Ruth 2
1 Now Naomi had a relative on her husband's side whose name was Boaz. He was a rich and influential man from the family of Elimelech.
And Noemin had [a friend] an acquaintance of her husband, and the man [was] a mighty man of the kindred of Elimelech, and his name [was] Booz.
2 Soon after Ruth the Moabite said to Naomi, “Please let me go to the fields and pick up grain that's been left behind—if I can find someone will give me permission.” “Yes, go ahead, my daughter,” Naomi replied.
And Ruth the Moabitess said to Noemin, Let me go now to the field, and I will glean amongst the ears behind the man with whoever I shall find favour: and she said to her, Go, daughter.
3 So she went and picked up grain the reapers had left behind. She happened to be working in a field that belonged to Boaz, a relative of Elimelech.
And she went; and came and gleaned in the field behind the reapers; and she happened by chance to come on a portion of the land of Booz, of the kindred of Elimelech.
4 Later on Boaz arrived from Bethlehem, and said to the reapers, “May the Lord be with you!” They replied, “The Lord bless you!”
And, behold, Booz came from Bethleem, and said to the reapers, The Lord [be] with you: and they said to him, The Lord bless you.
5 Then Boaz asked his servant who was in charge of the harvesters, “Who is this young woman related to?”
And Booz said to his servant who was set over the reapers, Whose [is] this damsel?
6 “The young woman is a Moabite who came back with Naomi from Moab,” the servant replied.
And his servant who was set over the reapers answered and said, It is the Moabitish damsel who returned with Noemin out of the land of Moab.
7 “She asked me, ‘Please may I have permission to pick up grain behind the reapers.’ So she came, and she's been working here from morning until now, except for a brief rest in the shelter.”
And she said, I pray you, let me glean and gather amongst the sheaves after the reapers: and she came and stood from morning till evening, and rested not [even] a little in the field.
8 Boaz went and spoke to Ruth. “Listen to me, my daughter,” he told her. “Don't leave to go and pick up grain in someone else's field. Stay close to my women.
And Booz said to Ruth, Hast you not heard, [my] daughter? go not to glean in another field; and depart not you hence, join yourself here with my damsels.
9 Pay attention to what part of the field the men are reaping and follow the women. I've told the men not to bother you. When you get thirsty, go and have a drink from the water jars the servants have filled.”
[Let] your eyes [be] on the field where [my men] shall reap, and you shall go after them: behold, I have charged the young men not to touch you: and when you shall thirst, then you shall go to the vessels, and drink of that which the young men shall have drawn.
10 She bowed down with her face to the ground. “Why are you being so kind to me or even notice me, seeing I'm a foreigner?” she asked him.
And she fell upon her face, and did reverence to the ground, and said to him, How is it that I have found grace in your eyes, that you should take notice of me, whereas I am a stranger?
11 “I've heard about all you've done for your mother-in-law since your husband died,” Boaz replied. “And also how you left your father and mother, and the land of your birth, to come and live among people you didn't know.
And Booz answered and said to her, It has fully been told me how you have dealt with your mother-in-law after the death of your husband; and how you did leave your father and your mother, and the land of your birth, and came to a people whom you knew not before.
12 May the Lord fully reward you for all you've done—the Lord, the God of Israel, to whom you've come for protection.
The Lord recompense your work; may a full reward be given you of the Lord God of Israel, to whom you have come to trust under his wings.
13 Thank you for being so good to me, sir,” she replied. “You have reassured me by speaking to me kindly. I'm not even one of your servants.”
And she said, Let me find grace in your sight, my lord, because you have comforted me, and because you have spoken kindly to your handmaid, and behold, I shall be as one of your servants.
14 When it was time to eat, Boaz called her over. “Come here,” he said. “Take some bread and dip it in wine vinegar.” So she sat down with the workers and Boaz passed her some roasted grain to eat. She ate until she'd had enough with some left over.
And Booz said to her, Now [it is] time to eat; come here, and you shall eat of the bread, and you shall dip your morsel in the vinegar: and Ruth sat by the side of the reapers: and Booz handed her meal, and she ate, and was satisfied, and left.
15 After Ruth went back to work Boaz told his men, “Let her pick up grain even among the sheaves. Don't say anything to embarrass her.
And she rose up to glean; and Booz charged his young men, saying, Let her even glean amongst the sheaves, and reproach her not.
16 In fact, pull out some stalks from the bundles you're cutting and leave them for her to pick up. Don't tell her off.”
And do you by all means carry it for her, and you shall surely let fall for her some of that which is heaped up; and let her eat, and glean, and rebuke her not.
17 Ruth worked in the field until the evening. When she beat out the grain that she had picked up it was a large amount.
So she gleaned in the field till evening, and beat out that she had gleaned, and it was about an ephah of barely.
18 She picked it up and took it back to town to show her mother-in-law how much she had collected. Ruth also gave her what she had left over from her meal.
And she took [it] up, and went into the city: and her mother-in-law saw what she had gleaned, and Ruth brought forth and gave to her the food which she had left from what she had been satisfied with.
19 Naomi asked her, “Where did you pick up grain today? Exactly where did you work? Bless whoever cared enough about you to pay you some attention!” So she told her mother-in-law about who she had worked with. “The man I worked with today is called Boaz.”
And her mother-in-law said to her, Where have you gleaned today, and where have you wrought? blessed be he that took notice of you. And Ruth told her mother-in-law where she [had] wrought, and said, The name of the man with whom I wrought today [is] Booz.
20 “The Lord bless him!” Naomi exclaimed to her daughter-in-law. “He goes on showing his kindness to the living and the dead. That man is a close relative to us—a ‘family redeemer.’”
And Noemin said to her daughter-in-law, Blessed is he of the Lord, because he has not failed in his mercy with the living and with the dead: and Noemin said to her, The man is near akin to us, he is one of our relations.
21 Ruth added, “He also told me, ‘Stay close to my workers until they have finished harvesting my entire crop.’”
And Ruth said to her mother-in-law, Yes, he said also to me, Keep close to my damsels, until the men shall have finished all my reaping.
22 “That's good, my daughter,” Naomi told Ruth. “Stay with his women workers. Don't go to other fields where you might be molested.”
And Noemin said to Ruth her daughter-in-law, [It is] well, daughter, that you went out with his damsels; thus they shall not meet you in another field.
23 So Ruth stayed with Boaz' women workers picking up grain until the end of the barley harvest, and then on to the end of the wheat harvest. She lived with her mother-in-law the whole time.
And Ruth joined herself to the damsels of Booz to glean until they had finished the barley harvest and the wheat harvest.
