Ruth

Old Testament · 4 chapters · 85 verses.

Chapter 1

1:1Now it happened in the days when the judges judged, that there was a famine in the land. And a man from Bethlehem in Judah went to sojourn in the fields of Moab, he and his wife and his two sons.
1:2The man’s name was Elimelech, his wife’s name was Naomi, and the names of his two sons were Mahlon and Chilion. They were Ephrathites from Bethlehem in Judah. And they came to the fields of Moab and remained there.
1:3Then Elimelech, the husband of Naomi, died; and she was left, she and her two sons.
1:4They took Moabite wives for themselves; the name of one was Orpah, and the name of the other Ruth. And they dwelt there about ten years.
1:5Then both of them died also—Mahlon and Chilion—and the woman was left of her two children and of her husband.
1:6Then she rose with her daughters-in-law to return from the fields of Moab, for she had heard in the fields of Moab that the LORD had visited His people by giving them bread.
1:7Then she went out from the place where she had been, and her two daughters-in-law with her; and they went on the way to return to the land of Judah.
1:8Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, “Go, return, each of you to her mother’s house. May the LORD deal kindly with you, as you have dealt with the dead and with me.
1:9May the LORD give to you, and may you find rest, each in the house of her husband.” And she kissed them, and they raised their voice and wept.
1:10Then they said to her, “Surely with you we will return to your people.”
1:11But Naomi said, “Return, my daughters. Why would you go with me? Are there still sons in my womb who could become your husbands?
1:12Return, my daughters, go; for I am too aged to be for a husband. Though I should say, ‘There is hope for me,’ though I should be this night with a husband, and should also bear sons,
1:13would you wait for them until they were grown? Would you refrain from having husbands for them? No, my daughters; for it is far more bitter for me than for you, because the hand of the LORD has gone out against me.”
1:14Then they raised their voice and wept again; and Orpah kissed her mother-in-law, but Ruth clung to her.
1:15Then she said, “Behold, your sister-in-law has returned to her people and to her god; return after your sister-in-law.”
1:16But Ruth said, “Do not urge me to leave you or turn back from following you. For where you go, I will go; and where you lodge, I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God my God.
1:17Where you die, I die, and there I will be buried. Thus may the LORD do to me, and thus may He add—for death itself shall part between me and you.”
1:18Then she saw that Ruth had strengthened herself to go with her, and she ceased speaking to her.
1:19Then the two of them went until they came to Bethlehem. And it happened, when they came to Bethlehem, that all the city was moved over them, and they said, “Is this Naomi?”
1:20She said to them, “Do not call me Naomi; call me Mara, for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me.
1:21I went out full, but the LORD has brought me back empty. Why call me Naomi, since the LORD has testified against me, and the Almighty has afflicted me?”
1:22So Naomi returned, and Ruth the Moabite, her daughter-in-law, with her, who returned from the fields of Moab. And they came to Bethlehem at the beginning of barley harvest.

Chapter 2

2:1And Naomi had an acquaintance of her husband’s, a man mighty in wealth, of the family of Elimelech; and his name was Boaz.
2:2Ruth the Moabite said to Naomi, “Please let me go to the field and glean among the ears of grain after one in whose eyes I may find favor.” And she said to her, “Go, my daughter.”
2:3So she went, and came and gleaned in the field after the reapers; and her chance happened upon the portion of the field belonging to Boaz, who was of the family of Elimelech.
2:4And behold, Boaz came from Bethlehem, and said to the reapers, “The LORD is with you.” And they said to him, “The LORD bless you.”
2:5Then Boaz said to his young man who was set over the reapers, “Whose is this young woman?”
2:6Then the young man who was set over the reapers answered and said, “She is a young Moabite woman who returned with Naomi from the land of Moab.
2:7She said, ‘Please let me glean and gather among the sheaves after the reapers.’ So she came and has remained from morning until now; she has rested only a little in the house.”
2:8Then Boaz said to Ruth, “Have you not heard, my daughter? Do not go to glean in another field, and also, do not pass over from here; and thus you shall cling to my young women.
2:9Let your eyes be on the field which they reap, 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 from that which the young men draw.”
2:10Then she fell on her face and bowed to the ground, and said to him, “Why have I found favor in your eyes, that you should regard me, though I am a foreigner?”
2:11Then Boaz answered and said to her, “It has been thoroughly declared to me, all that you have done with your mother-in-law after the death of your husband; and how you left your father, and your mother, and the land of your birth, and came to a people whom you had not known before.
2:12May the LORD repay your work, and may your reward be full from the LORD, God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge.”
2:13Then she said, “Let me find grace in your eyes, my lord, because you have comforted me, and because you have spoken to the heart of your servant, though I am not as one of your servants.”
2:14At mealtime Boaz said to her, “Come here, eat of the bread, and dip your morsel in the vinegar.” So she sat beside the reapers, and he handed her roasted grain; and she ate and was satisfied, and had some left over.
2:15Then she rose to glean, and Boaz charged his young men, saying, “Even between the sheaves she may glean, and you shall not cause her to blush.
2:16And also you shall surely draw out for her from the handfuls, and leave it, that she may glean; and you shall not rebuke her.”
2:17And she gleaned in the field until evening, and beat out that which she had gleaned; and it was about an ephah of barley.
2:18Then she took it up, and went into the city; and her mother-in-law saw that which she had gleaned. And she brought out and gave to her that which she had left from her satiety.
2:19Then her mother-in-law said to her, “Where have you gleaned today? And where have you worked? May he who discerned you be blessed.” And she declared to her mother-in-law with whom she had worked, and said, “The name of the man with whom I worked today is Boaz.”
2:20Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, “Blessed is he of the LORD, who has not forsaken His kindness to the living and the dead.” And Naomi said to her, “The man is near to us; he is one of our redeemers.”
2:21Then Ruth the Moabite said, “He also said to me, ‘You shall cling to my young people until they have completed all my harvest.’”
2:22Then Naomi said to Ruth her daughter-in-law, “It is pleasant, my daughter, that you go out with his young women, and that they not come against you in another field.”
2:23So she kept close to the young women of Boaz, gleaning until the end of the barley harvest and the wheat harvest; and she dwelt with her mother-in-law.

