Ruth Meets Boaz in the Grain Field
1Naomi had a relative on her husband’s side of the family. The relative’s name was Boaz. He was a very important man from the family of Elimelek.
2Ruth, who was from Moab, spoke to Naomi. Ruth said, “Let me go out to the fields. I’ll pick up the grain that has been left. I’ll do it behind anyone who is pleased with me.”
Naomi said to her, “My daughter, go ahead.” 3So Ruth went out to a field and began to pick up grain. She worked behind those cutting and gathering the grain. As it turned out, she was working in a field that belonged to Boaz. He was from the family of Elimelek.
4Just then Boaz arrived from Bethlehem. He greeted those cutting and gathering the grain. He said, “May the Lord be with you!”
“And may the Lord bless you!” they replied.
5Boaz spoke to the man in charge of his workers. He asked, “Who does that young woman belong to?”
6The man replied, “She’s from Moab. She came back from there with Naomi. 7The young woman said, ‘Please let me walk behind the workers. Let me pick up the grain that is left.’ She came into the field. She has kept on working here from morning until now. She took only one short rest in the shade.”
8So Boaz said to Ruth, “Dear woman, listen to me. Don’t pick up grain in any other field. Don’t go anywhere else. Stay here with the women who work for me. 9Keep your eye on the field where the men are cutting grain. Walk behind the women who are gathering it. Pick up the grain that is left. I’ve told the men not to bother you. When you are thirsty, go and get a drink. Take water from the jars the men have filled.”
10When Ruth heard that, she bowed down with her face to the ground. She asked him, “Why are you being so kind to me? In fact, why are you even noticing me? I’m from another country.”
11Boaz replied, “I’ve been told all about you. I’ve heard about everything you have done for your mother-in-law since your husband died. I know that you left your father and mother. I know that you left your country. You came to live with people you didn’t know before. 12May the Lord reward you for what you have done. May the Lord, the God of Israel, bless you richly. You have come to him to find safety under his care.”
13“Sir, I hope you will continue to be kind to me,” Ruth said. “You have made me feel safe. You have spoken kindly to me. And I’m not even as important as one of your servants!”
14When it was time to eat, Boaz spoke to Ruth again. “Come over here,” he said. “Have some bread. Dip it in the wine vinegar.”
She sat down with the workers. Then Boaz offered her some grain that had been cooked. She ate all she wanted. She even had some left over. 15Ruth got up to pick up more grain. Then Boaz gave orders to his men. He said, “Let her take some stalks from what the women have tied up. Don’t tell her she can’t. 16Even pull out some stalks for her. Leave them for her to pick up. Don’t tell her she shouldn’t do it.”
17So Ruth picked up grain in the field until evening. Then she separated the barley from the straw. The barley weighed 30 pounds. 18She carried it back to town. Her mother-in-law saw how much she had gathered. Ruth also brought out the food left over from the lunch Boaz had given her. She gave it to Naomi.
19Her mother-in-law asked her, “Where did you pick up grain today? Where did you work? May the man who noticed you be blessed!”
Then Ruth told her about the man whose field she had worked in. “The name of the man I worked with today is Boaz,” she said.
20“May the Lord bless him!” Naomi said to her daughter-in-law. “The Lord is still being kind to those who are living and those who are dead.” She continued, “That man is a close relative of ours. He’s one of our family protectors.”
21Then Ruth, who was from Moab, said, “He told me more. He even said, ‘Stay with my workers until they have finished bringing in all my grain.’ ”
22Naomi replied to her daughter-in-law Ruth. She said, “That will be good for you, my daughter. Go with the women who work for him. You might be harmed if you go to someone else’s field.”
23So Ruth stayed close to the women who worked for Boaz as she picked up grain. She worked until the time when all the barley and wheat had been harvested. And she lived with her mother-in-law.
1And Naomi had a kinsman of her husband’s, a mighty man of wealth, of the family of Elimelech; and his name was Boaz.2.1 Boaz: Gr. Booz 2And Ruth the Moabitess said unto Naomi, Let me now go to the field, and glean ears of corn after him in whose sight I shall find grace. And she said unto her, Go, my daughter. 3And she went, and came, and gleaned in the field after the reapers: and her hap was to light on a part of the field belonging unto Boaz, who was of the kindred of Elimelech.2.3 hap…: Heb. hap happened
4¶ And, behold, Boaz came from Beth-lehem, and said unto the reapers, The LORD be with you. And they answered him, The LORD bless thee. 5Then said Boaz unto his servant that was set over the reapers, Whose damsel is this? 6And the servant that was set over the reapers answered and said, It is the Moabitish damsel that came back with Naomi out of the country of Moab: 7And she said, I pray you, let me glean and gather after the reapers among the sheaves: so she came, and hath continued even from the morning until now, that she tarried a little in the house. 8Then said Boaz unto Ruth, Hearest thou not, my daughter? Go not to glean in another field, neither go from hence, but abide here fast by my maidens: 9Let thine eyes be on the field that they do reap, and go thou after them: have I not charged the young men that they shall not touch thee? and when thou art athirst, go unto the vessels, and drink of that which the young men have drawn. 10Then she fell on her face, and bowed herself to the ground, and said unto him, Why have I found grace in thine eyes, that thou shouldest take knowledge of me, seeing I am a stranger? 11And Boaz answered and said unto her, It hath fully been shewed me, all that thou hast done unto thy mother in law since the death of thine husband: and how thou hast left thy father and thy mother, and the land of thy nativity, and art come unto a people which thou knewest not heretofore. 12The LORD recompense thy work, and a full reward be given thee of the LORD God of Israel, under whose wings thou art come to trust. 13Then she said, Let me find favour in thy sight, my lord; for that thou hast comforted me, and for that thou hast spoken friendly unto thine handmaid, though I be not like unto one of thine handmaidens.2.13 Let me…: or, I find2.13 friendly: Heb. to the heart 14And Boaz said unto her, At mealtime come thou hither, and eat of the bread, and dip thy morsel in the vinegar. And she sat beside the reapers: and he reached her parched corn, and she did eat, and was sufficed, and left. 15And when she was risen up to glean, Boaz commanded his young men, saying, Let her glean even among the sheaves, and reproach her not:2.15 reproach…: Heb. shame her not 16And let fall also some of the handfuls of purpose for her, and leave them, that she may glean them, and rebuke her not.
17So she gleaned in the field until even, and beat out that she had gleaned: and it was about an ephah of barley.
18¶ And she took it up, and went into the city: and her mother in law saw what she had gleaned: and she brought forth, and gave to her that she had reserved after she was sufficed. 19And her mother in law said unto her, Where hast thou gleaned to day? and where wroughtest thou? blessed be he that did take knowledge of thee. And she shewed her mother in law with whom she had wrought, and said, The man’s name with whom I wrought to day is Boaz. 20And Naomi said unto her daughter in law, Blessed be he of the LORD, who hath not left off his kindness to the living and to the dead. And Naomi said unto her, The man is near of kin unto us, one of our next kinsmen.2.20 one of…: or, one that hath right to redeem 21And Ruth the Moabitess said, He said unto me also, Thou shalt keep fast by my young men, until they have ended all my harvest. 22And Naomi said unto Ruth her daughter in law, It is good, my daughter, that thou go out with his maidens, that they meet thee not in any other field.2.22 meet…: or, fall upon thee 23So she kept fast by the maidens of Boaz to glean unto the end of barley harvest and of wheat harvest; and dwelt with her mother in law.
