Boaz’ venlighed imod Ruth
1Der var en velstående mand i Betlehem, som hed Boaz. Han var af samme slægt som Elimelek og derfor i familie med No’omi.
2En dag sagde Ruth til No’omi: „Lad mig gå hen og samle nogle af de aks op, som høstfolkene efterlader på marken. Måske er der en venlig landmand, som vil hjælpe os.”
„Det er en god idé, min datter!” svarede No’omi.
3Så gik Ruth ud på en mark, der viste sig at tilhøre Boaz. 4Mens hun opholdt sig på marken, kom Boaz derud fra Betlehem. „Gud velsigne jer!” sagde han til høstfolkene, og de svarede: „Gud velsigne dig, herre.” 5Så spurgte han formanden: „Hvem er den unge pige derovre?”
6„Det er den pige fra Moab, som No’omi bragte med hertil,” lød svaret. 7„I morges bad hun om tilladelse til at følge efter høstfolkene og samle aks op. Hun har samlet ihærdigt siden da, lige bortset fra en kort hvilepause i skyggen.”
8Derefter gik Boaz over til Ruth. „Hør, min pige,” sagde han, „du er velkommen til at samle alle de aks, du har brug for, her på min mark, så du ikke behøver gå andre steder hen. Følg bare efter de piger, der binder neg på min mark. 9Jeg skal nok sige til de unge mænd, at de ikke må genere dig. Når du er tørstig, skal du bare gå hen og drikke af det vand, de øser op fra brønden.”
10Ruth faldt på knæ, bøjede ansigtet mod jorden foran Boaz og sagde: „Hvorfor er De så god mod mig? Ved De ikke, at jeg er en fremmed her?” 11„Jo,” svarede Boaz, „og jeg ved også, at du har forladt din far og mor i dit hjemland for at slutte dig til et fremmed folk. Jeg har hørt om den trofasthed, du har vist din svigermor, siden din mand døde. 12Må Herren, Israels Gud, under hvis vinger du har søgt ly, belønne dig for det.”
13„Tak for Deres godhed, herre,” udbrød Ruth. „De har talt venligt til mig og opmuntret mig, selv om jeg ikke har krav på noget fra Deres side.”
14Da frokostpausen kom, kaldte Boaz på Ruth: „Kom herhen og spis sammen med os. Du kan dyppe brødet i vinen, hvis du vil!” Så satte hun sig sammen med høstfolkene og spiste. Boaz rakte hende noget ristet korn, så hun fik alt det, hun kunne spise og havde mad til overs.
15Da hun var gået tilbage til arbejdet, sagde Boaz til sine unge mænd: „I må ikke hindre hende i at samle aks mellem negene. 16Tværtimod, når I skærer en håndfuld korn af med seglen, skal I lade nogle af stråene falde til jorden, så hun kan samle aks fra dem. Og lad være at genere hende!” 17Så samlede Ruth aks resten af dagen. Da hun om aftenen slog kernerne fra aksene, var der en hel sæk2,17 På hebraisk: „omtrent en efa”, et rummål mellem 18 og 36 liter (den nøjagtige størrelse kendes ikke, men 22 liter er den mest almindelige antagelse). byg. 18Hun bar kornet ind til byen og gav det til sin svigermor, som også fik det, hun havde levnet af sin frokost.
19„Det var dog utroligt!” udbrød No’omi. „Hvor har du samlet alt det korn? Hvor har du været i dag? Må Herren velsigne den mand, som viste dig en sådan venlighed!” Derefter fortalte Ruth sin svigermor, hvordan det var gået. „Den mand, som ejer marken, hvor jeg samlede aks i dag, hedder Boaz,” sagde hun.
20„Gud velsigne ham!” udbrød No’omi begejstret. „Herren har virkelig bevist sin trofasthed både imod os og din afdøde mand! Boaz er en af vores nærmeste slægtninge. Han vil helt sikkert hjælpe os.”
