⁸ And Judah said to Onan, “Go in to ^(A)your brother’s wife and marry her, and raise up an heir to your brother.”

The Sadducees: What About the Resurrection?^(A)

^23 (B)The same day the Sadducees, ^(C)who say there is no resurrection, came to Him and asked Him, ²⁴ saying: “Teacher, ^(D)Moses said that if a man dies, having no children, his brother shall marry his wife and raise up offspring for his brother. ²⁵ Now there were with us seven brothers. The first died after he had married, and having no offspring, left his wife to his brother. ²⁶ Likewise the second also, and the third, even to the seventh. ²⁷ Last of all the woman died also.

⁵ Then Boaz said, “On the day you buy the field from the hand of Naomi, you must also buy it from Ruth the Moabitess, the wife of the dead, ^(A)to ^[a]perpetuate the name of the dead through his inheritance.”

^6 (B)And the close relative said, “I cannot redeem it for myself, lest I ruin my own inheritance. You redeem my right of redemption for yourself, for I cannot redeem it.”

^7 (C)Now this was the custom in former times in Israel concerning redeeming and exchanging, to confirm anything: one man took off his sandal and gave it to the other, and this was a confirmation in Israel.

⁸ Therefore the close relative said to Boaz, “Buy it for yourself.” So he took off his sandal. ⁹ And Boaz said to the elders and all the people, “You are witnesses this day that I have bought all that was Elimelech’s, and all that was Chilion’s and Mahlon’s, from the hand of Naomi. ¹⁰ Moreover, Ruth the Moabitess, the widow of Mahlon, I have acquired as my wife, to perpetuate the name of the dead through his inheritance, ^(D)that the name of the dead may not be cut off from among his brethren and from ^[b]his position at the gate. You are witnesses this day.”

¹¹ And all the people who were at the gate, and the elders, said, “We are witnesses. ^(E)The Lord make the woman who is coming to your house like Rachel and Leah, the two who ^(F)built the house of Israel; and may you prosper in ^(G)Ephrathah and be famous in ^(H)Bethlehem.

¹¹ But Naomi said, “Turn back, my daughters; why will you go with me? Are there still sons in my womb, ^(A)that they may be your husbands?

¹⁶ You shall not uncover the nakedness of your brother’s wife; it is your brother’s nakedness.

Marriage Duty of the Surviving Brother

^5 (A)“If brothers dwell together, and one of them dies and has no son, the widow of the dead man shall not be married to a stranger outside the family; her husband’s brother shall go in to her, take her as his wife, and perform the duty of a husband’s brother to her. ⁶ And it shall be that the firstborn son which she bears ^(B)will succeed to the name of his dead brother, that ^(C)his name may not be blotted out of Israel. ⁷ But if the man does not want to take his brother’s wife, then let his brother’s wife go up to the ^(D)gate to the elders, and say, ‘My husband’s brother refuses to raise up a name to his brother in Israel; he will not perform the duty of my husband’s brother.’ ⁸ Then the elders of his city shall call him and speak to him. But if he stands firm and says, ^(E)‘I do not want to take her,’ ⁹ then his brother’s wife shall come to him in the presence of the elders, ^(F)remove his sandal from his foot, spit in his face, and answer and say, ‘So shall it be done to the man who will not ^(G)build up his brother’s house.’ ¹⁰ And his name shall be called in Israel, ‘The house of him who had his sandal removed.’

⁸ And ^(A)every daughter who possesses an inheritance in any tribe of the children of Israel shall be the wife of one of the family of her father’s tribe, so that the children of Israel each may possess the inheritance of his fathers. ⁹ Thus no inheritance shall change hands from one tribe to another, but every tribe of the children of Israel shall keep its own inheritance.”