Ruth Gleans in Boaz’ Field

1Now Naomi had [†]a kinsman of her husband, a [†]mighty man of excellence, of the family of Elimelech, whose name was Boaz. 2And Ruth the Moabitess said to Naomi, “Please let me go to the field and glean among the ears of grain after one whom I may find favor in his eyes.” And she said to her, “Go, my daughter.” 3So she went. And she came and gleaned in the field after the reapers. And [†]it so happened that she happened to come to the portion of the field belonging to Boaz, who was of the family of Elimelech. 4Now behold, Boaz came from Bethlehem and said to the reapers, “May Yahweh be with you.” And they said to him, “May Yahweh bless you.” 5Then Boaz said to his young man who was [†]in charge of the reapers, “Whose young woman is this?” 6The young man [†]in charge of the reapers replied, “She is the young Moabite woman who returned with Naomi from the fields of Moab. 7And she said, ‘Please let me glean and gather after the reapers among the sheaves.’ Thus she came and has remained from the morning until now; she has been sitting in the house for a little while.”

8Then Boaz said to Ruth, “Have you not heard, my daughter? Do not go to glean in another field; furthermore, do not go on from this one, but [†]stay here with my young women. 9Let your eyes be on the field which they reap, and go after them. Indeed, I have commanded the young men not to touch you. And if you are thirsty, go to the [†]water jars and drink from what the young men draw.” 10Then she fell on her face, bowing to the ground and said to him, “Why have I found favor in your sight that you should take notice of me, though I am a foreigner?” 11Boaz replied to her, “All that you have done for your mother-in-law after the death of your husband has been fully told to me, and how you forsook your father and your mother and the land of your birth, and came to a people that you did not previously know. 12May Yahweh fully repay your work, and may your wages be full from Yahweh, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to seek refuge.” 13Then she said, “May I find favor in your eyes, my lord, for you have comforted me and indeed have spoken to the heart of your servant-woman, though I am not like one of your servant-women.”

14At mealtime Boaz said to her, “[†]Come here, that you may eat of the bread and dip your piece of bread in the vinegar.” So she sat beside the reapers; and he [†]served her roasted grain, and she ate and was satisfied and had some left. 15Then she rose to glean, and Boaz commanded his young men, saying, “Let her glean even among the sheaves, and do not dishonor her. 16Also you shall purposely pull out for her some grain from the bundles and [†]leave it that she may glean, and do not rebuke her.”

17So she gleaned in the field until evening. Then she beat out what she had gleaned, and it was about an [†]ephah of barley. 18She took it up and went into the city, and her mother-in-law saw what she had gleaned. She also took it out and gave [†]Naomi what she had left after [†]she was satisfied. 19Her mother-in-law then said to her, “Where did you glean today and where did you [†]work? May he who took notice of you be blessed.” So she told her mother-in-law with whom she had [†]worked and said, “The name of the man with whom I worked today is Boaz.” 20Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, “May he be blessed of Yahweh who has not forsaken his lovingkindness to the living and to the dead.” Then Naomi said to her, “The man is [†]our relative; he is one of our kinsman redeemers.” 21Then Ruth the Moabitess said, “[†]Furthermore, he said to me, ‘You should [†]stay close to my young men until they have finished all my harvest.’” 22Naomi said to Ruth her daughter-in-law, “It is good, my daughter, that you go out with his young women, so that others do not oppress you in another field.” 23So she [†]stayed close by the young women of Boaz in order to glean until the end of the barley harvest and the wheat harvest. And she lived with her mother-in-law.