Ruth 2
Legacy Standard Bible
Ruth Gleans in Boaz’ Field
2 Now Naomi had [a]a kinsman of her husband, a [b]mighty man of excellence, of the family of (A)Elimelech, whose name was Boaz. 2 And Ruth the Moabitess said to Naomi, “Please let me go to the field and (B)glean among the ears of grain after one whom I may find favor in his eyes.” And she said to her, “Go, my daughter.” 3 So she went. And she came and gleaned in the field after the reapers. And [c]it so happened that she happened to come to the portion of the field belonging to Boaz, who was of the family of Elimelech. 4 Now behold, Boaz came from Bethlehem and said to the reapers, “(C)May Yahweh be with you.” And they said to him, “May Yahweh bless you.” 5 Then Boaz said to his young man who was [d]in charge of the reapers, “Whose young woman is this?” 6 The young man [e]in charge of the reapers replied, “She is the young Moabite woman who returned with Naomi from the fields of Moab. 7 And 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.”
8 Then 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 [f]stay here with my young women. 9 Let 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 [g]water jars and drink from what the young men draw.” 10 Then she (D)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?” 11 Boaz 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. 12 (E)May Yahweh fully repay your work, and may your wages be full from Yahweh, the God of Israel, (F)under whose wings you have come to seek refuge.” 13 Then 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.”
14 At mealtime Boaz said to her, “[h]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 [i]served her roasted grain, and she ate and was satisfied (G)and had some left. 15 Then she rose to glean, and Boaz commanded his young men, saying, “Let her glean even among the sheaves, and do not dishonor her. 16 Also you shall purposely pull out for her some grain from the bundles and [j]leave it that she may 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 [k]ephah of barley. 18 She took it up and went into the city, and her mother-in-law saw what she had gleaned. She also took it out and (H)gave [l]Naomi what she had left after [m]she was satisfied. 19 Her mother-in-law then said to her, “Where did you glean today and where did you [n]work? May he who (I)took notice of you be blessed.” So she told her mother-in-law with whom she had [o]worked and said, “The name of the man with whom I worked today is Boaz.” 20 Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, “(J)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 [p]our relative; he is one of our kinsman redeemers.” 21 Then Ruth the Moabitess said, “[q]Furthermore, he said to me, ‘You should [r]stay close to my young men until they have finished all my harvest.’” 22 Naomi 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.” 23 So she [s]stayed close by the young women of Boaz in order to glean until (K)the end of the barley harvest and the wheat harvest. And she lived with her mother-in-law.
Footnotes
- Ruth 2:1 Or an acquaintance
- Ruth 2:1 Or mighty man of valor, cf. Judg 6:12; 11:1
- Ruth 2:3 Lit her chance chanced upon
- Ruth 2:5 Lit appointed over
- Ruth 2:6 Lit who was appointed over
- Ruth 2:8 Lit cling, cf. 1:14
- Ruth 2:9 Lit vessels
- Ruth 2:14 Lit Draw near
- Ruth 2:14 Lit held out to
- Ruth 2:16 Or forsake, cf. 1:16; 2:11, 20
- Ruth 2:17 An ephah was approx. 21 qt. or 23 l
- Ruth 2:18 Lit her
- Ruth 2:18 Lit her satiety
- Ruth 2:19 Lit do, cf. 1:8, 17; 2:11
- Ruth 2:19 Lit done, cf. 1:8, 17; 2:11
- Ruth 2:20 Lit near to us
- Ruth 2:21 Lit Also that
- Ruth 2:21 Lit cling, cf. 1:14; 2:8
- Ruth 2:23 Lit clung, cf. 1:14; 2:8, 21
Ruth 2
Easy-to-Read Version
Ruth Meets Boaz
2 There was a rich man named Boaz living in Bethlehem. Boaz was one of Naomi’s close relatives[a] from Elimelech’s family.
2 One day Ruth, the Moabite, said to Naomi, “I think I will go to the fields. Maybe I can find someone who will be kind to me and let me gather the grain they leave in their field.”
Naomi said, “Fine, daughter, go ahead.”
