The Book of

Ruth

1

1 And it came to pass in the days when the judges ruled, that there was a famine in the land. And a certain man went from Bethlehem-Judah, to sojourn in the country of Moab, he, and his wife, and his two sons. 2 And the name of the man was Elimelech, and the name of his wife Naomi, and the name of his two sons Mahlon and Chilion, Ephrathites of Bethlehem-Judah. And they came into the country of Moab, and continued there. 3 And Elimelech Naomi’s husband died; and she was left, and her two sons. 4 And they took them Moabitish wives; the name of the one was Orpah, and the name of the second Ruth: and they abode there about ten years. 5 And Mahlon and Chilion died also, both of them; and the woman was left of her two children and of her husband. 6 And she arose, she and her daughters-in-law, and returned from the fields of Moab; for she had heard in the fields of Moab how that Jehovah had visited his people to give them bread. 7 Wherefore she went forth out of the place where she had been, and her two daughters-in-law with her; and they went on the way to return to the land of Judah. 8 And Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, Go, return each to her mother’s house. Jehovah deal kindly with you, as ye have dealt with the dead and with me. 9 Jehovah grant you that ye may find rest, each in the house of her husband. And she kissed them; and they lifted up their voice and wept. 10 And they said to her, We will certainly return with thee to thy people. 11 And Naomi said, Return, my daughters: why will ye go with me? Are there yet sons in my womb, that they could be your husbands? 12 Return, my daughters, go; for I am too old to have a husband. If I should say, I have hope, should I even have a husband to-night, and should I also bear sons, 13 would ye wait on that account till they were grown? Would ye stay on that account from having husbands? No, my daughters, for I am in much more bitterness than you; for the hand of Jehovah is gone out against me. 14 And they lifted up their voice and wept again. And Orpah kissed her mother-in-law, but Ruth clave to her. 15 And she said, Behold, thy sister-in-law is gone back to her people and to her° 1.15 Elohim gods: return after thy sister-in-law. 16 And Ruth said, Do not intreat me to leave thee, to return from [ following] after thee; for whither thou goest I will go, and where thou lodgest I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy ° 1.16 Elohim God my° 1.16 Elohim God; 17 where thou diest will I die, and there will I be buried. Jehovah do so to me, and more also, if aught but death part me and thee! 18 And when she saw that she was stedfastly minded to go with her, she left off speaking to her. 19 And they two went until they came to Bethlehem. And it came to pass, when they came to Bethlehem, that all the city was moved about them, and the [women] said, Is this Naomi? 20 And she said to them, Call me not Naomi — call me Mara; for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me. 21 I went out full, and Jehovah has brought me home again empty. Why do ye call me Naomi, seeing Jehovah has brought me low, and the Almighty has afflicted me? 22 So Naomi returned, and Ruth the Moabitess, her daughter-in-law, with her, who returned out of the fields of Moab; and they came to Bethlehem in the beginning of the barley-harvest.

