路得记 2
Chinese Contemporary Bible (Simplified)
路得遇见波阿斯
2 拿俄米的丈夫以利米勒有个亲戚，名叫波阿斯，是个有名望的财主。 2 摩押女子路得对拿俄米说：“让我到田里去，跟在那些愿意恩待我的人后面，捡些麦穗回来。”拿俄米说：“去吧，我的女儿！” 3 于是，路得便去了。她恰巧来到以利米勒的亲戚波阿斯的田里，跟在收割的人后面捡麦穗。 4 当时，波阿斯刚好从伯利恒来到田间，向那些收割的工人问安说：“愿耶和华与你们同在。”他们回答说：“愿耶和华赐福与你。” 5 波阿斯问负责收割的工头说：“那是谁家的女子？” 6 工头回答说：“她是摩押女子，跟拿俄米刚从摩押回来。 7 她求我让她跟在收割的人后面，捡工人扎捆时遗落的麦穗。她一大早就来到这里，一直捡到现在，除了在凉棚里稍微坐了一会儿之外，几乎没有休息。”
8 波阿斯对路得说：“姑娘[a]，听我说，你不用到别人的田里去拾麦穗了，也不必离开这里，只管留下来跟我的女工在一起。 9 你看我的工人在哪一块田里收割，就跟着我的女工去，我已经吩咐工人不可欺负你。要是你渴了，就去水罐那里喝工人打回来的水。” 10 路得就俯伏在地叩谢他，说：“我不过是个外族人，你为什么这样恩待我、体恤我？” 11 波阿斯说：“自从你丈夫过世之后，你怎样善待婆婆，怎样离开父母和家乡来到素不相识的人当中，我都听说了。 12 愿耶和华照你所行的奖赏你！你来投靠在以色列的上帝耶和华的翅膀下，愿祂厚厚地赏赐你。” 13 路得说：“我主啊！我真是在你面前蒙恩，虽然我连你的婢女都不如，你还好言安慰我。”
14 吃饭的时候，波阿斯对路得说：“来，吃一点饼吧，可以蘸着醋吃。”路得便坐在那些收割工人旁边。波阿斯递给她一些烤好的麦穗。她吃饱了，还有剩余的。 15 当她起来又要去捡麦穗的时候，波阿斯就吩咐他的工人说：“你们要任由她捡，就算她在割下的麦子中捡麦穗，你们也不要为难她。 16 甚至要从麦捆中抽一些出来让她捡，不要责骂她。”
17 于是，路得便在田间继续捡麦穗，到了黄昏，她把捡到的麦穗打了，大约有十三公斤大麦。 18 她把捡来的麦子带回城里给婆婆拿俄米看，又把剩下来的食物给婆婆。 19 婆婆问她：“你今天在哪里拾麦穗？在哪里做工？愿那善待你的人蒙福！”她就告诉婆婆说：“今天我在一个名叫波阿斯的人那里工作。” 20 拿俄米说：“愿耶和华赐福给他，他对活着的和过世的都是那么有情有义。”拿俄米又对路得说：“这人是我们本族的人，是我们的一个近亲。” 21 摩押女子路得说：“他还对我说，‘你可以跟在我的工人后面捡麦穗，直到他们把我的庄稼都收完为止。’” 22 拿俄米对儿媳路得说：“我的女儿啊，你就跟他的女工一起到田里去，免得去别人的田里被欺负。” 23 因此，路得便常跟波阿斯的女工在一起捡麦穗，直到大麦小麦都收割完毕。路得就这样陪伴婆婆过日子。
Footnotes
- 2:8 “姑娘”希伯来文是“女儿”。
Ruth 2
The Voice
2 Now Naomi’s deceased husband, Elimelech, had a relative in Bethlehem, an honorable, wealthy man named Boaz. 2 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.
3 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.
4 As she was working in his field, Boaz happened to arrive from Bethlehem, and he greeted the harvesters.
Boaz: The Eternal One be with you.
Harvesters: May the Eternal bless you!
5 Then seeing Ruth, Boaz spoke to the young man in charge of the harvesters.
Boaz: Whom does this young woman belong to?
Overseer: 6 She is the Moabite woman who came back with Naomi from Moab. 7 She came and asked my permission to pick up the grain our harvesters leave behind and gather it all into sheaves for herself. Except for one small break she has been here all day, working in the field from the morning until now.
When God gives His law to the Israelites, He establishes a culture of generosity. Knowing there will be people such as widows, orphans, and resident aliens who will be too poor to farm for themselves, He set limits on how much each farmer should harvest from his own land. In Leviticus 19:9–10, farmers are told not to harvest the corners of their property or return to already-harvested rows to pick up any grain that may have been left. The remaining grain in the field is called gleanings, and those are left for the poor. In a similar law, Deuteronomy 24:19–22 explains that God does this to remind His people that once they were all poor and resident aliens themselves in Egypt. The gleaners face hard labor every day, so Ruth isn’t expecting the kindness Boaz shows her.
Boaz (to Ruth): 8 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. 9 Watch the harvesters, and see which field they are working in. Follow along behind these servants of mine. I have warned the young men not to touch you. If you are thirsty, go and get a drink from the water jars my young men have filled for the harvesters.
10 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?
Boaz: 11 I have heard your story. I know about everything you have done for your mother-in-law since your own husband died. I know you left your own mother and father, your home and your country, and you have come to live in a culture that must seem strange to you. 12 May the Eternal repay you for your sacrifices and reward you richly for what you have done. It is under the wings of Israel’s God, the Eternal One, that you have sought shelter.
Ruth: 13 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.
14 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. 15 When her meal was finished, she got back up and returned to work. Then Boaz pulled some of the young harvesters aside and gave them instructions about her.
Boaz: Let her pick up grain from among the sheaves. Do not reprimand or humiliate her for gleaning where it is usually forbidden. 16 Instead, periodically pick out a stalk or two from the sheaves that have already been bound, and leave them for her to gather for herself. Make sure that no one gives her a hard time.
17 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. 18 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.
Naomi (to Ruth): 19 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.
Naomi: 20 May the Eternal bless this man. He has not given up showing His covenant love toward the living and the dead.
This man is closely related to us—he is a kinsman-redeemer of our family.
The kinsman-redeemer is the closest relative and has the responsibility to save his family members from any evil or hardship.
Ruth[a]: 21 That is not all he did. Boaz also instructed me to stay with his young workers for the remainder of his grain harvesting season.
Naomi: 22 It is best that you do as he says. Stay with his young women who bind the sheaves. They will keep you safe from the hostility and danger of working in another’s field.
23 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.
Footnotes
- 2:21 Hebrew manuscripts add, “the Moabite woman.”
Chinese Contemporary Bible Copyright © 1979, 2005, 2007, 2011 by Biblica® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.