¹⁵ “Look,” said Naomi, “your sister-in-law^(A) is going back to her people and her gods.^(B) Go back with her.”

¹⁶ But Ruth replied, “Don’t urge me to leave you^(C) or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go,^(D) and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people^(E) and your God my God.^{(F) 17} Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried. May the Lord deal with me, be it ever so severely,^(G) if even death separates you and me.”^(H)

² And Ruth the Moabite^(A) said to Naomi, “Let me go to the fields and pick up the leftover grain^(B) behind anyone in whose eyes I find favor.^(C)”

Naomi said to her, “Go ahead, my daughter.” ³ So she went out, entered a field and began to glean behind the harvesters.^(D) As it turned out, she was working in a field belonging to Boaz, who was from the clan of Elimelek.^(E)

⁴ Just then Boaz arrived from Bethlehem and greeted the harvesters, “The Lord be with you!^(F)”

“The Lord bless you!^(G)” they answered.

⁵ Boaz asked the overseer of his harvesters, “Who does that young woman belong to?”

⁶ The overseer replied, “She is the Moabite^(H) who came back from Moab with Naomi. ⁷ She said, ‘Please let me glean and gather among the sheaves^(I) behind the harvesters.’ She came into the field and has remained here from morning till now, except for a short rest^(J) in the shelter.”

¹⁰ At this, she bowed down with her face to the ground.^(A) She asked him, “Why have I found such favor in your eyes that you notice me^(B)—a foreigner?^(C)”

¹¹ Boaz replied, “I’ve been told all about what you have done for your mother-in-law^(D) since the death of your husband^(E)—how you left your father and mother and your homeland and came to live with a people you did not know^(F) before.^{(G) 12} May the Lord repay you for what you have done. May you be richly rewarded by the Lord,^(H) the God of Israel,^(I) under whose wings^(J) you have come to take refuge.^(K)”

Naomi Gains a Son

¹³ So Boaz took Ruth and she became his wife. When he made love to her, the Lord enabled her to conceive,^(A) and she gave birth to a son.^{(B) 14} The women^(C) said to Naomi: “Praise be to the Lord,^(D) who this day has not left you without a guardian-redeemer.^(E) May he become famous throughout Israel! ¹⁵ He will renew your life and sustain you in your old age. For your daughter-in-law,^(F) who loves you and who is better to you than seven sons,^(G) has given him birth.”

¹⁶ Then Naomi took the child in her arms and cared for him. ¹⁷ The women living there said, “Naomi has a son!” And they named him Obed. He was the father of Jesse,^(H) the father of David.^(I)