Ruth 2:2-13

Christian Standard Bible

² Ruth the Moabitess asked Naomi, “Will you let me go into the fields and gather fallen grain^(A) behind someone with whom I find favor?”

Naomi answered her, “Go ahead, my daughter.” ³ So Ruth left and entered the field to gather grain behind the harvesters. She happened^(B) to be in the portion of the field belonging to Boaz, who was from Elimelech’s family.

⁴ Later, when Boaz arrived from Bethlehem, he said to the harvesters, “The Lord be with you.”^(C)

“The Lord bless you,”^(D) they replied.

⁵ Boaz asked his servant who was in charge of the harvesters, “Whose young woman is this?”

⁶ The servant answered, “She is the young Moabite woman who returned with Naomi from the territory of Moab. ⁷ She asked, ‘Will you let me gather fallen grain among the bundles behind the harvesters?’ She came and has been on her feet since early morning, except that she rested a little in the shelter.”^[a]

⁸ Then Boaz said to Ruth, “Listen, my daughter.^[b] Don’t go and gather grain in another field, and don’t leave this one, but stay here close to my female servants. ⁹ See which field they are harvesting, and follow them. Haven’t I ordered the young men not to touch you? When you are thirsty, go and drink from the jars the young men have filled.”

¹⁰ She fell facedown, bowed to the ground,^(E) and said to him, “Why have I found favor with you, so that you notice me, although I am a foreigner?”

¹¹ Boaz answered her, “Everything you have done for your mother-in-law since your husband’s death has been fully reported to me: how you left your father and mother and your native land, and how you came to a people you didn’t previously know. ¹² May the Lord reward you for what you have done,^(F) and may you receive a full reward from the Lord God of Israel, under whose wings you have come for refuge.”^(G)

¹³ “My lord,” she said, “I have found favor with you, for you have comforted and encouraged your servant, although I am not like one of your female servants.”