Ruth 3

1 One day, Naomi said to Ruth, “My daughter, I think that I should [RHQ] try to arrange for you to have a husband [MTY] who will (take care of/provide for) you.

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 Boaz, the man with whose [servant] girls you have been [gathering grain], is a close relative [of our dead husbands]. Listen [carefully]. Tonight he will be at the ground where [the barley has] been threshed. He will be separating the barley grain from the chaff.

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 Bathe yourself and put on some perfume. Put on your [best] clothes. Then go down to the ground where they have threshed [the grain]. But do not let Boaz know that you are there while he is eating [supper] and drinking.

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 [When he has finished eating], notice where he lies down to sleep. Then [when he is asleep], take the blanket off his feet and lie [close to his feet]. [When he wakes up], he will tell you what to do.”

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 Ruth replied, “I will do everything that you have told me [to do].”

And she said, I will do all you say.

6 So she went down to the ground where they had threshed [the barley grain]. There she did everything that her mother-in-law had told her [to do].

So she went down to the grain-floor and did all her mother-in-law had said to her.

7 When Boaz finished eating [supper] and drinking [wine], he felt happy. Then he went over to the far end of the pile of grain. He lay down [and went to sleep]. Then Ruth approached him quietly. She took the blanket off his feet and lay down [there].

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 In the middle of the night, he suddenly awoke. He sat up and saw that a woman was lying at his feet.

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 He asked her, “Who are you?” She replied, “I am your servant, Ruth. Since you are the one who has a responsibility to take care of [someone like me whose dead husband was] your close relative, spread the corner of your cloak over my [feet to show that you will marry me].”

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 Boaz replied, “Young lady, I hope that Yahweh will (bless/be kind to) you! You have acted kindly [toward your mother-in-law], and now you are acting even more kindly [toward me by wanting to marry me, instead of wanting to marry a young man]. You have not looked for either a rich young man or a poor young man, [to marry him].

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 Now, young lady, I will do everything you ask. Don’t worry [that people in this town might think I am doing wrong by marrying you because you are a woman from Moab]. All the people in this town know that you are an honorable woman.

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 But [there is one problem]. Although it is true that I am a close relative [of your mother-in-law’s dead husband], there is another man who is a closer relative [than I am], and therefore he should be the one to [marry you and] take care of you.

Now it is true that I am a near relation: but there is a relation nearer than I.

13 You stay here for the rest of this night. Tomorrow morning [I will tell this man about you]. If he says that he will [marry you and] take care of you, fine, [we will] let him do that. But if he is not willing [to do that], I solemnly promise that as surely as Yahweh lives, I will [marry you and] take care of you. So lie/sleep here until it is morning.”

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 So she lay at his feet until morning. But she got up and left before it was light enough that people would be able to recognize her, because Boaz said, “I do not want anyone to know that a woman was here.”

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 He also said to her, “Bring to me your cloak and spread it out.” When she did that, he poured into it six measures/24 liters/50 pounds of barley, and put in on her back. Then he (OR, she) went back to the town.

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 When Ruth arrived home, her mother-in-law asked her, “My daughter, how did (things go/Boaz act toward you)?” Then Ruth told her everything that Boaz had done for her [and said to her].

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 She also said [to Naomi], “He gave me all this barley, saying ‘I do not want you to return to your mother-in-law empty-handed.’”

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 Naomi said, “My daughter, just wait until we see what happens. [I am sure that] Boaz will take care of [LIT] the matter [of your marriage]. [LIT]”

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.