21„Han opfordrede mig faktisk til at komme tilbage og holde mig til hans høstfolk, indtil hele marken er høstet!” tilføjede Ruth.
22„Vidunderligt!” jublede No’omi. „Gør endelig, som han har sagt! Hold dig hele tiden til hans høstpiger! Man ved aldrig, hvad du kunne komme ud for, hvis du gik andre steder hen.”
23Så holdt Ruth sig til Boaz’ høstfolk resten af byghøsten—og hele hvedehøsten med.
Ruth meets Boaz in the cornfield
1Now Naomi had a relative on her husband’s side, a man of standing from the clan of Elimelek, whose name was Boaz.
2And Ruth the Moabite said to Naomi, ‘Let me go to the fields and pick up the leftover grain behind anyone in whose eyes I find favour.’
Naomi said to her, ‘Go ahead, my daughter.’ 3So she went out, entered a field and began to glean behind the harvesters. As it turned out, she was working in a field belonging to Boaz, who was from the clan of Elimelek.
4Just then Boaz arrived from Bethlehem and greeted the harvesters, ‘The Lord be with you!’
‘The Lord bless you!’ they answered.
5Boaz asked the overseer of his harvesters, ‘Who does that young woman belong to?’
6The overseer replied, ‘She is the Moabite who came back from Moab with Naomi. 7She said, “Please let me glean and gather among the sheaves behind the harvesters.” She came into the field and has remained here from morning till now, except for a short rest in the shelter.’
8So Boaz said to Ruth, ‘My daughter, listen to me. Don’t go and glean in another field and don’t go away from here. Stay here with the women who work for me. 9Watch the field where the men are harvesting, and follow along after the women. I have told the men not to lay a hand on you. And whenever you are thirsty, go and get a drink from the water jars the men have filled.’
10At this, she bowed down with her face to the ground. She asked him, ‘Why have I found such favour in your eyes that you notice me – a foreigner?’
11Boaz replied, ‘I’ve been told all about what you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband – how you left your father and mother and your homeland and came to live with a people you did not know before. 12May the Lord repay you for what you have done. May you be richly rewarded by the Lord, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge.’
13‘May I continue to find favour in your eyes, my lord,’ she said. ‘You have put me at ease by speaking kindly to your servant – though I do not have the standing of one of your servants.’
14At mealtime Boaz said to her, ‘Come over here. Have some bread and dip it in the wine vinegar.’
When she sat down with the harvesters, he offered her some roasted grain. She ate all she wanted and had some left over. 15As she got up to glean, Boaz gave orders to his men, ‘Let her gather among the sheaves and don’t reprimand her. 16Even pull out some stalks for her from the bundles and leave them for her to pick up, and don’t rebuke her.’
17So Ruth gleaned in the field until evening. Then she threshed the barley she had gathered, and it amounted to about an ephah.2:17 That is, probably about 13 kilograms 18She carried it back to town, and her mother-in-law saw how much she had gathered. Ruth also brought out and gave her what she had left over after she had eaten enough.
19Her mother-in-law asked her, ‘Where did you glean today? Where did you work? Blessed be the man who took notice of you!’
Then Ruth told her mother-in-law about the one at whose place she had been working. ‘The name of the man I worked with today is Boaz,’ she said.
20‘The Lord bless him!’ Naomi said to her daughter-in-law. ‘He has not stopped showing his kindness to the living and the dead.’ She added, ‘That man is our close relative; he is one of our guardian-redeemers.2:20 The Hebrew word for guardian-redeemer is a legal term for one who has the obligation to redeem a relative in serious difficulty (see Lev. 25:25-55).’
21Then Ruth the Moabite said, ‘He even said to me, “Stay with my workers until they finish harvesting all my grain.” ’
22Naomi said to Ruth her daughter-in-law, ‘It will be good for you, my daughter, to go with the women who work for him, because in someone else’s field you might be harmed.’
23So Ruth stayed close to the women of Boaz to glean until the barley and wheat harvests were finished. And she lived with her mother-in-law.
