Boaz asked his servant who was in charge of the harvesters, “Whose young woman is this?”

The servant answered, “She is the young Moabite woman who returned with Naomi from the territory of Moab. She asked, ‘Will you let me gather fallen grain among the bundles behind the harvesters?’ She came and has been on her feet since early morning, except that she rested a little in the shelter.”[a]

Then Boaz said to Ruth, “Listen, my daughter.[b] Don’t go and gather grain in another field, and don’t leave this one, but stay here close to my female servants. See which field they are harvesting, and follow them. Haven’t I ordered the young men not to touch you? When you are thirsty, go and drink from the jars the young men have filled.”

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Footnotes

  1. 2:7 LXX reads morning, and until evening she has not rested in the field a little; Vg reads morning until now and she did not return to the house; Hb uncertain
  2. 2:8 Lit “Haven’t you heard, my daughter?

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

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

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