Encounter at the threshing floor

3 Naomi her mother-in-law said to her, “My daughter, shouldn’t I seek security for you, so that things might go well for you? ² Now isn’t Boaz, whose young women you were with, our relative? Tonight he will be winnowing barley at the threshing floor. ³ You should bathe, put on some perfume, wear nice clothes, and then go down to the threshing floor. Don’t make yourself known to the man until he has finished eating and drinking. ⁴ When he lies down, notice the place where he is lying. Then go, uncover his feet, and lie down. And he will tell you what to do.”

⁵ Ruth replied to her, “I’ll do everything you are telling me.”

⁶ So she went down to the threshing floor, and she did everything just as her mother-in-law had ordered.

⁷ Boaz ate and drank, and he was in a good mood. He went over to lie down by the edge of the grain pile. Then she quietly approached, uncovered his legs, and lay down. ⁸ During the middle of the night, the man shuddered and turned over—and there was a woman lying at his feet. ⁹ “Who are you?” he asked.

She replied, “I’m Ruth your servant. Spread out your robe^[a] over your servant, because you are a redeemer.”

¹⁰ He said, “May you be blessed by the Lord, my daughter! You have acted even more faithfully than you did at first. You haven’t gone after rich or poor young men. ¹¹ And now, my daughter, don’t be afraid. I’ll do for you everything you are asking. Indeed, my people—all who are at the gate—know that you are a woman of worth. ¹² Now, although it’s certainly true that I’m a redeemer, there’s a redeemer who is a closer relative than I am. ¹³ Stay the night. And in the morning, if he’ll redeem you—good, let him redeem. But if he doesn’t want to redeem you, then—as the Lord lives—I myself will redeem you. Lie down until the morning.”

¹⁴ So she lay at his feet until morning. Then she got up before one person could recognize another, for he had said, “No one should know that the woman came to the threshing floor.” ¹⁵ He said, “Bring the cloak that you have on and hold it out.” She held it out, and he measured out six measures of barley and placed it upon her. Then she^[b] went into town.

¹⁶ She came to her mother-in-law, who said, “How are you, my daughter?”

So Ruth told her everything the man had done for her. ¹⁷ She said, “He gave me these six measures of barley, for he said to me, ‘Don’t go away empty-handed to your mother-in-law.’”

¹⁸ “Sit tight, my daughter,” Naomi replied, “until you know how it turns out. The man won’t rest until he resolves the matter today.”