Boaz Assumes Responsibility for Ruth

4 Boaz went to the city gate and sat there. Just then, the relative about whom he had spoken was passing by. Boaz said, “Please come over here and sit, my friend.” So the man came over and sat down.

² Then Boaz chose ten men who were leaders of that city and said, “Sit here.” So they also sat down.

³ Boaz said to the man, “Naomi, who has come back from the country of Moab, is selling the field that belonged to our relative Elimelech. ⁴ So I said that I would inform you. Buy it in the presence of these men sitting here and in the presence of the leaders of our people. If you wish to buy back the property, you can buy back the property. But if you do not wish to buy back the property, tell me. Then I will know that I am next in line because there is no other relative except me.”

The man said, “I’ll buy back the property.”

⁵ Boaz continued, “When you buy the field from Naomi, you will also assume responsibility for the Moabite Ruth, the dead man’s widow. This keeps the inheritance in the dead man’s name.”

⁶ The man replied, “In that case I cannot assume responsibility for her. If I did, I would ruin my inheritance. Take all my rights to buy back the property for yourself, because I cannot assume that responsibility.”

⁷ (This is the way it used to be in Israel concerning buying back property and exchanging goods: In order to make every matter legal, a man would take off his sandal and give it to the other man. This was the way a contract was publicly approved in Israel.) ⁸ So when the man said to Boaz, “Buy it for yourself,” he took off his sandal.

⁹ Then Boaz said to the leaders and to all the people, “Today you are witnesses that I have bought from Naomi all that belonged to Elimelech and all that belonged to Chilion and Mahlon. ¹⁰ In addition, I have bought as my wife the Moabite Ruth, Mahlon’s widow, to keep the inheritance in the dead man’s name. In this way the dead man’s name will not be cut off from his relatives or from the public records. Today you are witnesses.”

¹¹ All the people who were at the gate, including the leaders, said, “We are witnesses. May the Lord make this wife, who is coming into your home, like Rachel and Leah, both of whom built our family of Israel. So show your strength of character in Ephrathah and make a name for yourself in Bethlehem. ¹² Also, from the descendant whom the Lord will give you from this young woman, may your family become like the family of Perez, the son whom Tamar gave birth to for Judah.”

Ruth Gives Birth to David’s Ancestor

¹³ Then Boaz took Ruth home, and she became his wife. He slept with her, and the Lord gave her the ability to become pregnant. So she gave birth to a son.

¹⁴ The women said to Naomi, “Praise the Lord, who has remembered today to give you someone who will take care of you. The child’s name will be famous in Israel. ¹⁵ He will bring you a new life and support you in your old age. Your daughter-in-law who loves you is better to you than seven sons, because she has given birth.”

¹⁶ Naomi took the child, held him on her lap, and became his guardian.

¹⁷ The women in the neighborhood said, “Naomi has a son.” So they gave him the name Obed.

He became the father of Jesse, who was the father of David.

The Ancestry of David