Then Boaz said to Ruth, “You will listen, my daughter, will you not? Do not go to glean in another field, nor go from here, but stay close by my young women. Let your eyes be on the field which they reap, and go after them. Have I not commanded the young men not to touch you? And when you are thirsty, go to the vessels and drink from what the young men have drawn.”

10 So she (A)fell on her face, bowed down to the ground, and said to him, “Why have I found (B)favor in your eyes, that you should take notice of me, since I am a foreigner?”

11 And Boaz answered and said to her, “It has been fully reported to me, (C)all that you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband, and how you have left your father and your mother and the land of your birth, and have come to a people whom you did not know before. 12 (D)The Lord repay your work, and a full reward be given you by the Lord God of Israel, (E)under whose wings you have come for refuge.”

13 Then she said, (F)“Let me find favor in your sight, my lord; for you have comforted me, and have spoken [a]kindly to your maidservant, (G)though I am not like one of your maidservants.”

14 Now Boaz said to her at mealtime, “Come here, and eat of the bread, and dip your piece of bread in the vinegar.” So she sat beside the reapers, and he passed parched grain to her; and she ate and (H)was satisfied, and kept some back. 15 And when she rose up to [b]glean, Boaz commanded his young men, saying, “Let her glean even among the sheaves, and do not [c]reproach her. 16 Also let grain from the bundles fall purposely for her; leave it that she may glean, and do not rebuke her.”

17 So she gleaned in the field until evening, and beat out what she had gleaned, and it was about an ephah of (I)barley. 18 Then she took it up and went into the city, and her mother-in-law saw what she had gleaned. So she brought out and gave to her (J)what she had kept back after she had been satisfied.

19 And her mother-in-law said to her, “Where have you gleaned today? And where did you work? Blessed be the one who (K)took notice of you.”

So she told her mother-in-law with whom she had worked, and said, “The man’s name with whom I worked today is Boaz.”

20 Then Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, (L)“Blessed be he of the Lord, who (M)has not forsaken His kindness to the living and the dead!” And Naomi said to her, “This man is a relation of ours, (N)one of [d]our close relatives.”

21 Ruth the Moabitess said, “He also said to me, ‘You shall stay close by my young men until they have finished all my harvest.’ ”

22 And Naomi said to Ruth her daughter-in-law, “It is good, my daughter, that you go out with his young women, and that people do not [e]meet you in any other field.” 23 So she stayed close by the young women of Boaz, to glean until the end of barley harvest and wheat harvest; and she dwelt with her mother-in-law.

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Footnotes

  1. Ruth 2:13 Lit. to the heart of
  2. Ruth 2:15 Gather after the reapers
  3. Ruth 2:15 rebuke
  4. Ruth 2:20 our redeemers, Heb. goalenu
  5. Ruth 2:22 encounter

So 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. Watch 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.”

10 At this, she bowed down with her face to the ground.(A) She asked him, “Why have I found such favor in your eyes that you notice me(B)—a foreigner?(C)

11 Boaz replied, “I’ve been told all about what you have done for your mother-in-law(D) since the death of your husband(E)—how you left your father and mother and your homeland and came to live with a people you did not know(F) before.(G) 12 May the Lord repay you for what you have done. May you be richly rewarded by the Lord,(H) the God of Israel,(I) under whose wings(J) you have come to take refuge.(K)

13 “May I continue to find favor in your eyes,(L) 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.”

14 At mealtime Boaz said to her, “Come over here. Have some bread(M) and dip it in the wine vinegar.”

When she sat down with the harvesters,(N) he offered her some roasted grain.(O) She ate all she wanted and had some left over.(P) 15 As she got up to glean, Boaz gave orders to his men, “Let her gather among the sheaves(Q) and don’t reprimand her. 16 Even pull out some stalks for her from the bundles and leave them for her to pick up, and don’t rebuke(R) her.”

17 So Ruth gleaned in the field until evening. Then she threshed(S) the barley she had gathered, and it amounted to about an ephah.[a](T) 18 She 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(U) after she had eaten enough.

19 Her mother-in-law asked her, “Where did you glean today? Where did you work? Blessed be the man who took notice of you!(V)

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!(W)” Naomi said to her daughter-in-law.(X) “He has not stopped showing his kindness(Y) to the living and the dead.” She added, “That man is our close relative;(Z) he is one of our guardian-redeemers.[b](AA)

21 Then Ruth the Moabite(AB) said, “He even said to me, ‘Stay with my workers until they finish harvesting all my grain.’”

22 Naomi 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.”

23 So Ruth stayed close to the women of Boaz to glean until the barley(AC) and wheat harvests(AD) were finished. And she lived with her mother-in-law.

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Footnotes

  1. Ruth 2:17 That is, probably about 30 pounds or about 13 kilograms
  2. Ruth 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).