the reapers answered and said, “It is the young Moabite woman who came back 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 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 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, “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 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.’
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 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?’
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 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 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 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 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 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.’
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 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 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 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.
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 Also pull out some for her from the bundles and leave for her to glean, and do not find fault with her.’
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 So she gleaned in the field until evening, then beat out what she had gleaned. It was about a bushel of barley.
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 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 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 ‘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.’
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 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.’
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 ‘He told me,’ Ruth said, ‘that I must keep near his young men until they have completed all his harvest.’
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 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.’
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 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 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.