Chapter 3

3:1Then Naomi her mother-in-law said to her, “My daughter, do I not seek rest for you, that it may be well with you?
3:2And now, is not Boaz of our acquaintance, with whose young women you have been? Behold, he is winnowing barley at the threshing-floor tonight.
3:3Wash yourself, therefore, and anoint yourself; put on your garments and go down to the threshing-floor. But do not make yourself known to the man until he has finished eating and drinking.
3:4And when he lies down, note the place where he lies. Then go in, uncover his feet, and lie down; and he will tell you what you shall do.”
3:5Then she said to her, “All that you say, I will do.”
3:6Then she went down to the threshing-floor, and did according to all that her mother-in-law had commanded her.
3:7Then Boaz ate and drank, and his heart was glad; and he went to lie down at the end of the heap. Then she came softly, uncovered his feet, and lay down.
3:8At midnight the man was startled and turned over; and behold, a woman was lying at his feet.
3:9He said, “Who are you?” And she said, “I am Ruth your servant. Spread your wing over your servant, for you are a redeemer.”
3:10Then he said, “Blessed are you of the LORD, my daughter. You have shown more kindness at the end than at the beginning, in that you did not go after young men, whether poor or rich.
3:11And now, my daughter, do not fear. All that you say I will do for you, for all the people at the gate know that you are a virtuous woman.
3:12And now, it is true that I am a redeemer; yet there is a redeemer nearer than I.
3:13Remain tonight. In the morning, if he will redeem you, good—let him redeem you. But if he is not willing to redeem you, then I will redeem you, as the LORD lives. Lie down until morning.”
3:14Then she lay at his feet until the morning, and rose before one could recognize another. And he said, “Let it not be known that the woman came into the threshing-floor.”
3:15Then he said, “Bring the cloak that is upon you, and hold it.” And she held it, and he measured six measures of barley and laid it on her; then he went into the city.
3:16When she came to her mother-in-law, she said, “How did it go, my daughter?” And she told her all that the man had done for her.
3:17Then she said, “These six measures of barley he gave to me, for he said, ‘You shall not go empty to your mother-in-law.’”
3:18Then she said, “Wait, my daughter, until you know how the matter turns out; for the man will not rest unless he has settled the matter today.”

Chapter 4

4:1Now Boaz went up to the gate and sat there. And behold, the redeemer of whom Boaz had spoken passed by; and he said, “Turn aside, friend; sit down here.” And he turned aside and sat down.
4:2Then he took ten men from the elders of the city, and said, “Sit down here.” And they sat down.
4:3Then he said to the redeemer, “Naomi, who has returned from the fields of Moab, is selling the portion of land that belonged to our brother Elimelech.
4:4And I thought I should disclose it to you, saying, ‘Buy it before those who sit here and before the elders of my people. If you will redeem it, redeem it; but if you will not redeem it, tell me, that I may know; for there is no one besides you to redeem it, and I come after you.’” And he said, “I will redeem it.”
4:5Then Boaz said, “On the day you buy the field from the hand of Naomi, you also acquire Ruth the Moabite, wife of the dead, to raise up the name of the dead upon his inheritance.”
4:6Then the redeemer said, “I am not able to redeem it for myself, lest I destroy my inheritance. Redeem for yourself—you—my right of redemption, for I am not able to redeem.”
4:7Now this was the custom in former times in Israel concerning redemption and exchange, to confirm every matter: a man drew off his sandal and gave it to his neighbor. This was the custom in Israel.
4:8Then the redeemer said to Boaz, “Buy it for yourself.” And he drew off his sandal.
4:9Then Boaz said to the elders and to 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.
4:10And also Ruth the Moabite, wife of Mahlon, I have bought for myself as a wife, to raise up the name of the dead over his inheritance, that the name of the dead not be cut off from among his brothers, nor from the gate of his place. You are witnesses today.”
4:11Then all the people who were at the gate, and the elders, said, “We are witnesses. May the LORD make the woman who is coming into your house like Rachel and Leah, both of whom built the house of Israel. May you act worthily in Ephrathah and make a name in Bethlehem.
4:12And may your house be as the house of Perez, whom Tamar bore to Judah, from the seed which the LORD gives you by this young woman.”
4:13So Boaz took Ruth, and she became his wife; and he went in to her, and the LORD gave her conception, and she bore a son.
4:14Then the women said to Naomi, “Blessed is the LORD, who has not left you without a redeemer today; and may his name be proclaimed in Israel.
4:15And he shall restore your life and sustain you in your old age; for your daughter-in-law, who loves you and is better to you than seven sons, has borne him.”
4:16Then Naomi took the child, laid him in her bosom, and became his nurse.
4:17The neighboring women gave him a name, saying, “A son has been born to Naomi.” And they called his name Obed. He is the father of Jesse, the father of David.
4:18And these are the generations of Perez: Perez bore Hezron,
4:19and Hezron bore Ram, and Ram bore Amminadab,
4:20and Amminadab bore Nahshon, and Nahshon bore Salmon,
4:21and Salmon bore Boaz, and Boaz bore Obed,
4:22and Obed bore Jesse, and Jesse bore David.