RuthChapter 2

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¹Now Naomi had a relative on her husband's side. He was an important man with a good name. He was from the clan of Elimelech, and his name was Boaz. ²Ruth, the woman from Moab, said to Naomi, "Please let me go out to the fields. I will pick up the leftover grain behind someone who is kind to me." "Go ahead, my daughter," Naomi said. ³So Ruth went out into the field. She picked up the leftover grain behind the harvest workers. And it just so happened that she came to a part of the field that belonged to Boaz. He was from the clan of Elimelech. ⁴Just then Boaz came out from Bethlehem. He said to the workers, "The LORD be with you." "The LORD bless you," they answered. ⁵Boaz asked the man in charge of his workers, "Who does that young woman belong to?" ⁶The man answered, "She is the woman from Moab. She came back with Naomi from the land of Moab. ⁷She asked me, 'Please let me pick up grain among the bundles behind the workers.' So she came out here. She has kept working from morning until now. She only rested a short time in the shelter." ⁸Then Boaz said to Ruth, "Listen to me, my daughter. Don't go pick up grain in any other field. Don't leave this place. Stay here close to my servant girls. ⁹Watch which field they are harvesting, and follow along behind them. I have told the young men not to touch you. And when you are thirsty, go get a drink from the jars. The young men have filled them." ¹⁰Then Ruth bowed down with her face to the ground. She said to him, "Why are you so kind to me? Why do you even notice me? I'm a foreigner." ¹¹Boaz answered, "I have been told all about what you have done for your mother-in-law since your husband died. I know how you left your father and mother and the land where you were born. You came to live among people you did not know before. ¹²May the LORD pay you back for what you have done. May you get a rich reward from the LORD, the God of Israel. You have come to find safety under his wings." ¹³"Sir," she said, "may you keep on being kind to me. For you have comforted me. You have spoken kindly to me, your servant. And I am not even one of your servant girls." ¹⁴At mealtime Boaz said to her, "Come over here. Have some bread, and dip it in the vinegar sauce." So she sat down beside the workers. He handed her some roasted grain. She ate until she was full, and she had some left over. ¹⁵When Ruth got up to pick up grain again, Boaz gave orders to his young men. He said, "Even if she picks up grain among the bundles, don't shame her. ¹⁶Even pull out some stalks from the bundles for her. Leave them for her to pick up. Don't scold her." ¹⁷So Ruth picked up grain in the field until evening. Then she beat out the grain from what she had gathered. It came to about an ephah of barley.a ¹⁸She picked up the grain and went back into town. Her mother-in-law saw how much she had gathered. Then Ruth brought out the food she had saved from her meal and gave it to Naomi. ¹⁹Her mother-in-law asked her, "Where did you pick up grain today? Where did you work? May the man who noticed you be blessed!" So Ruth told her mother-in-law where she had worked. "The man I worked with today is named Boaz," she said. ²⁰Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, "May he be blessed by the LORD! He has not stopped being kind to the living or to the dead." Then Naomi said, "That man is a close relative of ours. He is one of our family redeemers."b ²¹Then Ruth the woman from Moab said, "He also told me, 'Stay with my young men until they have finished bringing in all my harvest.'" ²²Naomi said to her daughter-in-law Ruth, "My daughter, it is good for you to go out with his young women. Then no one will hurt you in some other field." ²³So Ruth stayed close to Boaz's servant girls and picked up grain. She did this until the barley harvest and the wheat harvest were done. And she lived with her mother-in-law.