-
They ruthlessly oppressed the Israelites that eighteenth year—that is, all the Israelites living east of the Jordan in Amorite country in Gilead.
-
Both her sons married Moabite women. (One was named Orpah and the other Ruth.) And they continued to live there about ten years.
-
Ruth Returns with Naomi
Now as she and her two daughters-in-law began to leave the place where she had been living to return to the land of Judah,
-
Again they wept loudly. Then Orpah kissed her mother-in-law goodbye, but Ruth clung tightly to her.
-
But Ruth replied, “Stop urging me to abandon you! For wherever you go, I will go. Wherever you live, I will live. Your people will become my people, and your God will become my God.
-
When Naomi realized that Ruth was determined to go with her, she stopped trying to dissuade her.
-
So the two of them journeyed together until they arrived in Bethlehem.
Naomi and Ruth Arrive in Bethlehem
When they entered Bethlehem, the whole village was excited about their arrival. The women of the village said, “Can this be Naomi?”
-
So Naomi returned, accompanied by her Moabite daughter-in-law Ruth, who came back with her from the region of Moab. (Now they arrived in Bethlehem at the beginning of the barley harvest.)
-
Ruth Works in the Field of Boaz
Now Naomi had a relative on her husband’s side of the family named Boaz. He was a wealthy, prominent man from the clan of Elimelech.
-
One day Ruth the Moabite said to Naomi, “Let me go to the fields so I can gather grain behind whoever permits me to do so.” Naomi replied, “You may go, my daughter.”
-
So Ruth went and gathered grain in the fields behind the harvesters. Now she just happened to end up in the portion of the field belonging to Boaz, who was from the clan of Elimelech.
-
Boaz and Ruth Meet
Now at that very moment, Boaz arrived from Bethlehem and greeted the harvesters, “May the Lord be with you!” They replied, “May the Lord bless you!”
-
So Boaz said to Ruth, “Listen carefully, my dear! Do not leave to gather grain in another field. You need not go beyond the limits of this field. You may go along beside my female workers.
-
Ruth knelt before him with her forehead to the ground and said to him, “Why are you so kind and so attentive to me, even though I am a foreigner?”
-
Ruth Returns to Naomi
She carried it back to town, and her mother-in-law saw how much grain she had gathered. Then Ruth gave her the roasted grain she had saved from mealtime.
-
Her mother-in-law asked her, “Where did you gather grain today? Where did you work? May the one who took notice of you be rewarded!” So Ruth told her mother-in-law with whom she had worked. She said, “The name of the man with whom I worked today is Boaz.”
-
Ruth the Moabite replied, “He even told me, ‘You may go along beside my servants until they have finished gathering all my harvest!’”
-
Naomi then said to her daughter-in-law Ruth, “It is good, my daughter, that you should go out to work with his female servants. That way you will not be harmed, which could happen in another field.”
-
So Ruth worked beside Boaz’s female servants, gathering grain until the end of the barley harvest as well as the wheat harvest. After that she stayed home with her mother-in-law.
-
Naomi Instructs Ruth
At that time, Naomi, her mother-in-law, said to her, “My daughter, I must find a home for you so you will be secure.
-
Ruth replied to Naomi, “I will do everything you have told me to do.”
-
Ruth Visits Boaz
So she went down to the threshing floor and did everything her mother-in-law had instructed her to do.
-
When Boaz had finished his meal and was feeling satisfied, he lay down to sleep at the far end of the grain heap. Then Ruth crept up quietly, uncovered his legs, and lay down beside him.
-
He said, “Who are you?” She replied, “I am Ruth, your servant. Marry your servant, for you are a guardian of the family interests.”
-
and she returned to her mother-in-law.
Ruth Returns to Naomi
When Ruth returned to her mother-in-law, Naomi asked, “How did things turn out for you, my daughter?” Ruth told her about all the man had done for her.