RUTH
Ruth 1
1 Now it came to pass in the days when the judges ruled, that there was a
famine in the land. And a certain man of Bethlehemjudah
went to sojourn in the country of
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
Bethlehemjudah. And they came into the country of
3 And Elimelech Naomi's husband died; and she was
left, and her two sons.
4 And they took them wives of the women of
5 And Mahlon and Chilion
died also both of them; and the woman was left of her two sons and her husband.
6 Then she arose with her daughters in law, that she
might return from the country of
7 Wherefore she went forth out of the place where she was, and her two
daughters in law with her; and they went on the way to return unto the
8 And Naomi said unto her two daughters in law, Go, return each to her mother's
house: Yahweh deal kindly with you, as ye have dealt with the dead, and with
me.
9 Yahweh grant you that ye may find rest, each [of you] in the house of her
husband. Then she kissed them; and they lifted up their voice, and wept.
10 And they said unto her, Surely we will return with
thee unto thy people.
11 And Naomi said, Turn again, my daughters: why will ye
go with me? [are] there yet [any more] sons in my
womb, that they may be your husbands?
12 Turn again, my daughters, go [your way]; for I am too old to have an husband. If I should say, I have hope, [if] I should have
an husband also to night, and should also bear sons;
13 Would ye tarry for them till they were grown? would
ye stay for them from having husbands? nay, my
daughters; for it grieveth me much for your sakes
that the hand of Yahweh 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 unto her.
15 And she said, Behold, thy sister in law is gone back unto her people, and
unto her gods: return thou after thy sister in law.
16 And Ruth said, Intreat me not to leave thee, [or]
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 God my God:
17 Where thou diest, will I die, and there will I be
buried: Yahweh do so to me, and more also, [if ought] but death part thee and
me.
18 When she saw that she was stedfastly minded to go
with her, then she left speaking unto her.
19 So they two went until they came to
20 And she said unto them, Call me not Naomi, call me Mara: for the Almighty
hath dealt very bitterly with me.
21 I went out full, and Yahweh hath brought me home again empty: why [then]
call ye me Naomi, seeing Yahweh hath testified against
me, and the Almighty hath afflicted me?
22 So Naomi returned, and Ruth the Moabitess, her
daughter in law, with her, which returned out of the country of
1 And Naomi had a kinsman 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 unto Naomi,
Let me now go to the field, and glean ears of corn after [him] in whose sight I
shall find grace. And she said unto her, Go, my daughter.
3 And she went, and came, and gleaned in the field after the reapers: and her
hap was to light on a part of the field [belonging] unto Boaz, who [was] of the
kindred of Elimelech.
4 And, behold, Boaz came from
5 Then said Boaz unto his servant that was set over the reapers, Whose damsel [is] this?
6 And the servant that was set over the reapers answered and said, It [is] the Moabitish damsel that came back with Naomi out of the
country of Moab:
7 And she said, I pray you, let me glean and gather after the reapers among the
sheaves: so she came, and hath continued even from the morning until now, that
she tarried a little in the house.
8 Then said Boaz unto Ruth, Hearest thou not, my
daughter? Go not to glean in another field, neither go from hence, but abide
here fast by my maidens:
9 [Let] thine eyes [be] on the field that they do reap, and go thou after them:
have I not charged the young men that they shall not touch thee? and when thou art athirst, go unto the vessels, and drink of
[that] which the young men have drawn.
10 Then she fell on her face, and
bowed herself to the ground, and said unto him, Why have I found grace in thine
eyes, that thou shouldest take knowledge of me,
seeing I [am] a stranger?
11 And Boaz answered and said unto her, It hath fully
been shewed me, all that thou hast done unto thy mother in law since the death
of thine husband: and [how] thou hast left thy father and thy mother, and the
land of thy nativity, and art come unto a people which thou knewest
not heretofore.
12 Yahweh recompense thy work, and a full reward be
given thee of Yahweh, God of Israel, under Whose wings thou art come to trust.
13 Then she said, Let me find favour in thy sight, my lord; for that thou hast
comforted me, and for that thou hast spoken friendly unto thine handmaid,
though I be not like unto one of thine handmaidens.
14 And Boaz said unto her, At mealtime come thou
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 did eat, and was
sufficed, and left.
15 And when she was risen up to glean, Boaz commanded his young men, saying,
Let her glean even among the sheaves, and reproach her not:
16 And let fall also [some] of the handfuls of purpose for her, and leave
[them], that she may glean [them], and rebuke her not.
