Ruth 4

New American Standard Bible 1995

The Marriage of Ruth

4 Now Boaz went up to the gate and sat down there, and behold, ^(A)the ^[a]close relative of whom Boaz spoke was passing by, so he said, “Turn aside, ^[b]friend, sit down here.” And he turned aside and sat down. ² He took ten men of the ^(B)elders of the city and said, “Sit down here.” So they sat down. ³ Then he said to the ^[c]closest relative, “Naomi, who has come back from the land of Moab, has to sell the piece of land ^(C)which belonged to our brother Elimelech. ⁴ So I thought to ^[d]inform you, saying, ‘^(D)Buy it before those who are sitting here, and before the elders of my people. If you will redeem it, redeem it; but if ^[e]not, tell me that I may know; for ^(E)there is no one but you to redeem it, and I am after you.’” And he said, “I will redeem it.” ⁵ Then Boaz said, “On the day you buy the field from the hand of Naomi, you must also acquire Ruth the Moabitess, the widow of the deceased, in order ^(F)to raise up the name of the deceased on his inheritance.” ^6 (G)The ^[f]closest relative said, “I cannot redeem it for myself, because I would ^[g]jeopardize my own inheritance. Redeem it for yourself; you may have my right of redemption, for I cannot redeem it.”

⁷ Now this was ^(H)the custom in former times in Israel concerning the redemption and the exchange of land to confirm any matter: a man removed his sandal and gave it to another; and this was the manner of attestation in Israel. ⁸ So the ^[h]closest relative said to Boaz, “Buy it for yourself.” And he removed his sandal. ⁹ Then Boaz said to the elders and all the people, “You are witnesses today that I have bought from the hand of Naomi all that belonged to Elimelech and all that belonged to Chilion and Mahlon. ¹⁰ Moreover, I have acquired Ruth the Moabitess, the widow of Mahlon, to be my wife in order to raise up the name of the deceased on his inheritance, so ^(I)that the name of the deceased will not be cut off from his brothers or from the ^[i]court of his birth place; you are witnesses today.” ¹¹ All the people who were in the ^[j]court, and the elders, said, “We are witnesses. May the Lord make the woman who is coming into your home ^(J)like Rachel and Leah, both of whom built the house of Israel; and may you achieve ^[k]wealth in Ephrathah and ^[l]become famous in Bethlehem. ¹² Moreover, may your house be like the house of ^(K)Perez whom Tamar bore to Judah, through the ^[m]offspring which the Lord will give you by this young woman.”

¹³ So Boaz took Ruth, and she became his wife, and he went in to her. And ^(L)the Lord ^[n]enabled her to conceive, and she gave birth to a son. ¹⁴ Then the ^(M)women said to Naomi, “Blessed is the Lord who has not left you without a ^[o]redeemer today, and may his name ^[p]become famous in Israel. ¹⁵ May he also be to you a restorer of life and a sustainer of your old age; for your daughter-in-law, who loves you ^[q](N)and is better to you than seven sons, has given birth to him.”

The Line of David Began Here

¹⁶ Then Naomi took the child ^[r]and laid him in her lap, and became his nurse. ¹⁷ The neighbor women gave him a name, saying, “A son has been born to Naomi!” So they named him Obed. He is the father of Jesse, the father of David.

¹⁸ Now these are the generations of Perez: ^(O)to Perez ^[s]was born Hezron, ¹⁹ and to Hezron was born Ram, and to Ram, Amminadab, ²⁰ and to Amminadab was born Nahshon, and to Nahshon, Salmon, ²¹ and to Salmon was born Boaz, and to Boaz, Obed, ²² and to Obed was born Jesse, and to Jesse, David.