Ruth 2

Ruth Gleans in Boaz’ Field

1Now Naomi had 1a kinsman of her husband, a 2man of great wealth, of the family of 3Elimelech, whose name was Boaz. 2And Ruth the Moabitess said to Naomi, “Please let me go to the field and 4glean among the ears of grain after one in whose sight I may find favor.” And she said to her, “Go, my daughter.” 3So she departed and went and gleaned in the field after the reapers; and 5she happened to come to the portion of the field belonging to Boaz, who was of the family of Elimelech. 4Now behold, Boaz came from Bethlehem and said to the reapers, “6May the Lord be with you.” And they said to him, “May the Lord bless you.” 5Then Boaz said to his servant who was 7in charge of the reapers, “Whose young woman is this?” 6The servant 8in charge of the reapers replied, “She is the young Moabite woman who returned with Naomi from the land of Moab. 7And she said, ‘Please let me glean and gather after the reapers among the sheaves.’ Thus she came and has remained from the morning until now; she has been sitting in the house for a little while.”

8Then Boaz said to Ruth, “9Listen carefully, my daughter. Do not go to glean in another field; furthermore, do not go on from this one, but stay here with my maids. 9Let your eyes be on the field which they reap, and go after them. Indeed, I have commanded the servants not to touch you. When you are thirsty, go to the 10water jars and drink from what the servants draw.” 10Then she 11fell on her face, bowing to the ground and said to him, “Why have I found favor in your sight that you should take notice of me, since I am a foreigner?” 11Boaz replied to her, “All that you have done for your mother-in-law after the death of your husband has been fully reported to me, and how you left your father and your mother and the land of your birth, and came to a people that you did not previously know. 1212May the Lord reward your work, and your wages be full from the Lord, the God of Israel, 13under whose wings you have come to seek refuge.” 13Then she said, “I have found favor in your sight, my lord, for you have comforted me and indeed have spoken 14kindly to your maidservant, though I am not like one of your maidservants.”

14At mealtime Boaz said to her, “15Come here, that you may eat of the bread and dip your piece of bread in the vinegar.” So she sat beside the reapers; and he 16served her roasted grain, and she ate and was satisfied 17and had some left. 15When she rose to glean, Boaz commanded his servants, saying, “Let her glean even among the sheaves, and do not insult her. 16Also you shall purposely pull out for her some grain from the bundles and leave it that she may glean, and do not rebuke her.”

17So she gleaned in the field until evening. Then she beat out what she had gleaned, and it was about an ephah of barley. 18She took it up and went into the city, and her mother-in-law saw what she had gleaned. She also took it out and 18gave 19Naomi what she had left after 20she was satisfied. 19Her mother-in-law then said to her, “Where did you glean today and where did you work? May he who 21took notice of you be blessed.” So she told her mother-in-law with whom she had worked and said, “The name of the man with whom I worked today is Boaz.” 20Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, “22May he be blessed of the Lord who has not withdrawn his kindness to the living and to the dead.” Again Naomi said to her, “The man is 23our relative, he is one of our 24closest relatives.” 21Then Ruth the Moabitess said, “25Furthermore, he said to me, ‘You should stay close to my servants until they have finished all my harvest.’” 22Naomi said to Ruth her daughter-in-law, “It is good, my daughter, that you go out with his maids, so that others do not fall upon you in another field.” 23So she stayed close by the maids of Boaz in order to glean until 26the end of the barley harvest and the wheat harvest. And she lived with her mother-in-law.