¹⁸ Ruth carried the grain into town, and her mother-in-law saw how much she had ·gathered [gleaned]. Ruth also took out the food that was left over ·from lunch [^Lafter she was full/satisfied] and gave it to Naomi.

¹⁹ ·Naomi [^LHer mother-in-law] asked her, “Where did you ·gather all this grain [glean] today? Where did you work? Blessed be whoever noticed you!”

Ruth told her mother-in-law in whose field she had worked. She said, “The man I worked with today is named Boaz.”

²⁰ Naomi told her daughter-in-law, “The Lord bless him! ·He continues to be kind to us—both [^L…who has not abandoned] the living and the dead!” Then Naomi told Ruth, “Boaz is one of our close relatives, one ·who should take care of us [of our guardians/^Tkinsmen-redeemers; ^Ca relative who would care for a bereaved family in various ways: looking after destitute members (Lev. 25:35); avenging a murdered relative (Num. 35:19); marrying a sister-in-law to raise up children for her deceased husband (Deut. 25:5–10; called “levirate” marriage); buying back family land (Lev. 25:25) or redeeming family members who had been sold as slaves (Lev. 25:47–49)].”

²¹ Then Ruth, the Moabite, said, “Boaz ·also [even] told me, ‘Keep close to my ·workers [young men] until they have finished my whole harvest.’”

²² But Naomi said to her daughter-in-law Ruth, “It is better for you to continue working with his ·women workers [female servants; young women]. If you work in another field, someone might ·hurt [harm; or harass] you.” ²³ So Ruth continued working closely with the ·workers [female workers; young women] of Boaz, gathering grain until the barley harvest [^CMarch-April] and the wheat harvest [^CApril-May] were finished. And she continued to live with Naomi, her mother-in-law.