Elimelech’s Family Goes to
Moab
1*In the days when the
judges ruled there was a famine in the land, and a certain man of
Bethlehem in Judah went to sojourn in the country of Moab, he and
his wife and his two sons. 2The name of the man was Elim'elech and the
name of his wife Na'omi, and the names of his two sons were Mahlon
and Chil'ion; they were Eph'rathites from Bethlehem in Judah. They
went into the country of Moab and remained there. 3But Elim'elech, the
husband of Na'omi, died, and she was left with her two sons.
4These took
Moabite wives; the name of the one was Orpah and the name of the
other Ruth. They lived there about ten years; 5and both Mahlon and
Chil'ion died, so that the woman was bereft of her two sons and her
husband.
Naomi and Her Moabite
Daughters-in-law
6Then she
started with her daughters-in-law to return from the country of
Moab, for she had heard in the country of Moab that the
LORD had visited his people and
given them food. 7So she set out from the place where she was,
with her two daughters-in-law, and they went on the way to return
to the land of Judah. 8But Na'omi said to her two daughters-in-law,
“Go, return each of you to her mother’s house. May the
LORD deal kindly with you, as you
have dealt with the dead and with me. 9The LORD grant that you may find a home, each of you
in the house of her husband!” Then she kissed them, and they
lifted up their voices and wept. 10And they said to her, “No, we will
return with you to your people.” 11But Na'omi said,
“Turn back, my daughters, why will you go with me? Have I yet
sons in my womb that they may become your husbands? 12Turn back, my
daughters, go your way, for I am too old to have a husband. If I
should say I have hope, even if I should have a husband this night
and should bear sons, 13would you therefore wait till they were
grown? Would you therefore refrain from marrying? No, my daughters,
for it is exceedingly bitter to me for your sake that the hand of
the LORD has gone forth against
me.” 14Then they lifted up their voices and wept
again; and Orpah kissed her mother-in-law, but Ruth clung to
her.
15And she said, “See, your
sister-in-law has gone back to her people and to her gods; return
after your sister-in-law.” 16But Ruth said, “Entreat me not to
leave you or to return from following you; for where you go I will
go, and where you lodge I will lodge; your people shall be my
people, and your God my God; 17where you die I will die, and there will I
be buried. May the LORD do so to
me and more also if even death parts me from you.” 18And when Na'omi saw
that she was determined to go with her, she said no more.
19So the two of them went on until they came
to Bethlehem. And when they came to Bethlehem, the whole town was
stirred because of them; and the women said, “Is this
Na'omi?”
20She
said to them, “Do not call me Na'omi,
a call me
Mara,b for the
Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me. 21I went away full, and the
L
ORD has brought me back empty.
Why call me Na'omi, when the L
ORD
has afflicted
c me and the
Almighty has brought calamity upon me?”
22So Na'omi returned, and Ruth the Moabitess
her daughter-in-law with her, who returned from the country of
Moab. And they came to Bethlehem at the beginning of barley
harvest.
Ruth Meets Boaz
2Now Na'omi had a
kinsman of her husband’s, a man of wealth, of the family of
Elim'elech, whose name was Boaz. 2And Ruth the Moabitess said to Na'omi,
“Let me go to the field, and glean among the ears of grain
after him in whose sight I shall find favor.” And she said to
her, “Go, my daughter.” 3So she set forth and went and gleaned in the
field after the reapers; and she happened to come to the part of
the field belonging to Boaz, who was of the family of Elim'elech.
4And behold, Boaz came
from Bethlehem; and he said to the reapers, “The
LORD be with you!” And they
answered, “The LORD bless
you.” 5Then Boaz said to his servant who was in
charge of the reapers, “Whose maiden is this?”
6And the
servant who was in charge of the reapers answered, “It is the
Moabite maiden, who came back with Na'omi from the country of Moab.
