< Ruth 3 >

1 Postquam autem reversa est ad socrum suam, audivit ab ea: Filia mea, quæram tibi requiem, et providebo ut bene sit tibi.
One day Ruth’s mother-in-law Naomi said to her, “My daughter, should I not seek a resting place for you, that it may be well with you?
2 Booz iste, cujus puellis in agro juncta es, propinquus noster est, et hac nocte aream hordei ventilat.
Now is not Boaz, with whose servant girls you have been working, a relative of ours? In fact, tonight he is winnowing barley on the threshing floor.
3 Lavare igitur, et ungere, et induere cultioribus vestimentis, et descende in aream: non te videat homo, donec esum potumque finierit.
Therefore wash yourself, put on perfume, and wear your best clothes. Go down to the threshing floor, but do not let the man know you are there until he has finished eating and drinking.
4 Quando autem ierit ad dormiendum, nota locum in quo dormiat: veniesque et discooperies pallium, quo operitur a parte pedum, et projicies te, et ibi jacebis: ipse autem dicet quid agere debeas.
When he lies down, note the place where he lies. Then go in and uncover his feet, and lie down, and he will explain to you what you should do.”
5 Quæ respondit: Quidquid præceperis, faciam.
“I will do everything you say,” Ruth answered.
6 Descenditque in aream, et fecit omnia quæ sibi imperaverat socrus.
So she went down to the threshing floor and did everything her mother-in-law had instructed her to do.
7 Cumque comedisset Booz, et bibisset, et factus esset hilarior, issetque ad dormiendum juxta acervum manipulorum, venit abscondite, et discooperto pallio, a pedibus ejus se projecit.
After Boaz had finished eating and drinking and was in good spirits, he went to lie down at the end of the heap of grain. Then Ruth went in secretly, uncovered his feet, and lay down.
8 Et ecce, nocte jam media expavit homo, et conturbatus est: viditque mulierem jacentem ad pedes suos,
At midnight, Boaz was startled, turned over, and there lying at his feet was a woman!
9 et ait illi: Quæ es? Illaque respondit: Ego sum Ruth ancilla tua: expande pallium tuum super famulam tuam, quia propinquus es.
“Who are you?” he asked. “I am your servant Ruth,” she replied. “Spread the corner of your garment over me, for you are a kinsman-redeemer.”
10 Et ille: Benedicta, inquit, es a Domino, filia, et priorem misericordiam posteriore superasti: quia non est secuta juvenes, pauperes sive divites.
Then Boaz said, “May the LORD bless you, my daughter. You have shown more kindness now than before, because you have not run after the younger men, whether rich or poor.
11 Noli ergo metuere, sed quidquid dixeris mihi, faciam tibi. Scit enim omnis populus, qui habitat intra portas urbis meæ, mulierem te esse virtutis.
And now do not be afraid, my daughter. I will do for you whatever you request, since all my fellow townspeople know that you are a woman of noble character.
12 Nec abnuo me propinquum, sed est alius me propinquior.
Yes, it is true that I am a kinsman-redeemer, but there is a redeemer nearer than I.
13 Quiesce hac nocte: et facto mane, si te voluerit propinquitatis jure retinere, bene res acta est: sin autem ille noluerit, ego te absque ulla dubitatione suscipiam, vivit Dominus. Dormi usque mane.
Stay here tonight, and in the morning, if he wants to redeem you, good. Let him redeem you. But if he does not want to redeem you, as surely as the LORD lives, I will. Now lie here until morning.”
14 Dormivit itaque ad pedes ejus, usque ad noctis abscessum. Surrexit itaque antequam homines se cognoscerent mutuo, et dixit Booz: Cave ne quis noverit quod huc veneris.
So she lay down at his feet until morning, but she got up before anyone else could recognize her. Then Boaz said, “Do not let it be known that a woman came to the threshing floor.”
15 Et rursum: Expande, inquit, pallium tuum, quo operiris, et tene utraque manu. Qua extendente, et tenente, mensus est sex modios hordei, et posuit super eam. Quæ portans ingressa est civitatem,
And he told her, “Bring the shawl you are wearing and hold it out.” When she did so, he shoveled six measures of barley into her shawl. Then he went into the city.
16 et venit ad socrum suam. Quæ dixit ei: Quid egisti, filia? Narravitque ei omnia, quæ sibi fecisset homo.
When Ruth returned to her mother-in-law, Naomi asked her, “How did it go, my daughter?” Then Ruth told her all that Boaz had done for her.
17 Et ait: Ecce sex modios hordei dedit mihi, et ait: Nolo vacuam te reverti ad socrum tuam.
And she said, “He gave me these six measures of barley, for he said, ‘Do not go back to your mother-in-law empty-handed.’”
18 Dixitque Noëmi: Expecta, filia, donec videamus quem res exitum habeat: neque enim cessabit homo, nisi compleverit quod locutus est.
“Wait, my daughter,” said Naomi, “until you find out how things go, for he will not rest unless he has resolved the matter today.”

< Ruth 3 >