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Gleaning in Bethlehem

Now Naomi had a respected relative, a man of worth, through her husband from the family of Elimelech. His name was Boaz. Ruth the Moabite said to Naomi, “Let me go to the field so that I may glean among the ears of grain behind someone in whose eyes I might find favor.”

Naomi replied to her, “Go, my daughter.” So she went; she arrived and she gleaned in the field behind the harvesters. By chance, it happened to be the portion of the field that belonged to Boaz, who was from the family of Elimelech.

Just then Boaz arrived from Bethlehem. He said to the harvesters, “May the Lord be with you.”

And they said to him, “May the Lord bless you.”

Boaz said to his young man, the one who was overseeing the harvesters, “To whom does this young woman belong?”

The young man who was overseeing the harvesters answered, “She’s a young Moabite woman, the one who returned with Naomi from the territory of Moab. She said, ‘Please let me glean so that I might gather up grain from among the bundles behind the harvesters.’ She arrived and has been on her feet from the morning until now, and has sat down for only a moment.”[a]

Boaz said to Ruth, “Haven’t you understood, my daughter? Don’t go glean in another field; don’t go anywhere else. Instead, stay here with my young women. Keep your eyes on the field that they are harvesting and go along after them. I’ve ordered the young men not to assault you. Whenever you are thirsty, go to the jugs and drink from what the young men have filled.”

10 Then she bowed down, face to the ground, and replied to him, “How is it that I’ve found favor in your eyes, that you notice me? I’m an immigrant.” 11 Boaz responded to her, “Everything that you did for your mother-in-law after your husband’s death has been reported fully to me: how you left behind your father, your mother, and the land of your birth, and came to a people you hadn’t known beforehand. 12 May the Lord reward you[b] for your deed. May you receive a rich reward from the Lord, the God of Israel, under whose wings you’ve come to seek refuge.” 13 She said, “May I continue to find favor in your eyes, sir, because you’ve comforted me and because you’ve spoken kindly to your female servant—even though I’m not one of your female servants.”

14 At mealtime Boaz said to her, “Come over here, eat some of the bread, and dip your piece in the vinegar.” She sat alongside the harvesters, and he served roasted grain to her. She ate, was satisfied, and had leftovers. 15 Then she got up to glean.

Boaz ordered his young men, “Let her glean between the bundles, and don’t humiliate her. 16 Also, pull out some from the bales for her and leave them behind for her to glean. And don’t scold her.”

17 So she gleaned in the field until evening. Then she threshed what she had gleaned; it was about an ephah[c] of barley. 18 She picked it up and went into town. Her mother-in-law saw what she had gleaned. She brought out what she had left over after eating her fill and gave it to her. 19 Her mother-in-law said to her, “Where did you glean today? Where did you work? May the one who noticed you be blessed.”

She told her mother-in-law with whom she had worked and said, “The name of the man with whom I worked today is Boaz.”

20 Naomi replied to her daughter-in-law, “May he be blessed by the Lord, who hasn’t abandoned his faithfulness with the living or with the dead.” Naomi said to her, “The man is one of our close relatives; he’s one of our redeemers.”

21 Ruth the Moabite replied, “Furthermore, he said to me, ‘Stay with my workers until they’ve finished all of my harvest.’”

22 Naomi said to Ruth her daughter-in-law, “It’s good, my daughter, that you go out with his young women, so that men don’t assault you in another field.”

23 Thus she stayed with Boaz’s young women, gleaning until the completion of the barley and wheat harvests. And she lived with her mother-in-law.

Footnotes

  1. Ruth 2:7 Heb uncertain
  2. Ruth 2:12 LXX
  3. Ruth 2:17 An ephah is approximately twenty quarts of grain.

Ruth Meets Boaz in the Grain Field

Now Naomi had a relative(A) on her husband’s side, a man of standing(B) from the clan of Elimelek,(C) whose name was Boaz.(D)

And Ruth the Moabite(E) said to Naomi, “Let me go to the fields and pick up the leftover grain(F) behind anyone in whose eyes I find favor.(G)

Naomi said to her, “Go ahead, my daughter.” So she went out, entered a field and began to glean behind the harvesters.(H) As it turned out, she was working in a field belonging to Boaz, who was from the clan of Elimelek.(I)

Just then Boaz arrived from Bethlehem and greeted the harvesters, “The Lord be with you!(J)

“The Lord bless you!(K)” they answered.

