Ruth 1:15-2:13

English Standard Version

¹⁵ And she said, “See, your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and to ^(A)her gods; return after your sister-in-law.” ¹⁶ But Ruth said, “Do not urge me to leave you or to return from following you. For where you go I will go, and where you lodge I will lodge. ^(B)Your people shall be my people, and your God my God. ¹⁷ Where you die I will die, and there will I be buried. ^(C)May the Lord do so to me and more also if anything but death parts me from you.” ^18 (D)And when Naomi saw that she was determined to go with her, she said no more.

Naomi and Ruth Return

¹⁹ So the two of them went on until they came to Bethlehem. And when they came to Bethlehem, ^(E)the whole town was stirred because of them. And the women said, “Is this Naomi?” ²⁰ She said to them, “Do not call me Naomi;^[a] call me ^(F)Mara,^[b] for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me. ^21 (G)I went away full, and the Lord has brought me back empty. Why call me Naomi, when the Lord has testified against me and the Almighty has brought calamity upon me?”

²² So Naomi returned, and Ruth the Moabite her daughter-in-law with her, who returned from the country of Moab. And they came to Bethlehem ^(H)at the beginning of barley harvest.

Ruth Meets Boaz

2 Now Naomi had ^(I)a relative of her husband's, a worthy man of the clan of Elimelech, whose name was ^(J)Boaz. ² And Ruth the Moabite said to Naomi, “Let me go to the field and ^(K)glean among the ears of grain after him ^(L)in whose sight I shall find favor.” And she said to her, “Go, my daughter.” ³ So she set out and went and gleaned in the field after the reapers, and she happened to come to the part of the field belonging to Boaz, who was of the clan of Elimelech. ⁴ And behold, Boaz came from Bethlehem. And he said to the reapers, ^(M)“The Lord be with you!” And they answered, “The Lord bless you.” ⁵ Then Boaz said to his young man who was in charge of the reapers, “Whose young woman is this?” ⁶ And the servant who was in charge of the reapers answered, “She is the young Moabite woman, ^(N)who came back with Naomi from the country of Moab. ⁷ She said, ‘Please let me glean and gather among the sheaves after the reapers.’ So she came, and she has continued from early morning until now, except for a short rest.”^[c]

⁸ Then Boaz said to Ruth, “Now, listen, my daughter, do not go to glean in another field or leave this one, but keep close to my young women. ⁹ Let your eyes be on the field that they are reaping, and go after them. Have I not charged the young men not to touch you? And when you are thirsty, go to the vessels and drink what the young men have drawn.” ¹⁰ Then ^(O)she fell on her face, bowing to the ground, and said to him, “Why have I found favor in your eyes, that you should ^(P)take notice of me, since I am a foreigner?” ¹¹ But Boaz answered her, ^(Q)“All that you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband has been fully told to me, and how you left your father and mother and your native land and came to a people that you did not know before. ^12 (R)The Lord repay you for what you have done, and a full reward be given you by the Lord, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge!” ¹³ Then she said, ^(S)“I have found favor in your eyes, my lord, for you have comforted me and spoken kindly to your servant, though I am not one of your servants.”