[1] And Naomi, her mother-in-law, said to her, My daughter, am I not to get
you a resting-place where you may be in comfort? [2] And now, is there not
Boaz, our relation, with whose young women you were? See, tonight he is
separating the grain from the waste in his grain-floor. [3] So take a bath,
and, after rubbing your body with sweet oil, put on your best robe, and go
down to the grain-floor; but do not let him see you till he has come to the
end of his meal. [4] But see to it, when he goes to rest, that you take
note of the place where he is sleeping, and go in there, and, uncovering
his feet, take your place by him; and he will say what you are to do. [5]
And she said, I will do all you say. [6] So she went down to the
grain-floor and did all her mother-in-law had said to her. [7] Now when
Boaz had taken meat and drink, and his heart was glad, he went to take his
rest at the end of the mass of grain; then she came softly and, uncovering
his feet, went to rest. [8] Now in the middle of the night, the man awaking
from his sleep in fear, and lifting himself up, saw a woman stretched at
his feet. [9] And he said, Who are you? And she answering said, I am your
servant Ruth: take your servant as wife, for you are a near relation. [10]
And he said, May the Lord give you his blessing, my daughter: even better
than what you did at the first is this last kind act you have done, in not
going after young men, with or without wealth. [11] And now, my daughter,
have no fear; I will do for you whatever you say: for it is clear to all my
townspeople that you are a woman of virtue. [12] Now it is true that I am a
near relation: but there is a relation nearer than I. [13] Take your rest
here tonight; and in the morning, if he will do for you what it is right
for a relation to do, very well, let him do so: but if he will not, then by
the living Lord I myself will do so. [14] And she took her rest at his feet
till the morning: and she got up before it was light enough for one to see
another. And he said, Let it not come to anyone's knowledge that the woman
came to the grain-floor. [15] And he said, Take your robe, stretching it
out in your hands: and she did so, and he took six measures of grain and
put them into it, and gave it her to take: and she went back to the town.
[16] And when she came back her mother-in-law said to her, How did it go
with you, my daughter? And she gave her an account of all the man had done
to her. [17] And she said, He gave me these six measures of grain, saying,
Do not go back to your mother-in-law with nothing in your hands. [18] Then
she said, Do nothing now, my daughter, till you see what will come of this;
for the man will take no rest till he has put this thing through.