Boaz asked the overseer of his harvesters, “Who does that young woman belong to?”

The overseer replied, “She is the Moabite(L) who came back from Moab with Naomi. She said, ‘Please let me glean and gather among the sheaves(M) behind the harvesters.’ She came into the field and has remained here from morning till now, except for a short rest(N) in the shelter.”

So Boaz said to Ruth, “My daughter, listen to me. Don’t go and glean in another field and don’t go away from here. Stay here with the women who work for me. Watch the field where the men are harvesting, and follow along after the women. I have told the men not to lay a hand on you. And whenever you are thirsty, go and get a drink from the water jars the men have filled.”

10 At this, she bowed down with her face to the ground.(O) She asked him, “Why have I found such favor in your eyes that you notice me(P)—a foreigner?(Q)

11 Boaz replied, “I’ve been told all about what you have done for your mother-in-law(R) since the death of your husband(S)—how you left your father and mother and your homeland and came to live with a people you did not know(T) before.(U) 12 May the Lord repay you for what you have done. May you be richly rewarded by the Lord,(V) the God of Israel,(W) under whose wings(X) you have come to take refuge.(Y)

13 “May I continue to find favor in your eyes,(Z) my lord,” she said. “You have put me at ease by speaking kindly to your servant—though I do not have the standing of one of your servants.”

14 At mealtime Boaz said to her, “Come over here. Have some bread(AA) and dip it in the wine vinegar.”

When she sat down with the harvesters,(AB) he offered her some roasted grain.(AC) She ate all she wanted and had some left over.(AD) 15 As she got up to glean, Boaz gave orders to his men, “Let her gather among the sheaves(AE) and don’t reprimand her. 16 Even pull out some stalks for her from the bundles and leave them for her to pick up, and don’t rebuke(AF) her.”

17 So Ruth gleaned in the field until evening. Then she threshed(AG) the barley she had gathered, and it amounted to about an ephah.[a](AH) 18 She carried it back to town, and her mother-in-law saw how much she had gathered. Ruth also brought out and gave her what she had left over(AI) after she had eaten enough.

19 Her mother-in-law asked her, “Where did you glean today? Where did you work? Blessed be the man who took notice of you!(AJ)

Then Ruth told her mother-in-law about the one at whose place she had been working. “The name of the man I worked with today is Boaz,” she said.

20 “The Lord bless him!(AK)” Naomi said to her daughter-in-law.(AL) “He has not stopped showing his kindness(AM) to the living and the dead.” She added, “That man is our close relative;(AN) he is one of our guardian-redeemers.[b](AO)

21 Then Ruth the Moabite(AP) said, “He even said to me, ‘Stay with my workers until they finish harvesting all my grain.’”

22 Naomi said to Ruth her daughter-in-law, “It will be good for you, my daughter, to go with the women who work for him, because in someone else’s field you might be harmed.”

23 So Ruth stayed close to the women of Boaz to glean until the barley(AQ) and wheat harvests(AR) were finished. And she lived with her mother-in-law.

Footnotes

  1. Ruth 2:17 That is, probably about 30 pounds or about 13 kilograms
  2. Ruth 2:20 The Hebrew word for guardian-redeemer is a legal term for one who has the obligation to redeem a relative in serious difficulty (see Lev. 25:25-55).

Forsooth (there was) a mighty man and a man of great riches, Boaz by name, (who) was (a) kinsman of Elimelech.

And Ruth of Moab said to her mother-in-law, If thou commandest, I shall go into the field, and I shall gather ears of corn that flee the hands of (the) reapers, wherever I shall find grace of an husbandman merciful in me (wherever I shall find favour from a farmer, who is merciful to me). To whom she answered, Go, my daughter.

Therefore she went, and gathered ears of corn after the backs of (some) reapers. And it befelled, that Boaz was (the) lord of that field, (he) that was of the kindred of Elimelech.

And lo! (one day) Boaz came from Bethlehem. And he said to his reapers, The Lord be with you. And they answered to him, The Lord bless thee.

And Boaz said to the young man that was chief over the reapers, Who is this damsel?

And he answered, This is the woman of Moab, that came with Naomi from the country of Moab;

and she prayed, that she should gather ears of corn leaving behind, and follow the steps of [the] reapers; and from the morrowtide till now she standeth in the field, and soothly neither at a moment she turned again home. (and she prayed us, that she could gather some ears of corn that were left behind, and follow the steps of the reapers; and so from the morning until now she standeth in the field, and not for a moment hath she purposed to return home.)

