Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

¹⁴ So Ruth lay near Boaz’s feet until morning. She got up while it was still dark, before it was light enough for people to recognize each other.

Boaz said to her, “We will keep it a secret that you came here to me last night.” ¹⁵ Then he said, “Bring me your coat. Now, hold it open.”

So Ruth held her coat open, and Boaz measured out about a bushel of barley^[a] as a gift to Naomi, her mother-in-law. Boaz then wrapped it in Ruth’s coat, and put it on her back. Then he went to the city.

¹⁶ Ruth went to the home of her mother-in-law, Naomi. Naomi went to the door and asked, “Who’s there?”

Ruth went in telling Naomi everything that Boaz did for her. ¹⁷ She said, “Boaz gave me this barley as a gift for you. He said that I must not go home without bringing a gift for you.”

¹⁸ Naomi said, “Daughter, be patient until we hear what happens. Boaz will not rest until he has finished doing what he should do. We will know what will happen before the day is ended.”

Boaz and Naomi’s Close Relative

4 Boaz went to the place where people gather near the city gates. He sat there until the close relative he had told Ruth about passed by. Boaz called to him, “Come and sit here, friend.”

² Boaz also gathered ten of the elders of the city. He told them, “Sit here!” So they sat down.

³ Then Boaz spoke to Naomi’s close relative. He said, “Naomi came back from the hill country of Moab. She wants to sell the land that belonged to our relative Elimelech. ⁴ I decided to tell you about this in front of the people living here and in front of the elders of our people. If you want to pay the widow for the land and keep it in the family, then pay her for it. If you don’t want to buy the land, tell me, because I am the next one in the family who has the right to buy it. If you don’t buy the land from her, I will.”

Naomi’s closest relative said, “I will buy the land from her.”

⁵ Then Boaz said, “If you buy the land from her, you must also marry the dead man’s wife, Ruth, the Moabite woman. Then the first child will get the land, and it will stay in the dead man’s family.”

⁶ The close relative answered, “Then I cannot buy the land. If I do, I might lose my own land. So I cannot do it. You buy the land.”

⁹ To be added to your list of widows, a woman must be 60 years old or older. She must have been faithful to her husband.^{[a] 10} She must be known for the good she has done: raising children, welcoming travelers into her home, serving the needs^[b] of God’s people, helping those in trouble, and using her life to do all kinds of good.

¹¹ But don’t put younger widows on that list. When their strong physical needs pull them away from their commitment to Christ, they will want to marry again. ¹² Then they will be guilty of not doing what they first promised to do. ¹³ Also, these younger widows begin to waste their time going from house to house. They also begin to gossip and try to run other people’s lives. They say things they should not say. ¹⁴ So I want the younger widows to marry, have children, and take care of their homes. If they do this, our enemy will not have any reason to criticize them. ¹⁵ But some of the younger widows have already turned away to follow Satan.

¹⁶ If any woman who is a believer has widows in her family, she^[c] should take care of them herself. Then the church will not have that burden and will be able to care for the widows who have no one else to help them.