Ruth 2
1 There was a man in Bethlehem who belonged to the clan of [Naomi’s dead husband], Elimelech. He was rich and well-known/influential. His name was Boaz.
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 [One day] Ruth said to Naomi, “Let me go to the fields and pick up the grain left behind by the workers.” Naomi replied, “Go ahead, my daughter.”
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 Ruth went to the fields and began to pick up some of the left-over grain. And it happened that she was working in a field that belonged to Boaz, [the man] from the clan of [her dead father-in-law], 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 Just then, Boaz arrived from Bethlehem. He greeted the men who were harvesting the grain, saying, “I want Yahweh to bless you!” They replied, “We want Yahweh to bless you, [too]!”
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 saw Ruth, and asked the (foreman/man in charge of the other workmen), “Whose [daughter] is that young woman?”
Then said Boaz to his servant that was set over the reapers, Whose damsel [is] this?
6 The foreman replied, “She is the woman from Moab who returned from there with [her mother-in-law] Naomi.
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 said to me, ‘Please let me walk behind the men who are harvesting the grain and pick up some of the grain they leave behind.’ [I gave her permission, and] she went into the field, and she has been working from this morning until now. The only time she did not work was when she rested for a short time 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 So Boaz went over to Ruth and said to her, “Young lady, listen to me. Don’t go and pick up grain in another field. Do not go away from here. Stay here with my servant girls.
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 Watch where the men are harvesting, and follow along behind the [servant] girls. I will tell the men [who are working] not to touch/molest you. And whenever you are thirsty, go and get some water to drink from the jars that the men 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 When he said that, she knelt down in front of him [in respect], with her face touching the ground. She exclaimed, “Why are you acting so kindly toward me, by paying attention to me? [I am not even a Jew; I am] a foreigner!”
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 Boaz replied, “People have told me all about what you have done for your mother-in-law. They told me that you left your parents and your homeland, and you came here to live among people whom you did not know before.
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 I hope/desire that Yahweh will repay you for what you have done. You have put yourself in the care of Yahweh, [like a little bird puts itself] under [its mother’s] wings [MET]. I desire that he will reward you very greatly.”
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 She replied, “Sir, I hope you will continue to act kindly toward me. You have comforted/encouraged me, even though I am lower in status than any of your servant girls.”
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 At mealtime, Boaz said to her, “Come over here. Take some bread and dip it in the wine vinegar [and eat it].” Then when she sat down with the men who had been harvesting, he offered her some roasted grain. She ate all the grain she wanted, and had 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 As she stood up to start gathering grain [again], Boaz ordered his workers, “Even if she gathers some grain near the bundles of grain that have been cut, do not scold 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 Instead, pull out some stalks of grain from the bundles, and leave them on the ground for her to pick up, and do not rebuke her.”
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 So Ruth gathered grain in the field until evening. Then she (threshed/beat with a stick) the barley that she had gathered, [to separate the kernels from the stalks], and the barley filled a large basket.
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 carried it back to town, and showed to her mother-in-law how much she had gathered. Ruth also showed to her the grain [that was left over after] she had eaten enough from [what Boaz had given her at lunchtime].
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 Her mother-in-law asked her, “Where did you gather grain today? In whose [field] did you work? [God will] surely bless the man who was kind to you.” Then Ruth told her about the man in whose field she had been working. She said, “The name of the man [who owns the field] where I worked today is 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 Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, “I hope/desire that Yahweh will bless him! He has not stopped acting kindly toward [us, who are still] living, and to [our husbands] who have died.” Then she added, “That man is a close relative [of Elimelech]; he is one of those who has a responsibility to help those who are his relatives.”
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 Then Ruth said, “He also said to me, ‘Stay with my workers until they have finished harvesting all my grain.’”
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 Naomi replied, “My daughter, it will be good for you to go [to his field] with his [servant] girls, because if you go to someone else’s field, someone might harm/molest you.”
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 close to Boaz’s [servant] girls [while she was working]. She gathered stalks of grain until the barley harvest and the wheat harvest were finished. During that time she lived with Naomi.
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.
