Ruth 2
1 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.
Now Naomi was related through her husband to a very wealthy man of the family of Elimelech named Boaz.
2 And Ruth the Moabitess said to Noemin, Let me go now to the field, and I will glean among the ears behind the man with whoever I shall find favor: and she said to her, Go, daughter.
Ruth the Moabite said to Naomi, ‘Let me now go into the fields and gather leftover grain behind anyone who will allow me.’ ‘Go, my daughter,’ she replied.
3 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.
So she went to glean in the field after the reapers. As it happened, she was in that part of the field which belonged to Boaz, who was of the family of Elimelech.
4 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.
When Boaz came from Bethlehem and said to the reapers, ‘The Lord be with you,’ they answered him, ‘May the Lord bless you.’
5 And Booz said to his servant who was set over the reapers, Whose [is] this damsel?
‘Whose girl is this?’ Boaz asked his servant who had charge of the reapers.
6 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.
The servant who had charge of the reapers replied, ‘It is the Moabite girl who came back with Naomi from the territory of Moab.
7 And she said, I pray you, let me glean and gather among the sheaves after the reapers: and she came and stood from morning till evening, and rested not [even] a little in the field.
She asked to be allowed to glean and gather sheaves after the reapers. So she came and has continued to work until now and she has not rested a moment in the field.’
8 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.
Then Boaz said to Ruth, ‘Listen, my daughter. Do not go to glean in another field nor leave this place, but stay here with my girls.
9 [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.
Watch where the men are reaping and follow the gleaners. I have told the young men not to trouble you. When you are thirsty, go to the jars and drink of that which the young men have drawn.’
10 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?
Then she bowed low and said to him, ‘Why are you so kind to me, to take interest in me when I am just a foreigner?’
11 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.
Boaz replied, ‘I have heard what you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband, and how you left your father and mother and your native land to come to a people that you did not know before.
12 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.
May the Lord repay you for what you have done, and may you be fully rewarded by the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge.’
13 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.
Then she said, ‘I trust I may please you, my lord, for you have comforted me and spoken kindly to your servant, although I am not really equal to one of your own servants.’
14 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.
At mealtime Boaz said to Ruth, ‘Come here and eat some of the food and dip your piece of bread in the vinegar.’ So she sat beside the reapers, and he passed her some roasted grain. She ate until she was satisfied and had some left.
15 And she rose up to glean; and Booz charged his young men, saying, Let her even glean among the sheaves, and reproach her not.
When she rose to glean, Boaz gave this order to his young men: ‘Let her glean even among the sheaves and do not disturb her.
16 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.
Also pull out some for her from the bundles and leave for her to glean, and do not find fault with her.’
17 So she gleaned in the field till evening, and beat out that she had gleaned, and it was about an ephah of barely.
So she gleaned in the field until evening, then beat out what she had gleaned. It was about a bushel of barley.
18 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.
Then she took it up and went into the town and showed her mother-in-law what she had gleaned. She also brought out and gave her that which she had left from her meal after she had had enough.
19 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.
‘Where did you glean today, and where did you work?’ asked her mother-in-law. ‘A blessing on him who took notice of you!’ So she told her mother-in-law where she had worked. ‘The name of the man with whom I worked today,’ she said, ‘is Boaz.’
20 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.
Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, ‘May the blessing of the Lord rest on this man who has not ceased to show his loving-kindness to the living and to the dead. The man,’ she added, ‘is a near relation of ours.’
21 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.
‘He told me,’ Ruth said, ‘that I must keep near his young men until they have completed all his harvest.’
22 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.
Naomi said to Ruth, ‘It is best, my daughter, that you should go out with his girls because you might not be as safe in another field.’
23 And Ruth joined herself to the damsels of Booz to glean until they had finished the barley harvest and the wheat harvest.
So she gleaned with the girls of Boaz until the end of the barley and wheat harvest; but she lived with her mother-in-law.