7She said,
‘Please, let me glean and gather among the sheaves after the
reapers.’ So she came, and she has continued from early
morning until now, without resting even for a
moment.”d
8Then Boaz said to Ruth, “Now, listen,
my daughter, do not go to glean in another field or leave this one,
but keep close to my maidens. 9Let your eyes be upon the field which they
are reaping, and go after them. Have I not charged the young men
not to molest you? And when you are thirsty, go to the vessels and
drink what the young men have drawn.” 10Then she fell on her
face, bowing to the ground, and said to him, “Why have I
found favor in your eyes, that you should take notice of me, when I
am a foreigner?” 11But Boaz answered her, “All that you
have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband
has been fully told me, and how you left your father and mother and
your native land and came to a people that you did not know before.
12The
LORD recompense you for what you
have done, and a full reward be given you by the LORD, the God of Israel, under whose wings you
have come to take refuge!” 13Then she said, “You are most gracious
to me, my lord, for you have comforted me and spoken kindly to your
maidservant, though I am not one of your maidservants.”
14And at mealtime Boaz said to her,
“Come here, and eat some bread, and dip your morsel in the
wine.” So she sat beside the reapers, and he passed to her
parched grain; and she ate until she was satisfied, and she had
some left over. 15When she rose to glean, Boaz instructed his
young men, saying, “Let her glean even among the sheaves, and
do not reproach her. 16And also pull out some from the bundles for
her, and leave it for her to glean, and do not rebuke
her.”
17So she gleaned in the field until evening;
then she beat out what she had gleaned, and it was about an ephah
of barley. 18And she took it up and went into the city;
she showed her mother-in-law what she had gleaned, and she also
brought out and gave her what food she had left over after being
satisfied. 19And her mother-in-law said to her,
“Where did you glean today? And where have you worked?
Blessed be the man who took notice of you.” So she told her
mother-in-law with whom she had worked, and said, “The name
of the man with whom I worked today is Boaz.” 20And Na'omi said to
her daughter-in-law, “Blessed be he by the LORD, whose kindness has not forsaken the living
or the dead!” Na'omi also said to her, “The man is a
relative of ours, one of our nearest kin.” 21And Ruth the
Moabitess said, “Besides, he said to me, ‘You shall
keep close by my servants, till they have finished all my
harvest.’” 22And Na'omi said to Ruth, her
daughter-in-law, “It is well, my daughter, that you go out
with his maidens, lest in another field you be molested.”
23So she kept
close to the maidens of Boaz, gleaning until the end of the barley
and wheat harvests; and she lived with her mother-in-law.
Ruth and Boaz at the Threshing
Floor
3Then Na'omi her
mother-in-law said to her, “My daughter, should I not seek a
home for you, that it may be well with you? 2Now is not Boaz our
kinsman, with whose maidens you were? See, he is winnowing barley
tonight at the threshing floor. 3Wash therefore 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. 4But
when he lies down, observe the place where he lies; then, go and
uncover his feet and lie down; and he will tell you what to
do.” 5And she replied, “All that you say I
will do.”
6So she went down to the threshing floor and
did just as her mother-in-law had told her. 7And when Boaz had
eaten and drunk, and his heart was merry, he went to lie down at
the end of the heap of grain. Then she came softly, and uncovered
his feet, and lay down. 8At midnight the man was startled, and turned
over, and behold, a woman lay at his feet! 9He said, “Who
are you?” And she answered, “I am Ruth, your
maidservant; spread your garment over your maidservant, for you are
next of kin.” 10And he said, “May you be blessed by
the LORD, my daughter; you have
made this last kindness greater than the first, in that you have
not gone after young men, whether poor or rich. 11And now, my daughter,
do not fear, I will do for you all that you ask, for all my fellow
townsmen know that you are a woman of worth. 12And now it is true
that I am a near kinsman, yet there is a kinsman nearer than I.
13Remain this
night, and in the morning, if he will do the part of the next of
kin for you, well; let him do it; but if he is not willing to do
the part of the next of kin for you, then, as the LORD lives, I will do the part of the next of
kin for you. Lie down until the morning.”
