< 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.
Afterward Naomi her mother in lawe said vnto her, My daughter, shall not I seeke rest for thee, that thou mayest prosper?
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.
Now also is not Boaz our kinsman, with whose maides thou wast? beholde, he winoweth barly to night in the floore.
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.
Wash thy sellfe therefore, and anoint thee, and put thy raiment vpon thee, and get thee downe to the floore: let not the man know of thee, vntill he haue left eating and drinking.
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.”
And when he shall sleepe, marke the place where he layeth him downe, and go, and vncouer the place of his feete, and lay thee downe, and he shall tell thee what thou shalt doe.
5 Ruth replied, “I will do everything that you have told me [to do].”
And she answered her, All that thou biddest me, I will doe.
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 downe vnto the floore, and did according to all that her mother in lawe bade 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].
And when Boaz had eaten, and drunken, and cheared his heart, he went to lie downe at the end of the heape of corne, and she came softly, and vncouered the place of his feet, and lay downe.
8 In the middle of the night, he suddenly awoke. He sat up and saw that a woman was lying at his feet.
And at midnight the man was afraide and caught holde: and loe, a woman lay at his feete.
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].”
Then he sayd, Who art thou? And she answered, I am Ruth thine handmayd: spread therefore the wing of thy garment ouer thine handmayd: for thou art the kinsman.
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].
Then sayd he, Blessed be thou of the Lord, my daughter: thou hast shewed more goodnes in the latter end, then at the beginning, in as much as thou followedst not yong men, were they poore or rich.
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, feare not: I will doe to thee all that thou requirest: for all the citie of my people doeth knowe, that thou art a vertuous woman.
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.
And now, it is true that I am thy kinsman, howbeit there is a kinsman neerer then 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.”
Tarie to night, and when morning is come, if he will doe the duetie of a kinsman vnto thee, well, let him doe the kinsmans duetie: but if he will not doe the kinsmans part, then wil I doe the duetie of a kinsman, as the Lord liueth: sleepe vntill the morning.
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 lay at his feete vntill the morning: and she arose before one could know another: for he sayd, Let no man knowe, that a woman came into the floore.
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.
Also he sayd, Bring the sheete that thou hast vpon thee, and holde it. And when she helde it, he measured sixe measures of barly, and layde them on her, and she went into the citie.
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 to her mother in law, she sayd, Who art thou, my daughter? And she tolde her all that 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 said, These sixe measures of barly gaue he me: for he sayd to me, Thou shalt not come emptie vnto thy mother in lawe.
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 sayd she, My daughter, sit still, vntill thou knowe how the thing will fall: for the man wil not be in rest, vntill he hath finished the matter this same day.

< Ruth 3 >