⁹ And he said, “Who are you?”

So she answered, “I am Ruth, your maidservant. ^(A)Take^[a] your maidservant under your wing, for you are ^(B)a ^[b]close relative.”

¹⁰ Then he said, ^(C)“Blessed are you of the Lord, my daughter! For you have shown more kindness at the end than ^(D)at the beginning, in that you did not go after young men, whether poor or rich. ¹¹ And now, my daughter, do not fear. I will do for you all that you request, for all the people of my town know that you are a ^(E)virtuous woman. ¹² Now it is true that I am a ^(F)close relative; however, ^(G)there is a relative closer than I. ¹³ Stay this night, and in the morning it shall be that if he will ^(H)perform the duty of a close relative for you—good; let him do it. But if he does not want to perform the duty for you, then I will perform the duty for you, ^(I)as the Lord lives! Lie down until morning.”

¹⁴ So she lay at his feet until morning, and she arose before one could recognize another. Then he said, ^(J)“Do not let it be known that the woman came to the threshing floor.” ¹⁵ Also he said, “Bring the ^[c]shawl that is on you and hold it.” And when she held it, he measured six ephahs of barley, and laid it on her. Then ^[d]she went into the city.

¹⁶ When she came to her mother-in-law, she said, ^[e]“Is that you, my daughter?”

Then she told her all that the man had done for her. ¹⁷ And she said, “These six ephahs of barley he gave me; for he said to me, ‘Do not go empty-handed to your mother-in-law.’ ”

¹⁸ Then she said, ^(K)“Sit still, my daughter, until you know how the matter will turn out; for the man will not rest until he has concluded the matter this day.”

Boaz Redeems Ruth

4 Now Boaz went up to the gate and sat down there; and behold, ^(L)the close relative of whom Boaz had spoken came by. So Boaz said, “Come aside, ^[f]friend, sit down here.” So he came aside and sat down. ² And he took ten men of ^(M)the elders of the city, and said, “Sit down here.” So they sat down. ³ Then he said to the close relative, “Naomi, who has come back from the country of Moab, sold the piece of land ^(N)which belonged to our brother Elimelech. ⁴ And I thought to ^[g]inform you, saying, ^(O)‘Buy it back ^(P)in the presence of the inhabitants and the elders of my people. If you will redeem it, redeem it; but if ^[h]you will not redeem it, then tell me, that I may know; ^(Q)for there is no one but you to redeem it, and I am next after you.’ ”

And he said, “I will redeem it.”

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, ^(R)to ^[i]perpetuate the name of the dead through his inheritance.”

^6 (S)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 (T)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, ^(U)that the name of the dead may not be cut off from among his brethren and from ^[j]his position at the gate. You are witnesses this day.”