2

1 And Naomi had a relation of her husband’s, a mighty man of wealth, of the family of Elimelech, and his name was Boaz. 2 And Ruth the Moabitess said to Naomi, Let me, I pray, go to the field and glean among the ears of corn after [ him] in whose sight I shall find favour. And she said to her, Go, my daughter. 3 And she went; and she came and gleaned in the fields after the reapers; and she chanced to light on an allotment of Boaz, who was of the family of Elimelech. 4 And behold, Boaz came from Bethlehem; and he said to the reapers, Jehovah be with you! And they said to him, Jehovah bless thee! 5 And Boaz said to his servant that was set over the reapers, Whose maiden is this? 6 And the servant that was set over the reapers answered and said, It is the Moabitish maiden who came back with Naomi out of the fields of Moab; 7 and she said, I pray you, let me glean and gather among the sheaves after the reapers. And she came, and has continued from the morning until now: her sitting in the house has been little as yet. 8 And Boaz said to Ruth, Hearest thou not, my daughter? Go not to glean in another field, neither go from here, but keep here with my maidens. 9 Let thine eyes be on the field which is being reaped, and go thou after them; have I not charged the young men not to touch thee? And when thou art athirst, go to the vessels and drink of what the young men draw. 10 Then she fell on her face, and bowed herself to the ground, and said to him, Why have I found favour in thine eyes, that thou shouldest regard me, seeing I am a foreigner? 11 And Boaz answered and said to her, It has fully been shewn me, all that thou hast done to thy mother-in-law since the death of thy husband; and how thou hast left thy father and thy mother, and the land of thy nativity, and art come to a people that thou hast not known heretofore. 12 Jehovah recompense thy work, and let thy reward be full from Jehovah the° 2.12 Elohim God of Israel, under whose wings thou art come to take refuge. 13 And she said, Let me find favour in thine eyes, my lord; for that thou hast comforted me, and for that thou hast spoken kindly to thy handmaid, though I am not like one of thy handmaidens. 14 And Boaz said to her at mealtime, Come hither and eat of the bread, and dip thy morsel in the vinegar. And she sat beside the reapers; and he reached her parched corn, and she ate and was sufficed, and reserved [ some]. 15 And when she rose up to glean, Boaz commanded his young men, saying, Let her glean even among the sheaves, and ye shall not reproach her. 16 And ye shall also sometimes draw out for her [ some ears] out of the handfuls, and leave them that she may glean, and rebuke her not. 17 And she gleaned in the field until even, and beat out what she had gleaned; and it was about an ephah of barley. 18 And she took [ it] up, and came into the city, and her mother-in-law saw what she had gleaned; and she brought forth and gave to her that which she had reserved after she was sufficed. 19 And her mother-in-law said to her, Where hast thou gleaned to-day? and where hast thou wrought? Blessed be he that did regard thee! And she told her mother-in-law with whom she had wrought, and said, The man’s name with whom I wrought to-day is Boaz. 20 And Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, Blessed be he of Jehovah, who has not left off his kindness to the living and to the dead! And Naomi said to her, The man is near of kin to us, one of those who have the right of our redemption. 21 And Ruth the Moabitess said, He said to me also, Thou shalt keep with my young men until they have ended all my harvest. 22 And Naomi said to Ruth her daughter-in-law, It is good, my daughter, that thou go out with his maidens, that they meet thee not in any other field. 23 So she kept with the maidens of Boaz to glean, until the end of the barley-harvest and of the wheat-harvest. And she dwelt with her mother-in-law.

3

1 And Naomi her mother-in-law said to her, My daughter, shall I not seek rest for thee, that it may be well with thee? 2 And now, is not Boaz of our kindred, with whose maidens thou wast? Behold, he is winnowing barley in the threshing-floor to-night. 3 Wash thyself therefore, and anoint thyself, and put thy raiment upon thee, and go down to the floor; make not thyself known to the man, until he shall have done eating and drinking. 4 And it shall be, when he lies down, that thou shalt mark the place where he shall have lain down, and thou shalt go in, and uncover his feet, and lay thyself down; and he will shew thee what thou shalt do. 5 And she said to her, All that thou sayest will I do. 6 And she went down to the floor, and did according to all that her mother-in-law had bidden her. 7 And Boaz ate and drank, and his heart was merry, and he went to lie down at the end of the heap of corn. Then she went softly, and uncovered his feet, and laid herself down. 8 And it came to pass at midnight, that the man was startled, and turned himself; and behold, a woman lay at his feet. 9 And he said, Who art thou? And she answered, I am Ruth, thy handmaid: spread thy skirt over thy handmaid; for thou hast the right of redemption. 10 And he said, Blessed be thou of Jehovah, my daughter! Thou hast shewn more kindness at the end than at the first, inasmuch as thou followedst not young men, whether poor or rich. 11 And now, my daughter, fear not: all that thou sayest will I do to thee; for all the gate of my people knows that thou art a woman of worth. 12 And now, truly I am one that has the right of redemption, yet there is one that has the right of redemption who is nearer than I. 13 Stay over to-night, and it shall be in the morning, if he will redeem thee, well — let him redeem; but if he like not to redeem thee, then will I redeem thee, [ as] Jehovah liveth. Lie down until the morning. 14 And she lay at his feet until the morning; and she rose up before one could know another. And he said, Let it not be known that a woman came into the threshing-floor. 15 And he said, Bring the cloak that thou hast upon thee, and hold it. And she held it, and he measured six [measures] of barley, and laid [ it] on her; and he went into the city. 16 And she came to her mother-in-law; and she said, Who art thou, my daughter? And she told her all that the man had done to her. 17 And she said, These six [measures] of barley gave he me; for he said to me, Go not empty to thy mother-in-law. 18 Then she said, Be still, my daughter, until thou know how the matter will fall; for the man will not rest until he have completed the matter this day.