And Boaz said to Ruth, Daughter, hear thou; go thou not into another field to gather, neither go (thou) away from this place, but be thou joined to my damsels,

and follow thou where they reap; for I [have] commanded to my young men, that no man be dis-easeful to thee; but also if thou thirstest, go to the fardels, and drink waters, of which my young men drink (and if thou thirstest, go and drink from the water jars, which my young men have filled).

10 And she felled on her face, and worshipped on the earth; and she said to him, Whereof is this to me, that I should find grace before thine eyes, that thou wouldest know me, a strange woman? (And she fell on her face, and honoured him on the ground; and she said to him, Whereof is this to me, that I should find favour in thine eyes, and that thou wouldest acknowledge me, who is but a stranger?)

11 To whom Boaz answered, All things be told to me, that thou hast done to thy mother-in-law after the death of thine husband (All things have been told to me, what thou hast done for thy mother-in-law after the death of thy husband), and that thou hast forsaken thy father and thy mother, and the land that thou were born in, and thou art come to a people, that thou hast not known before.

12 The Lord yield to thee for thy work, and receive thou full meed of the Lord God of Israel, to whom thou camest, and under whose wings thou fleddest. (May the Lord reward thee for thy good deeds, yea, may thou receive thy full reward from the Lord God of Israel, to whom thou hast come, and under whose wings thou hast fled.)

13 And she said, My lord, I have found grace before thine eyes, and thou hast comforted me, and thou hast spoken to the heart of thine handmaid, which am not like one of thine handmaids. (And she said, My lord, for I have found favour in thine eyes, and thou hast spoken to the heart of thy servantess, though I am not equal to one of thy servantesses, yea, thou hast greatly comforted me.)

14 And Boaz said to her, When the hour of eating is, come thou hither, and eat bread, and wet thy morsel in vinegar. Therefore she sat at the side of [the] reapers; and he directed to her pottage, and she ate, and was filled; and she took the remnants. (And Boaz said to her, When it is time to eat, come thou here, and eat bread, and wet thy morsel in the vinegar. And so she sat beside the reapers; and Boaz passed her some roasted grain, and she ate, and was fulfilled; and she took up the remnants.)

15 And she rose from thence to gather the ears of corn, by custom. And Boaz commanded to his young men, and said, Also if she will reap with you, forbid ye not her, (And then she rose up from there to gather the ears of corn again, as was her custom. And Boaz commanded to his young men, and said, Yea, if she will reap with you, forbid ye her not,)

16 and also cast ye forth to her handfuls of purpose (and also throw ye forth to her some handfuls on purpose), and suffer ye those to abide, that she gather those without shame; and no man reprove her gathering them.

17 Therefore she gathered in the field till to eventide; and she beat with a rod, and shook out those things that she had gathered; and she found of barley as the measure of (an) ephah (and she found that she had about a bushel of barley).

18 Which she bare, and turned again into the city, and showed to her mother-in-law; furthermore she brought forth, and gave to her the remnants of her meat, with which meat she was (ful)filled. (Which she carried, and returned to the city, and showed to her mother-in-law; and she also brought forth, and gave her the remnants of her food, with which food she was fulfilled.)

19 And her mother-in-law said to her, Where hast thou gathered this today, and where hast thou done (all) this work? Blessed be he, that had mercy on thee. And Ruth told to her mother(-in-law) with whom she (had) wrought; and she said that the man’s name was called Boaz.

20 To whom Naomi answered, Blessed be he of the Lord, for he [hath] kept also to dead men the same grace, which he gave to the quick. And again she said, He is our kinsman. (To whom Naomi answered, May the Lord bless him; yea, the Lord hath given the same favour to the living, as to the dead. And she said to Ruth, He is our kinsman.)

21 And Ruth said, Also he commanded this thing to me, that so long I should be joined to his reapers, till all his corns were reaped. (And Ruth said, And he also commanded this to me, that I should be joined to his reapers, until all his grain was harvested.)

22 To whom her mother-in-law said, My daughter, it is better, that thou go out to reap with his damsels, lest in another field any man against-stand thee.

23 And so Ruth was joined to the damsels of Boaz; and so long she reaped with them, till both the barley and the wheat were closed in the barns. (And so Ruth was joined to Boaz’s young women; and she worked with them, until all the barley and the wheat were harvested, and enclosed in the barns.)