[1] And Naomi had a relation of her husband, a man of wealth, of the family
of Elimelech; and his name was Boaz. [2] And Ruth the Moabitess said to
Naomi, Now let me go into the field and take up the heads of grain after
him in whose eyes I may have grace. And she said to her, Go, my daughter.
[3] And she went, and came and took up the heads of grain in the field
after the cutters; and by chance she went into that part of the field which
was the property of Boaz, who was of the family of Elimelech. [4] And Boaz
came from Beth-lehem, and said to the grain-cutters, The Lord be with you.
And they made answer, The Lord give you his blessing. [5] Then Boaz said to
his servant who was in authority over the cutters, Whose girl is this? [6]
And the servant who was in authority over the cutters said, It is a Moabite
girl who came back with Naomi out of the country of Moab; [7] And she said
to me, Let me come into the grain-field and take up the grain after the
cutters. So she came, and has been here from morning till now, without
resting even for a minute. [8] Then said Boaz to Ruth, Give ear to me, my
daughter: do not go to take up the grain in another field, or go away from
here, but keep here by my young women: [9] Keep your eyes on the field they
are cutting, and go after them; have I not given orders to the young men
not to put a hand on you? And when you are in need of drink go to the
vessels and take of what the young men have put there. [10] Then she went
down on her face to the earth, and said to him, Why have I grace in your
eyes, that you give attention to me, seeing I am from a strange people?
[11] And Boaz answering said to her, I have had news of everything you have
done for your mother-in-law after the death of your husband; how you went
away from your father and mother and the land of your birth, and came to a
people who are strange to you. [12] The Lord give you a reward for what you
have done, and may a full reward be given to you by the Lord, the God of
Israel, under whose wings you have come to take cover. [13] Then she said,
May I have grace in your eyes, my lord, for you have given me comfort, and
you have said kind words to your servant, though I am not like one of your
servants. [14] And at meal-time Boaz said to her, Come here, and take some
of the bread, and put your bit into the wine. And she took her seat among
the grain-cutters: and he gave her dry grain, and she took it, and there
was more than enough for her meal. [15] And when she got ready to take up
the grain, Boaz gave his young men orders, saying, Let her take it even
from among the cut grain, and say nothing to her. [16] And let some heads
of grain be pulled out of what has been corded up, and dropped for her to
take, and let no sharp word be said to her. [17] So she went on getting
together the heads of grain till evening; and after crushing out the seed
it came to about an ephah of grain. [18] And she took it up and went into
the town; and she let her mother-in-law see what she had got, and after
taking enough for herself she gave her the rest. [19] And her mother-in-law
said to her, Where did you take up the grain today, and where were you
working? May a blessing be on him who gave such attention to you. And she
gave her mother-in-law an account of where she had been working, and said,
The name of the man with whom I was working today is Boaz. [20] And Naomi
said to her daughter-in-law, May the blessing of the Lord, who has at all
times been kind to the living and to the dead, be on him. And Naomi said to
her, The man is of our family, one of our near relations. [21] And Ruth the
Moabitess said, Truly, he said to me, Keep near my young men till all my
grain is cut. [22] And Naomi said to Ruth, her daughter-in-law, It is
better, my daughter, for you to go out with his servant-girls, so that no
danger may come to you in another field. [23] So she kept near the
servant-girls of Boaz to take up the grain till the cutting of the early
grain and the cutting of the late grain were ended; and she went on living
with her mother-in-law.
