² The name of the man was Elimelech, and the name of his wife, Naomi; and the names of his two sons were Mahlon and Chilion, Ephrathites of Bethlehem in Judah. So they ^(A)entered the land of Moab and remained there.

³ Then Elimelech, Naomi’s husband, died; and she was left with her two sons.

Ruth Gleans in Boaz’s Field

2 Now Naomi had ^[a]a relative of her husband, a ^[b]man of great wealth, of the family of ^(A)Elimelech, whose name was Boaz.

³ So she left and went and gleaned in the field after the reapers; and ^[a]she happened to come to the portion of the field belonging to Boaz, who was of the family of Elimelech.

³ And he said to the redeemer, “Naomi, who has returned from the land of Moab, has to sell the plot of land ^(A)which belonged to our brother Elimelech. ⁴ So I thought that I would ^[a]inform you, saying, ‘^(B)Buy it before those who are sitting here, and before the elders of my people. If you will redeem it, redeem it; but if ^[b]not, tell me so that I may know; for ^(C)there is no one except you to redeem it, and I am 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 acquire Ruth the Moabitess, the widow of the deceased, in order ^(D)to raise up the name of the deceased on his inheritance.” ⁶ Then ^(E)the redeemer said, “I cannot redeem it for myself, otherwise I would ^[c]jeopardize my own inheritance. Redeem it for yourself; you may have my right of redemption, since I cannot redeem it.”

⁷ Now this was ^(F)the custom in former times in Israel concerning the redemption and the exchange of land to confirm any matter: a man removed his sandal and gave it to another; and this was the way of confirmation in Israel. ⁸ So the redeemer said to Boaz, “Buy it for yourself.” And he removed his sandal. ⁹ Then Boaz said to the elders and all the people, “You are witnesses today that I have bought from the hand of Naomi all that belonged to Elimelech and all that belonged to Chilion and Mahlon.

¹² Now David was ^(A)the son of ^[a]the ^(B)Ephrathite of Bethlehem in Judah, the man whose name was Jesse, and ^(C)he had eight sons. And ^[b]Jesse was old in the days of Saul, advanced in years among men.