The Book of Ruth

⭑ Unlocked Dynamic Bible :: World English Bible Catholic ⭑

- Chapter 2 -

There was a man named Boaz who lived in Bethlehem. He was a relative of Naomi’s dead husband, Elimelek. He was also rich and influential.

One day Ruth said to Naomi, “Let me go to the fields and pick up the stalks of grain that the harvesters leave behind. I will go behind any harvester who gives me permission.” Naomi replied, “Go ahead, my daughter.”

So Ruth went out to the fields and began to pick up the grain left behind by the men who were harvesting. And it turned out that she was working in a field that belonged to Boaz, the relative of her father-in-law, Elimelek!

Just then, Boaz returned from town. He greeted the harvesters, saying, “May Yahweh be with you!” They replied, “May Yahweh bless you!”

Then Boaz saw Ruth, and asked the foreman, “Who is that young woman related to?”

The foreman replied, “She is the woman from Moab who returned from there with her mother-in-law Naomi.

She said to me, ‘Please let me pick up some grain. I will only walk behind the men who are harvesting the grain and gather what they leave.’ I gave her permission, and she has been working in the field from this morning until now. She has only taken a short rest, when she rested in the shelter.”

Then Boaz went over to Ruth and said to her, “Young lady, listen to me. You do not need to go to any other field to gather grain. You should stay here with my servant girls.

Watch where the men are harvesting, and follow along behind my servant girls. I have told the men who are harvesting not to bother you. And whenever you are thirsty, go and get some water to drink from the jars that the men have filled.”

When he said that, she knelt before him, with her face touching the ground. She exclaimed, “Why are you being so kind to me? I did not think you would pay any attention to me since I am a foreigner!”

Boaz replied, “People have told me about everything you have done for your mother-in-law since your husband died. They told me that you left your parents and your homeland, and you came here to live among people whom you did not know.

I pray that Yahweh will repay you for what you have done. May you receive full payment for your actions from the God of Israel, because he is the one you have come to and he will protect you!”

She replied, “Sir, I hope I will continue to please you. You have comforted me with your kindness, even though I am not even one of your servant girls.”

When it was time to eat, Boaz said to her, “Come over here and get some food. Take this bread and dip it in the vinegar and eat it.” Then when she sat down with the harvesters, he offered her some roasted grain. She ate all that she wanted and had some left over.

As she stood up to go back to work, Boaz ordered his workers, “Even if she gathers some grain near the bundles of grain that have been cut, do not try to stop her.

Instead, make sure that you pull out some stalks of grain from the bundles and leave them on the ground for her to pick up, and do not scold her.”

So Ruth gathered grain in the field until evening. Then she threshed the barley that she had gathered, to separate the kernels from the stalks, and the barley filled a large basket.

She carried it back to town and showed her mother-in-law how much she had gathered. She also gave her mother-in-law the grain that was left over from her lunch.

Her mother-in-law asked her, “Where did you gather all this grain today? In whose field exactly did you work? May God do good to the man who was so kind to you.” Then Ruth told her about where she had been working. She said, “The name of that field’s owner is Boaz.”

Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, “May Yahweh bless him! He has not stopped acting kindly toward us, who are still living, and to our husbands who have died.” Then she added, “That man is a close relative of Elimelek; in fact, he is one of those responsible for taking care of us.”

Then Ruth said, “He also said to me, ‘Stay with my workers until they have completed bringing in all my grain from the field.’”

Naomi replied, “My daughter, it will be good for you to go to his field with his servant girls, because if you go to someone else’s field, someone might harm you.”

So Ruth worked alongside of Boaz’s servant girls. She gathered stalks of grain until the workers had finished harvesting both the barley and the wheat. During that time she continued to live with Naomi.

Naomi had a relative of her husband’s, a mighty man of wealth, of the family of Elimelech, and his name was Boaz.

Ruth the Moabitess said to Naomi, “Let me now go to the field, and glean among the ears of grain after him in whose sight I find favor.” She said to her, “Go, my daughter.”

She went, and came and gleaned in the field after the reapers; and she happened to come to the portion of the field belonging to Boaz, who was of the family of Elimelech.

Behold, Boaz came from Bethlehem, and said to the reapers, “May The LORD be with you.” They answered him, “May The LORD bless you.”

Then Boaz said to his servant who was set over the reapers, “Whose young lady is this?”

The servant who was set over the reapers answered, “It is the Moabite lady who came back with Naomi out of the country of Moab.

She said, ‘Please let me glean and gather after the reapers among the sheaves.’ So she came, and has continued even from the morning until now, except that she rested a little in the house.”

Then Boaz said to Ruth, “Listen, my daughter. Don’t go to glean in another field, and don’t go from here, but stay here close to my maidens.

Let your eyes be on the field that they reap, and go after them. Haven’t I commanded the young men not to touch you? When you are thirsty, go to the vessels, and drink from that which the young men have drawn.”

Then she fell on her face and bowed herself to the ground, and said to him, “Why have I found favor in your sight, that you should take knowledge of me, since I am a foreigner?”

Boaz answered her, “I have been told all about what you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband, and how you have left your father, your mother, and the land of your birth, and have come to a people that you didn’t know before.

May the LORD repay your work, and a full reward be given to you from the LORD, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge.”

Then she said, “Let me find favor in your sight, my lord, because you have comforted me, and because you have spoken kindly to your servant, though I am not as one of your servants.”

At meal time Boaz said to her, “Come here, and eat some bread, and dip your morsel in the vinegar.” She sat beside the reapers, and they passed her parched grain. She ate, was satisfied, and left some of it.

When she had risen up to glean, Boaz commanded his young men, saying, “Let her glean even among the sheaves, and don’t reproach her.

Also pull out some for her from the bundles, and leave it. Let her glean, and don’t rebuke her.”

So she gleaned in the field until evening; and she beat out that which she had gleaned, and it was about an ephah(a) of barley.

She took it up, and went into the city. Then her mother-in-law saw what she had gleaned; and she brought out and gave to her that which she had left after she had enough.

Her mother-in-law said to her, “Where have you gleaned today? Where have you worked? Blessed be he who noticed you.” She told her mother-in-law with whom she had worked, “The man’s name with whom I worked today is Boaz.”

Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, “May he be blessed by the LORD, who has not abandoned his kindness to the living and to the dead.” Naomi said to her, “The man is a close relative to us, one of our near kinsmen.”

Ruth the Moabitess said, “Yes, he said to me, ‘You shall stay close to my young men until they have finished all my harvest.’”

Naomi said to Ruth her daughter-in-law, “It is good, my daughter, that you go out with his maidens, and that they not meet you in any other field.”

So she stayed close to the maidens of Boaz, to glean to the end of barley harvest and of wheat harvest; and she lived with her mother-in-law.

Footnotes

(a)2:17 1 ephah is about 22 liters or about 2/3 of a bushel