Ruth 4

1 Therfor Booz stiede to the yate, and sat there; and whanne he hadde seyn the kynesman passe forth, of whom the word was had, Booz seide to hym, Bowe thou a litil, and sitte here; and he clepide hym bi his name. And he turnede, and sat.

And Boaz went up to the public place of the town, and took his seat there: and the near relation of whom he had been talking came by; and Boaz, crying out to him by name, said, Come and be seated here. And he came and was seated.

2 Forsothe Booz took ten `men of the eldere men of the citee, and seide to hem, Sitte ye here.

Then he got ten of the responsible men of the town, and said, Be seated here. And they took their seats.

3 And while thei saten, Booz spak to the kynesman, Noemy, that turnede ayen fro the cuntrey of Moab, seelde the part of the feeld of oure brother Elymelech,

Then he said to the near relation, Naomi, who has come back from the country of Moab, is offering for a price that bit of land which was our brother Elimelech's:

4 which thing Y wolde that thou here; and Y wolde seie to thee bifor alle `men syttynge and grettere in birthe of my puple. If thou wolt haue in possessioun the feeld bi riyt of nyy kyn, bye thou, and `haue thou in possessioun; sotheli if it displesith thee, schewe thou this same thing to me, that Y wyte what Y `owe to do; for noon is niy in kyn, outakun thee which art the formere, and outakun me which am the secunde. And he answeride, Y schal bie the feeld.

And it was in my mind to give you the chance of taking it, with the approval of those seated here and of the responsible men of my people. If you are ready to do what it is right for a relation to do, then do it: but if you will not do it, say so to me now; for there is no one who has the right to do it but you, and after you myself. And he said, I will do it.

5 To whom Booz seide, Whanne thou hast bouyte the feeld of the `hond of the womman, thou owist `to take also Ruth of Moab, that was the wijf of the deed man, that thou reise the name of thi kynesman in his eritage.

Then Boaz said, On the day when you take this field, you will have to take with it Ruth, the Moabitess, the wife of the dead, so that you may keep the name of the dead living in his heritage.

6 Which answeride, Y forsake the ryyt of nyy kyn; for Y owe not to do awei the eritage of my meynee; vse thou my priuelegie, which priuelegie Y knowleche me to wante gladli.

And the near relation said, I am not able to do the relation's part, for fear of damaging the heritage I have: you may do it in my place, for I am not able to do it myself.

7 Forsothe this was the custom bi eld tyme in Israel among kynesmen, that if a man yaf his riyt to anothir man, that the grauntyng were stidefast, the man vnlaase his scho, and yaf to his kynesman; this was the witnessyng of the yift in Israel.

Now, in earlier times this was the way in Israel when property was taken over by a near relation, or when there was a change of owner. To make the exchange certain one man took off his shoe and gave it to the other; and this was a witness in Israel.

8 Therfor Booz seide to his kynesman, Take the scho fro thee; `which scho he vnlaside anoon fro his foot.

So the near relation said to Boaz, Take it for yourself. And he took off his shoe.

9 And Booz seide to the grettere men in birthe and to al the puple, Ye ben witnessis to dai, that Y haue take in possessioun alle thingis that weren of Elymelech, and of Chelion, and of Maalon, bi the yifte of Noemy;

Then Boaz said to the responsible men and to all the people, You are witnesses today that I have taken at a price from Naomi all the property which was Elimelech's, and everything which was Chilion's and Mahlon's.

10 and that Y haue take in to wedlok Ruth of Moab, the wijf of Maalon, that Y reise the name of the deed man in his erytage; lest his name be doon awey fro his meynee and britheren and puple. Ye, he seide, ben witnessis of this thing.

And, further, I have taken Ruth, the Moabitess, who was the wife of Mahlon, to be my wife, to keep the name of the dead man living in his heritage, so that his name may not be cut off from among his countrymen, and from the memory of his town: you are witnesses this day.

11 Al the puple, that was in the yate, answeride, and the grettere men in birthe answeriden, We ben witnessis; the Lord make this womman, that entrith in to thin hows, as Rachel and Lia, that bildiden the hows of Israel, that sche be ensaumple of vertu in Effrata, and haue a solempne name in Bethleem;

And all the people who were in the public place, and the responsible men, said, We are witnesses. May the Lord make this woman, who is about to come into your house, like Rachel and Leah, which two were the builders of the house of Israel: and may you have wealth in Ephrathah, and be great in Beth-lehem;

12 and thin hows be maad as the hows of Fares, whom Thamar childide to Judas, of the seed which the Lord schal yyue to thee of this damesel.

May your family be like the family of Perez, the son whom Tamar gave to Judah, from the offspring which the Lord may give you by this young woman.

13 Therfor Booz took Ruth, and took hir to wijf; and he entride to hir, and the Lord yaf to hir, that sche conseyuede, `and childide a sone.

So Boaz took Ruth and she became his wife; and he went in to her, and the Lord made her with child and she gave birth to a son.

14 And wymmen seiden to Noemy, Blessid be the Lord, which `suffride not, that an eir failide to thi meynee, and his name were clepid in Israel;

And the women said to Naomi, A blessing on the Lord, who has not let you be this day without a near relation, and may his name be great in Israel.

15 and that thou haue `a man, that schal coumforte thi soule, and nursche elde age. For a child is borun of thi douytir in lawe, `which child schal loue thee, and he is myche betere to thee, than if thou haddist seuene sones.

He will be a giver of new life to you, and your comforter when you are old, for your daughter-in-law, who, in her love for you, is better than seven sons, has given birth to him.

16 And Noemy puttide the child resseyued in hir bosum; and sche dide the office of a nurische, and of a berere.

And Naomi took the child and put her arms round it, and she took care of it.

17 Forsothe wymmen neiyboris thankiden hir, and seiden, A sone is borun to Noemy, and clepide his name Obeth. This is the fadir of Ysay, fadir of Dauid.

And the women who were her neighbours gave it a name, saying, Naomi has a child; and they gave him the name of Obed: he is the father of Jesse, the father of David.

18 These ben the generaciouns of Fares; Fares gendride Esrom;

Now these are the generations of Perez: Perez became the father of Hezron;

19 Esrom gendride Aram; Aram gendride Amynadab;

And Hezron became the father of Ram, and Ram became the father of Amminadab;

20 Amynadab gendride Naason; Naason gendride Salmon; Salmon gendride Booz;

And Amminadab became the father of Nahshon, and Nahshon became the father of Salmon;

21 Booz gendride Obeth;

And Salmon became the father of Boaz, and Boaz became the father of Obed;

22 Obeth gendride Isay; Isay gendride Dauid the kyng.

And Obed became the father of Jesse, and Jesse became the father of David.