Ruth 2:17-3:5

English Standard Version

¹⁷ So she gleaned in the field until evening. Then she beat out what she had gleaned, and it was about an ephah^[a] of barley. ¹⁸ And she took it up and went into the city. Her mother-in-law saw what she had gleaned. She also brought out and gave her what food she had left over ^(A)after being satisfied. ¹⁹ And her mother-in-law said to her, “Where did you glean today? And where have you worked? Blessed be the man ^(B)who took notice of you.” So she told her mother-in-law with whom she had worked and said, “The man's name with whom I worked today is Boaz.” ²⁰ And Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, ^(C)“May he be blessed by the Lord, whose kindness has not forsaken ^(D)the living or the dead!” Naomi also said to her, “The man is a close relative of ours, one of ^(E)our redeemers.” ²¹ And Ruth the Moabite said, “Besides, he said to me, ‘You shall keep close by my young men until they have finished all my harvest.’” ²² And Naomi said to Ruth, her daughter-in-law, “It is good, my daughter, that you go out with his young women, lest in another field you be assaulted.” ²³ So she kept close to the young women of Boaz, gleaning until the end of the barley and wheat harvests. And she lived with her mother-in-law.

Ruth and Boaz at the Threshing Floor

3 Then Naomi her mother-in-law said to her, “My daughter, should I not seek ^(F)rest for you, that it may be well with you? ² Is not Boaz ^(G)our relative, ^(H)with whose young women you were? See, he is winnowing barley tonight at the threshing floor. ^3 (I)Wash therefore and anoint yourself, and put on your cloak and go down to the threshing floor, but do not make yourself known to the man until he has finished eating and drinking. ⁴ But when he lies down, observe the place where he lies. Then go and uncover his feet and lie down, and he will tell you what to do.” ⁵ And she replied, “All that you say I will do.”