14So she lay at his feet until the morning,
but arose before one could recognize another; and he said,
“Let it not be known that the woman came to the threshing
floor.” 15And he said, “Bring the mantle you
are wearing and hold it out.” So she held it, and he measured
out six measures of barley, and laid it upon her; then she went
into the city. 16And when she came to her mother-in-law, she
said, “How did you fare, my daughter?” Then she told
her all that the man had done for her, 17saying, “These
six measures of barley he gave to me, for he said, ‘You must
not go back empty-handed to your mother-in-law.’”
18She replied,
“Wait, my daughter, until you learn how the matter turns out,
for the man will not rest, but will settle the matter
today.”
The Marriage of Boaz and Ruth
4And Boaz went up to
the gate and sat down there; and behold, the next of kin, of whom
Boaz had spoken, came by. So Boaz said, “Turn aside, friend;
sit down here”; and he turned aside and sat down. 2And he took ten men of
the elders of the city, and said, “Sit down here”; so
they sat down. 3Then he said to the next of kin,
“Na'omi, who has come back from the country of Moab, is
selling the parcel of land which belonged to our kinsman
Elim'elech. 4So I thought I would tell you of it, and
say, Buy it in the presence of those sitting here, and in the
presence of the elders of my people. If you will redeem it, redeem
it; but if you will not, tell me, that I may know, for there is no
one besides you to redeem it, and I come after you.” And he
said, “I will redeem it.” 5Then Boaz said, “The
day you buy the field from the hand of Na'omi, you are also buying
Ruthe the Moabitess, the widow of the
dead, in order to restore the name of the dead to his
inheritance.”
6Then the next of kin said, “I cannot redeem it for
myself, lest I impair my own inheritance. Take my right of
redemption yourself, for I cannot redeem it.”
7Now this was the custom in former times in
Israel concerning redeeming and exchanging: to confirm a
transaction, the one drew off his sandal and gave it to the other,
and this was the manner of attesting in Israel.
8So when the next of
kin said to Boaz, “Buy it for yourself,” he drew off
his sandal.
9Then Boaz said to the elders and all the
people, “You are witnesses this day that I have bought from
the hand of Na'omi all that belonged to Elim'elech and all that
belonged to Chil'ion and to Mahlon.
10Also Ruth the Moabitess, the widow of
Mahlon, I have bought to be my wife, to perpetuate the name of the
dead in his inheritance, that the name of the dead may not be cut
off from among his brethren and from the gate of his native place;
you are witnesses this day.”
11Then all the people who were at the gate,
and the elders, said, “We are witnesses. May the
L
ORD make the woman, who is coming
into your house, like Rachel and Leah, who together built up the
house of Israel. May you prosper in Eph'rathah and be renowned in
Bethlehem;
12and may your house be like the house of
Per'ez, whom Ta'mar bore to Judah, because of the children that the
L
ORD will give you by this young
woman.”
The Genealogy of David
13So Boaz took
Ruth and she became his wife; and he went in to her, and the
LORD gave her conception, and she
bore a son. 14Then the women said to Na'omi,
“Blessed be the LORD, who
has not left you this day without next of kin; and may his name be
renowned in Israel! 15He shall be to you a restorer of life and a
nourisher of your old age; for your daughter-in-law who loves you,
who is more to you than seven sons, has borne him.” 16Then Na'omi took the
child and laid him in her bosom, and became his nurse. 17And the women of the
neighborhood gave him a name, saying, “A son has been born to
Na'omi.” They named him O'bed; he was the father of Jesse,
the father of David.
18Now these are the descendants of Per'ez:
Perez was the father of Hezron,
19Hezron of Ram, Ram of Ammin'adab,
20Ammin'adab of
Nahshon, Nahshon of Salmon,
21Salmon of Boaz, Boaz of O'bed,
22O'bed of Jesse, and
Jesse of David.