Ruth 2
EasyEnglish Bible
Ruth meets Boaz
2 Boaz was a rich and important man who lived in Bethlehem. He was from the family of Naomi's husband, Elimelech.
2 One day, Ruth, the woman from Moab, said to Naomi, ‘Let me go to the fields to pick up some grain from the harvest. I will walk behind anyone who lets me do that.’ Naomi said, ‘Yes, my daughter, go and do that.’ 3 So Ruth went to the fields. She began to pick up the grains of barley that the men dropped on the ground.[a] It happened that she was in part of a field that belonged to Boaz. Boaz was from Elimelech's clan.
4 Just then, Boaz arrived from Bethlehem town. He said ‘hello’ to the workers. ‘I pray that the Lord will help you,’ he said. The men replied, ‘We pray that the Lord will bless you!’
5 Boaz asked the leader of his workers, ‘Who is that young woman? Which family does she belong to?’
6 The man said, ‘She is that young woman from Moab, who returned from Moab with Naomi. 7 She asked me, “Please let me walk behind your workers. Then I can pick up the grains of barley that they leave on the ground.” She has worked very hard in the field since she arrived this morning. She only had a short rest in the hut.’
8 So Boaz said to Ruth, ‘Young woman, listen to me. Do not go and pick up grains of barley in any other field. Stay here in this field and work beside my servant girls. 9 Watch carefully where the men are working. Then follow behind the other women. I have told the male workers not to touch you. Whenever you are thirsty, go and drink water from the jars. My servants fill those jars with water to drink.’
10 Ruth went down on her knees with her head towards the ground in front of Boaz. She said, ‘I am a foreign woman. So why do you choose to be so kind to me? Why are you taking care of me?’
11 Boaz replied, ‘People have told me all about you. When your husband died, you helped Naomi very much. You chose to leave your father, your mother and your country. You came here to live with people who were strangers to you. 12 You have done many good things. So I pray that the Lord will do good things for you in return. You have come here to be safe with the Lord, who is Israel's God. I pray that he will bless you.’
13 Ruth said, ‘Thank you, sir. You are being very kind to me. Your words cause me to feel happy and strong. I am not even as important as one of your servant girls, but you have been kind to me.’
14 When it was time to eat a meal, Boaz said to Ruth, ‘Come here and eat with us. Take some bread and mix it with the wine.’ So Ruth sat down to eat with the workers. Boaz gave her some grain that someone had cooked. She ate all that she wanted, and she still had some with her.
15 After the meal, Ruth returned to work in the field. Boaz said to his workers, ‘Let her pick up grains anywhere, even near the heaps of barley that you have cut down. Do not chase her away. 16 You should also pull out some barley and drop it for her to pick up. Do not be angry with her.’
17 Ruth picked up grains in Boaz's field until evening. Then she hit the grains with a stick so that the seeds came out. The grains of barley that she took home filled a large basket.[b]
18 She carried the barley back to Naomi's home in the town. Naomi saw how much Ruth had picked up. Ruth also took the grains that she did not eat at the meal and she gave them to Naomi.
19 Naomi asked Ruth, ‘Where did you work today, to pick up all this barley? I want God to bless the man who was so kind to you.’ So Ruth told Naomi about the man whose field she had worked in. She said, ‘The man that I worked with today is called Boaz.’
20 Naomi said to Ruth, ‘He has been kind to us! He has thought about our husbands who have died and he has helped us who are still alive. I pray that the Lord will bless him in return. That man is our relative. He is one of our family-redeemers.’[c]
21 Then Ruth said, ‘Boaz even said to me, “Stay with my workers until they have finished the work in my fields.” ’
22 Naomi said to Ruth, ‘Yes, my daughter, it will be good for you to work beside the young women in his fields. You will be safe there, but the workers in another field might hurt you.’
23 So Ruth worked beside Boaz's women workers until they finished the harvest of barley and wheat. She continued to live with Naomi.