4

1 And Boaz went up to the gate, and sat down there. And behold, he that had the right of redemption, of whom Boaz had spoken, came by. And he said, Thou, such a one, turn aside, sit down here. And he turned aside and sat down. 2 And he took ten men of the elders of the city, and said, Sit down here. And they sat down. 3 And he said to him that had the right of redemption: Naomi, who is come back out of the country of Moab, sells the allotment that was our brother Elimelech’s. 4 And I thought I would apprise thee of it and say, Buy [ it] in the presence of the inhabitants, and in the presence of the elders of my people. If thou wilt redeem [ it], redeem; but if thou wilt not redeem, tell me, that I may know; for there is none to redeem besides thee; and I am after thee. And he said, I will redeem [ it]. 5 And Boaz said, On the day thou buyest the field of the hand of Naomi, thou must buy [ it] also of Ruth the Moabitess, the wife of the dead, to raise up the name of the dead upon his inheritance. 6 And he that had the right of redemption said, I cannot redeem [ it] for myself, lest I mar mine own inheritance. Redeem thou for thyself what I should redeem, for I cannot redeem [ it]. 7 Now this [ was the custom] in former time in Israel concerning redemption and concerning exchange, to confirm the whole matter: a man drew off his sandal, and gave it to his neighbour, and this was the [mode of] attestation in Israel. 8 And he that had the right of redemption said to Boaz, Buy for thyself; and he drew off his sandal. 9 And Boaz said to the elders and all the people, Ye are witnesses this day, that I have bought all that was Elimelech’s, and all that was Chilion’s and Mahlon’s, of the hand of Naomi; 10 moreover Ruth the Moabitess, the wife of Mahlon, have I purchased to be my wife, to raise up the name of the dead upon his inheritance, that the name of the dead be not cut off from among his brethren and from the gate of his place: ye are witnesses this day. 11 And all the people that were in the gate and the elders said, [ We are] witnesses. Jehovah make the woman that cometh into thy house like Rachel and like Leah, which two did build the house of Israel; and acquire power in Ephratah, and make thyself a name in Bethlehem; 12 and let thy house become like the house of Pherez, whom Tamar bore to Judah, of the seed which Jehovah shall give thee of this young woman. 13 And Boaz took Ruth, and she became his wife; and he went in unto her, and Jehovah gave her conception, and she bore a son. 14 And the women said to Naomi, Blessed be Jehovah who hath not left thee this day without one that has the right of redemption, and may his name be famous in Israel! 15 And he shall be to thee a restorer of thy life, and a nourisher of thine old age; for thy daughter-in-law who loves thee, who is better to thee than seven sons, has borne him. 16 And Naomi took the child, and laid it in her bosom, and became nurse to it. 17 And the women [ her] neighbours gave it a name, saying, There is a son born to Naomi. And they called his name Obed. He is the father of Jesse, the father of David. 18 Now these are the generations of Pherez. Pherez begot Hezron, 19 and Hezron begot Ram, and Ram begot Amminadab, 20 and Amminadab begot Nahshon, and Nahshon begot Salmon, 21 and Salmon begot Boaz, and Boaz begot Obed, 22 and Obed begot Jesse, and Jesse begot David.