Ruth 2Book 8 of 66 · 23 verses · MBT primary, NKJV fallback where MBT pending

  1. Now Naomi had a relative on her husband's side — a prominent man of noble character from the family of Elimelech. His name was Boaz.
  2. And Ruth the Moabitess said to Naomi, "Please let me go to the field and glean among the heads of grain after him in whose sight I may find favor." And she said to her, "Go, my daughter."
  3. So she left and went and gleaned in the field after the reapers. And as it happened, she found herself in the portion of the field belonging to Boaz, who was of the family of Elimelech.
  4. Just then Boaz arrived from Bethlehem and greeted the harvesters, "The LORD be with you!" And they answered him, "The LORD bless you!"
  5. Then Boaz said to his servant who was in charge of the harvesters, "Whose young woman is this?"
  6. The servant in charge of the harvesters answered, "She is the young Moabite woman who came back with Naomi from the country of Moab.
  7. She asked, 'Please let me glean and gather after the reapers among the sheaves.' So she came and has been on her feet from early morning until now, except that she rested a little in the shelter."
  8. Then Boaz said to Ruth, "Listen carefully, my daughter. Do not go to glean in another field, nor go from here, but stay close by my young women.
  9. Keep your eyes on the field they are reaping, and follow after them. I have ordered the young men not to touch you. And when you are thirsty, go to the water jars and drink from what the young men have drawn."
  10. So she fell on her face, bowing to the ground, and said to him, "Why have I found favor in your eyes, that you should take notice of me, since I am a foreigner?"
  11. Boaz answered her, "Everything you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband has been fully reported to me — how you left your father and mother and your native land and came to a people you did not previously know.
  12. May the LORD repay you for what you have done, and may you receive a full reward from the LORD, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge."
  13. Then she said, "I have found favor in your sight, my lord; for you have comforted me and spoken kindly to your servant, though I am not like one of your servants."
  14. At mealtime Boaz said to her, "Come here, eat some bread and dip your piece in the vinegar." So she sat beside the harvesters, and he served her roasted grain; and she ate and was satisfied, and had some left over.
  15. When she rose to glean, Boaz commanded his young men, saying, "Let her glean even among the sheaves, and do not humiliate her.
  16. And pull out some stalks from the bundles for her and leave them purposely for her to glean, and do not rebuke her."
  17. So she gleaned in the field until evening. Then she beat out what she had gleaned, and it was about an ephah of barley.
  18. Then she took it up and went into the city, and her mother-in-law saw what she had gleaned. She also brought out and gave to her what she had left over after being satisfied.
  19. And her mother-in-law said to her, "Where did you glean today? And where did you work? Blessed be the man who took notice of you." So she told her mother-in-law with whom she had worked, and said, "The man's name with whom I worked today is Boaz."
  20. Then Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, "May he be blessed by the LORD, who has not abandoned his kindness to the living or the dead!" Naomi also said to her, "This man is one of our close relatives — one of our family redeemers."
  21. Ruth the Moabitess said, "He also told me, 'Stay close to my servants until they have finished all my harvest.'"
  22. And Naomi said to Ruth her daughter-in-law, "It is good, my daughter, that you go out with his young women, so that you will not be harassed in another field."
  23. So she stayed close to the young women of Boaz, gleaning until the end of the barley harvest and the wheat harvest; and she lived with her mother-in-law.