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 Naomi had a kinsman of her husband's, a mighty man of wealth, of the family of Elimelech; and his name [was] Boaz.
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 Naomi, Let me now go to the field, and glean ears of corn after [him] in whose sight I shall find grace. And she said to her, Go, my 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 after the reapers: and her lot was to light on a part of the field [belonging] to Boaz, who [was] 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, Boaz came from Beth-lehem, and said to the reapers, The LORD [be] with you. And they answered him, The LORD bless thee.
5 Then Boaz asked his servant who was in charge of the harvesters, “Who is this young woman related to?”
Then said Boaz to his servant that was set over the reapers, Whose damsel [is] this?
6 “The young woman is a Moabite who came back with Naomi from Moab,” the servant replied.
And the servant that was set over the reapers answered and said, It [is] the Moabitish damsel that came back with Naomi from the country 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 after the reapers among the sheaves: so she came, and hath continued even from the morning until now, that she tarried a little in the house.
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.
Then said Boaz to Ruth, Hearest thou not, my daughter? Go not to glean in another field, neither go from hence, but abide here fast by my maidens:
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] thy eyes [be] on the field that they are reaping, and go thou after them: have I not charged the young men that they shall not touch thee? and when thou art thirsty go to the vessels, and drink of [that] which the young men 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.
Then she fell on her face, and bowed herself to the ground, and said to him, Why have I found grace in thy eyes, that thou shouldst take knowledge of me, seeing 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 Boaz answered and said to her, It hath fully been shown to me, all that thou hast done to thy mother-in-law since the death of thy husband: and [how] thou hast left thy father and thy mother, and the land of thy nativity, and hast come to a people which thou knewest not heretofore.
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 thy work, and a full reward be given thee of the LORD God of Israel, under whose wings thou hast come to trust.
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.”
Then she said, Let me find favor in thy sight, my lord; for that thou hast comforted me, and for that thou hast spoken kindly to thy handmaid, though I am not like to one of thy handmaidens.
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 Boaz said to her, At meal-time come thou hither, and eat of the bread, and dip thy morsel in the vinegar. And she sat beside the reapers: and he reached her parched [corn], 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 when she had risen to glean, Boaz commanded his young men, saying, Let her glean even among 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 let fall also [some] of the handfuls of purpose for her, and leave [them], that she may glean [them], 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 until evening, and beat out that which she had gleaned: and it was about an ephah of barley.
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], and went into the city: and her mother-in-law saw what she had gleaned: and she brought forth, and gave to her what she had reserved after she was satisfied.
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 hast thou gleaned to-day? and where hast thou labored? blessed be he that took knowledge of thee. And she showed her mother-in-law with whom she had wrought, and said, The man's name with whom I wrought to-day [is] Boaz.
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 Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, Blessed [be] he of the LORD, who hath not left off his kindness to the living and to the dead. And Naomi said to her, The man [is] near of kin to us, one of our next kinsmen.
21 Ruth added, “He also told me, ‘Stay close to my workers until they have finished harvesting my entire crop.’”
And Ruth the Moabitess said, He said to me also, Thou shalt keep fast by my young men, until they have ended all my harvest.
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 Naomi said to Ruth her daughter-in-law, [It is] good, my daughter, that thou shouldst go out with his maidens, that they meet thee not in any other 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.
So she kept fast by the maidens of Boaz to glean to the end of barley-harvest and of wheat-harvest; and dwelt with her mother-in-law.
