Ruth 1:19-2:12
Holman Christian Standard Bible
19 The two of them traveled until they came to Bethlehem. When they entered Bethlehem, the whole town was excited about their arrival[a](A) and the local women exclaimed, “Can this be Naomi?”
20 “Don’t call me Naomi. Call me Mara,”[b] she answered,[c] “for the Almighty(B) has made me very bitter.(C) 21 I went away full, but the Lord has brought me back empty.(D) Why do you call me Naomi, since the Lord has pronounced judgment on[d] me, and the Almighty has afflicted me?”
22 So Naomi came back from the land of Moab with her daughter-in-law Ruth the Moabitess. They arrived in Bethlehem at the beginning of the barley harvest.(E)
Ruth and Boaz Meet
2 Now Naomi had a relative on her husband’s side named Boaz. He was a prominent man of noble character(F) from Elimelech’s family.
2 Ruth the Moabitess asked Naomi, “Will you let me go into the fields and gather fallen grain(G) behind someone who allows me to?”
Naomi answered her, “Go ahead, my daughter.” 3 So Ruth left and entered the field to gather grain behind the harvesters. She happened(H) to be in the portion of land belonging to Boaz, who was from Elimelech’s family.
4 Later, when Boaz arrived from Bethlehem, he said to the harvesters, “The Lord be with you.”(I)
“The Lord bless you,”(J) they replied.
5 Boaz asked his servant who was in charge of the harvesters, “Whose young woman is this?”
6 The servant answered, “She is the young Moabite woman who returned with Naomi from the land of Moab. 7 She asked, ‘Will you let me gather fallen grain among the bundles behind the harvesters?’ She came and has remained from early morning until now, except that she rested a little in the shelter.”[e]
8 Then Boaz said to Ruth, “Listen, my daughter.[f] Don’t go and gather grain in another field, and don’t leave this one, but stay here close to my female servants. 9 See which field they are harvesting, and follow them. Haven’t I ordered the young men not to touch you?[g] When you are thirsty, go and drink from the jars the young men have filled.”
10 She bowed with her face to the ground(K) and said to him, “Why are you so kind to notice me, although I am a foreigner?”
11 Boaz answered her, “Everything you have done for your mother-in-law since your husband’s death has been fully reported to me: how you left your father and mother and the land of your birth, and how you came to a people you didn’t previously know. 12 May the Lord reward you for what you have done,(L) and may you receive a full reward from the Lord God of Israel, under whose wings you have come for refuge.”(M)
Footnotes
- Ruth 1:19 Lit excited because of them
- Ruth 1:20 = Bitter
- Ruth 1:20 Lit answered them
- Ruth 1:21 LXX, Syr, Vg read has humiliated
- Ruth 2:7 LXX reads until evening she has not stopped in the field; Vg reads now and she did not return to the house; Hb uncertain
- Ruth 2:8 Lit Haven’t you heard, my daughter?
- Ruth 2:9 Either sexual or physical harassment
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