3 So Ruth went to the fields. She followed the workers who were cutting the grain and gathered the grain that was left.[b] It happened that part of the field belonged to Boaz, the man from Elimelech’s family.
4 Later, Boaz came to the field from Bethlehem and greeted his workers. He said, “The Lord be with you!”
And the workers answered, “And may the Lord bless you!”
5 Then Boaz spoke to his servant who was in charge of the workers. He asked, “Whose girl is that?”
6 The servant answered, “She is the Moabite woman who came with Naomi from the country of Moab. 7 She came early this morning and asked me if she could follow the workers and gather the grain that was left on the ground. She rested only a short time in that shelter.”[c]
8 Then Boaz said to Ruth, “Listen, child. Stay here in my field to gather grain for yourself. There is no need for you to go to any other field. Continue following behind my women workers. 9 Watch to see which fields they go into to cut the grain and follow them. I have warned the young men not to bother you. When you are thirsty, go and drink from the same water jug my men drink from.”
10 Then Ruth bowed very low to the ground. She said to Boaz, “I am a foreigner, so I am surprised you even noticed me.”
11 Boaz answered her, “I know about all the help you have given to your mother-in-law Naomi. I know you helped her even after your husband died. And I know that you left your father and mother and your own country and came here to this country. You did not know anyone from this country, but you came here with Naomi. 12 The Lord will reward you for all the good things you have done. The Lord, the God of Israel, will pay you in full. You have come to him for safety,[d] and he will protect you.”
13 Then Ruth said, “I hope I can continue to please you, sir. You are very kind. I am only a servant and not even one of your own servants. But you have said kind words to me and comforted me.”
14 At mealtime, Boaz told Ruth, “Come and eat some of our bread. Here, dip your bread in our vinegar.”
So Ruth sat down with the workers. Boaz gave her some roasted grain. Ruth ate until she was full, and there was some food left. 15 Then Ruth got up and went back to work.
Then Boaz told his servants, “Let Ruth gather even around the piles of grain. Don’t stop her. 16 And make her work easier by dropping some full heads of grain for her. Let her gather that grain. Don’t tell her to stop.”
Naomi Hears About Boaz
17 Ruth worked in the fields until evening. Then she separated the grain from the chaff. There was about one-half bushel[e] of barley. 18 Ruth carried the grain into town to show her mother-in-law what she had gathered. She also gave her the food that was left from lunch.
19 Her mother-in-law asked her, “Where did you gather all this grain? Where did you work? Bless the man who noticed you.”
Then Ruth told her who she had worked with. She said, “The man I worked with today is a man named Boaz.”
20 Naomi told her daughter-in-law, “The Lord bless him! He has continued showing his kindness to the living as well as the dead.” Then Naomi told her daughter-in-law, “Boaz is one of our relatives. He is one of our protectors.[f]”
21 Then Ruth said, “Boaz also told me to come back and continue working. He said that I should work closely with his servants until the harvest is finished.”
22 Then Naomi said to her daughter-in-law Ruth, “It is good for you to continue working with his women servants. If you work in another field, some man might hurt you.” 23 So Ruth continued working closely with the women servants of Boaz. She gathered grain until the barley harvest was finished. She also worked there through the end of the wheat harvest. Ruth continued living with her mother-in-law Naomi.
Footnotes
- Ruth 2:1 close relatives If a man died without children, one of his close relatives would take the dead man’s wife so that she could have children. He would care for this family, but this family and their property would not belong to him. They would all be in the dead man’s name.
- Ruth 2:3 There was a law that a farmer must leave some grain in his field during harvest, so poor people and travelers could find something to eat. See Lev. 19:9; 23:22.
- Ruth 2:7 She … shelter Or “That is her house over there.”
- Ruth 2:12 You have … for safety Literally, “You have come under his wings for safety.”
- Ruth 2:17 one-half bushel Literally, “one ephah” (22 l).
- Ruth 2:20 protectors Or “redeemers,” those who cared for and protected the family of a dead relative. Often they bought back (redeemed) the poor relatives from slavery, making them free again.
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