Footnotes
- 2:3 When the workers cut the crops of grain in the fields, they did not take it all. They left some on the ground for poor people and foreign people to pick up. God's Law said that they must do that. See Leviticus 23:22; Deuteronomy 24:19-22.
- 2:17 About 13 kilograms. This was a very large amount of seeds for one day's work.
- 2:20 A family-redeemer was the nearest male relative. If there were poor people in the family, he should take care of them. If his brother died, he had to marry his brother's wife. Someone in the family might have to sell themselves as a servant or as a slave. So the family-redeemer would buy them back. A poor person in the family might have to sell their land. So the family-redeemer would buy the land back so that the family would not lose its land. See Leviticus 25:25-55; Deuteronomy 25:5-10.
Ruth 2
English Standard Version
Ruth Meets Boaz
2 Now Naomi had (A)a relative of her husband's, a worthy man of the clan of Elimelech, whose name was (B)Boaz. 2 And Ruth the Moabite said to Naomi, “Let me go to the field and (C)glean among the ears of grain after him (D)in whose sight I shall find favor.” And she said to her, “Go, my daughter.” 3 So she set out and went and gleaned in the field after the reapers, and she happened to come to the part of the field belonging to Boaz, who was of the clan of Elimelech. 4 And behold, Boaz came from Bethlehem. And he said to the reapers, (E)“The Lord be with you!” And they answered, “The Lord bless you.” 5 Then Boaz said to his young man who was in charge of the reapers, “Whose young woman is this?” 6 And the servant who was in charge of the reapers answered, “She is the young Moabite woman, (F)who came back with Naomi from the country of Moab. 7 She said, ‘Please let me glean and gather among the sheaves after the reapers.’ So she came, and she has continued from early morning until now, except for a short rest.”[a]
8 Then Boaz said to Ruth, “Now, listen, my daughter, do not go to glean in another field or leave this one, but keep close to my young women. 9 Let your eyes be on the field that they are reaping, and go after them. Have I not charged the young men not to touch you? And when you are thirsty, go to the vessels and drink what the young men have drawn.” 10 Then (G)she fell on her face, bowing to the ground, and said to him, “Why have I found favor in your eyes, that you should (H)take notice of me, since I am a foreigner?” 11 But Boaz answered her, (I)“All that you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband has been fully told to me, and how you left your father and mother and your native land and came to a people that you did not know before. 12 (J)The Lord repay you for what you have done, and a full reward be given you by the Lord, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge!” 13 Then she said, (K)“I have found favor in your eyes, my lord, for you have comforted me and spoken kindly to your servant, though I am not one of your servants.”
14 And at mealtime Boaz said to her, “Come here and eat some bread and dip your morsel in the wine.” So she sat beside the reapers, and he passed to her roasted grain. And she ate until (L)she was satisfied, and she had some left over. 15 When she rose to glean, Boaz instructed his young men, saying, “Let her glean even among the sheaves, and do not reproach her. 16 And also pull out some from the bundles for her and leave it for her to glean, and do not rebuke her.”
17 So she gleaned in the field until evening. Then she beat out what she had gleaned, and it was about an ephah[b] of barley. 18 And she took it up and went into the city. Her mother-in-law saw what she had gleaned. She also brought out and gave her what food she had left over (M)after being satisfied. 19 And her mother-in-law said to her, “Where did you glean today? And where have you worked? Blessed be the man (N)who 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 And Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, (O)“May he be blessed by the Lord, whose kindness has not forsaken (P)the living or the dead!” Naomi also said to her, “The man is a close relative of ours, one of (Q)our redeemers.” 21 And Ruth the Moabite said, “Besides, he said to me, ‘You shall keep 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, lest in another field you be assaulted.” 23 So she kept close to the young women of Boaz, gleaning until the end of the barley and wheat harvests. And she lived with her mother-in-law.
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