18 She picked up the grain and went into the town, where her mother-in-law saw what she had gleaned. Then she brought out what she had left over from her meal and gave it to her.

19 Then her mother-in-law said to her, “Where did you gather barley today, and where did you work? May the Lord bless the man who noticed you.”(A)

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

20 Then Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, “May he be blessed by the Lord,(B) who has not forsaken his[a] kindness to the living or the dead.”(C) Naomi continued, “The man is a close relative. He is one of our family redeemers.”(D)

21 Ruth the Moabitess said, “He also told me, ‘Stay with my young men until they have finished all of my harvest.’”

22 So Naomi said to her daughter-in-law Ruth, “My daughter, it is good for you to work[b] with his female servants, so that nothing will happen to you in another field.” 23 Ruth stayed close to Boaz’s female servants and gathered grain until the barley and the wheat harvests were finished.(E) And she lived with[c] her mother-in-law.

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. Ruth 2:20 Or His
  2. Ruth 2:22 Lit go out
  3. Ruth 2:23 Some Hb mss, Vg read she returned to

18 She picked up her grain[a] and went back to town.

Her mother-in-law noticed how much Ruth[b] had gleaned and had brought back from what was left over from her lunch. 19 So her mother-in-law quizzed her, “Where did you glean today? Where, precisely, did you work? May the one who took notice of you be blessed.”

So Ruth told her mother-in-law with whom she had worked. She said, “The man’s name with whom I worked today is Boaz.”

20 Naomi replied, “May the one who hasn’t abandoned his gracious love to the living or to the dead be blessed by the Lord.” Naomi added, “This man is closely related to us, our related redeemer,[c] as a matter of fact!”

21 Then Ruth the Moabite woman added, “He also told me ‘Stay close to my young men until they have completed my entire harvest.’”

22 Naomi responded to her daughter-in-law Ruth, “It is prudent, my daughter, for you to go out with his women servants, so someone won’t attack you in another field.” 23 So Ruth[d] continued to stay close to the young women who worked for Boaz, gathering grain until both the barley and wheat harvests were complete, all the while living with her mother-in-law.

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. Ruth 2:18 The Heb. lacks her grain
  2. Ruth 2:18 Lit. she
  3. Ruth 2:20 I.e. a close male relative responsible to redeem inheritances (Lev. 25:25), to free relatives from indentured servitude (Lev. 25:47-55), to avenge deaths (Deut. 19:1-13), and to financially support, care for, and (in certain limited cases) to marry a widow related to him (Deut. 25:5-10); and so throughout the book
  4. Ruth 2:23 Lit. she