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a ruthless nation that doesn’t respect the old or spare the young.
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Each son married a woman from Moab—one was named Orpah, the other Ruth—and they lived together for 10 years
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Word had reached Moab that the Eternal One had once again brought life back to the land of Israel and blessed His people with food. Naomi prepared to return with her daughters-in-law. With Orpah and Ruth at her side, she began her journey back to Judah, leaving the place where she had lived.
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Naomi (to Orpah and Ruth): You have accompanied me far enough; you must both return to Moab. Go home to your mothers’ care and your people. May the Eternal show His loyal love to you just as you demonstrated it to my dead sons and me.
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I hope He will bring you new husbands and that you will find the rest you deserve in their homes. She drew close, kissed them, and turned to go on her way, alone. But Orpah and Ruth wailed and sobbed, crying out to her.
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Orpah and Ruth: Do not leave us! We insist you take us with you to live with you and your people.
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At this Orpah and Ruth wailed and wept again. Then Orpah kissed Naomi, said goodbye, and returned the way she had come. Yet Ruth refused to let go of Naomi.
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Ruth: Stop pushing me away, insisting that I stop following you! Wherever you go, I will go. Wherever you live, I will live. Your people will be my people. Your God will be my God.
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When Naomi heard this and saw Ruth’s resolve, she stopped trying to talk her out of returning to Judah.
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This was how Naomi came into Bethlehem with her daughter-in-law, Ruth, from Moab. It was at the beginning of the barley harvest when they returned to the land.
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One day Ruth (the foreign woman who returned with Naomi from Moab) approached Naomi with a request. Ruth: Let me go out into the field and pick up whatever grain is left behind the harvesters. Maybe someone will be merciful to me. Naomi: Go ahead, my daughter.
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Ruth left and went into the fields to pick up the gleanings, the grain that had been left behind by the harvesters. And so it was that the portion of the field she was working in belonged to Boaz, who was a part of Elimelech’s family.
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Then seeing Ruth, Boaz spoke to the young man in charge of the harvesters. Boaz: Whom does this young woman belong to?
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Boaz (to Ruth): Listen to me, my daughter. Do not go and glean in any other field. In fact, do not go outside my property at all but stay with the young women who work for me following the harvesters and bundling the grain into sheaves.
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Overwhelmed, Ruth bowed down before Boaz, putting her face to the ground in front of him. Ruth: I am just a foreigner. Why have you noticed me and treated me as if I’m one of your favorites?
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Ruth: I pray you will continue to look upon me with such favor, my lord. I am comforted by your kind words, even though I am not as worthy of them as even one of your servant girls.
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Later during the meal, Boaz spoke to Ruth again. Boaz: Come over here and have some of my food. Dip your piece of bread in the vinegar wine. So Ruth sat down among the harvesters. Boaz also offered her some roasted grain. She ate as much as she wanted and even had some left over.
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So Ruth worked in the field all day until the sun had nearly set. When she finished picking up the leftover ears, she beat her gathered barley grains from the stalks with a stick. All that work resulted in over 20 quarts of grain.
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Then she carried it back to the city where her mother-in-law saw how much she had gleaned. Ruth took out the leftover food from what she could not eat of her midday meal and gave it to Naomi.
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Naomi (to Ruth): Where did you go to work today? Where did you glean all this from? May God bless the person who gave you this kind of attention. So Ruth told Naomi the story of all that had happened to her that day and on whose land she had worked. Ruth: The man I worked with today is named Boaz.
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Ruth: That is not all he did. Boaz also instructed me to stay with his young workers for the remainder of his grain harvesting season.
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So that is what Ruth did. She kept close to Boaz’s young female servants and picked up everything they dropped. She worked hard throughout the seven weeks of the wheat and barley seasons until the harvest was complete in early summer. And this whole time she lived at her mother-in-law’s home.
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Naomi (to Ruth): My child, it is my responsibility to find a husband and place of rest for you—a place where you will find rest and contentment.
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Ruth: I will do everything you have told me to do.
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Not much later, Boaz finished eating and drinking and was in good spirits. He made his way to the end of a pile of grain and lay down there to sleep. Then very quietly, Ruth snuck to where he was lying down. She uncovered his feet and lay down at his feet.
