Now Naomi had a relative of her husband's, a worthy man of the
clan of Elimelech, whose name was Boaz. And Ruth the Moabite said
to Naomi, “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.” So she set out 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 clan of Elimelech. And
behold, Boaz came from Bethlehem. And he said to the reapers, “The
LORD be with you!” And they answered, “The LORD bless you.” Then
Boaz said to his young man who was in charge of the reapers, “Whose
young woman is this?” And the servant who was in charge of the
reapers answered, “She is the young Moabite woman, who came back
with Naomi from the country of Moab. She 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, except for a short
rest.”
Then 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
young women. Let your eyes be on the field that they are reaping,
and go after them. Have I not charged the young men not to touch
you? And when you are thirsty, go to the vessels and drink what the
young men have drawn.” Then 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, since I am a foreigner?” But Boaz
answered her, “All that you have done for your mother-in-law since
the death of your husband has been fully told to me, and how you
left your father and mother and your native land and came to a
people that you did not know before. The LORD repay 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!” Then
she said, “I have found favor in your eyes, my lord, for you have
comforted me and spoken kindly to your servant, though I am not one
of your servants.”
And 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 roasted grain. And she ate until she was
satisfied, and she had some left over. When she rose to glean, Boaz
instructed his young men, saying, “Let her glean even among the
sheaves, and do not reproach her. And also pull out some from the
bundles for her and leave it for her to glean, and do not rebuke
her.”
So she gleaned in the field until evening. Then she beat out what
she had gleaned, and it was about an ephah of barley. And she took
it up and went into the city. Her mother-in-law saw what she had
gleaned. She also brought out and gave her what food she had left
over after being satisfied. And 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 man's name with whom I worked
today is Boaz.” And Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, “May he be
blessed by the LORD, whose kindness has not forsaken the living or
the dead!” Naomi also said to her, “The man is a close relative of
ours, one of our redeemers.” And Ruth the Moabite said, “Besides,
he said to me, ‘You shall keep close by my young men until they
have finished all my harvest.’” And Naomi said to Ruth, her
daughter-in-law, “It is good, my daughter, that you go out with his
young women, lest in another field you be assaulted.” So she kept
close to the young women of Boaz, gleaning until the end of the
barley and wheat harvests. And she lived with her mother-in-law.