17 So she gleaned in the field
until even, and beat out that she had gleaned: and it was about an ephah of barley.
18 And she took [it] up, and went into the city: and her mother in law saw what
she had gleaned: and she brought forth, and gave to her that she had reserved
after she was sufficed.
19 And her mother in law said unto her, Where hast
thou gleaned to day? and where wroughtest
thou? blessed be he that did take knowledge of thee.
And she shewed 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 unto her daughter in law, Blessed
[be] he of Yahweh, Who hath not left off His kindness to the living and to the
dead. And Naomi said unto her, The man [is] near of
kin unto us, one of our next kinsmen.
21 And Ruth the Moabitess said, He said unto me also,
Thou shalt keep fast by my young men, until they have ended all my harvest.
22 And Naomi said unto 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 fast by the maidens of Boaz to glean unto the end of barley
harvest and of wheat harvest; and dwelt with her mother in law.
1 Then Naomi her mother in law said
unto 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 winnoweth barley
to night in the threshingfloor.
3 Wash thyself therefore, and anoint thee, and put thy raiment upon thee, and
get thee down to the floor: [but] make not thyself known unto the man, until he
shall have done eating and drinking.
4 And it shall be, when he lieth down, that thou
shalt mark the place where he shall lie, and thou shalt go in, and uncover his
feet, and lay thee down; and he will tell thee what thou shalt do.
5 And she said unto her, All that thou sayest unto me I will do.
6 And she went down unto the floor,
and did according to all that her mother in law bade her.
7 And when Boaz had eaten and drunk, and his heart was merry, he went to lie
down at the end of the heap of corn: and she came softly, and uncovered his
feet, and laid her down.
8 And it came to pass at midnight,
that the man was afraid, and turned himself: and, behold, a woman lay at his
feet.
9 And he said, Who [art] thou? And she answered, I
[am] Ruth thine handmaid: spread therefore thy skirt over thine handmaid; for
thou [art] a near kinsman.
10 And he said, Blessed [be] thou of Yahweh, my
daughter: [for] thou hast shewed more kindness in the latter end than at the
beginning, inasmuch as thou followedst not young men,
whether poor or rich.
11 And now, my daughter, fear not; I will do to thee all that thou requirest: for all the city of my people doth know that
thou [art] a virtuous woman.
12 And now it is true that I [am thy] near kinsman: howbeit there is a kinsman
nearer than I.
13 Tarry this night, and it shall be in the morning, [that] if he will perform
unto thee the part of a kinsman, well; let him do the kinsman's part: but if he
will not do the part of a kinsman to thee, then will I do the part of a kinsman
to thee, [as] Yahweh 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 floor.
15 Also he said, Bring the vail that [thou hast] upon thee, and hold it. And
when she held it, he measured six [measures] of barley, and laid [it] on her:
and she went into the city.
16 And when she came to her mother in law, 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 unto thy mother in law.
18 Then said she, Sit still, my daughter, until thou know how the matter will
fall: for the man will not be in rest, until he have finished the thing this
day.
1 Then went Boaz up to the gate,
and sat him down there: and, behold, the kinsman of whom Boaz spake came by;
unto whom he said, Ho, 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 ye down here.
And they sat down.
3 And he said unto the kinsman, Naomi, that is come again out of the country of
Moab, selleth a parcel of land, which [was] our
brother Elimelech's:
4 And I thought to advertise thee, saying, Buy [it] before the inhabitants, and
before the elders of my people. If thou wilt redeem [it], redeem [it]: but if
thou wilt not redeem [it, then] tell me, that I may know: for [there is] none
to redeem [it] beside thee; and I [am] after thee. And he said, I will redeem [it].
5 Then said Boaz, What 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 the kinsman said, I cannot
redeem [it] for myself, lest I mar mine own inheritance: redeem thou my right
to thyself; for I cannot redeem [it].
7 Now this [was the manner] in former time in
8 Therefore the kinsman said unto Boaz, Buy [it] for thee. So he drew off his
shoe.
9 And Boaz said unto the elders, and [unto] 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. Yahweh make the woman that is come into thine house like Rachel and
like Leah, which two did build the house of Israel: and do thou worthily in Ephratah, and be famous in Bethlehem:
12 And let thy house be like the house of Pharez, whom Tamar bare unto Judah,
of the seed which Yahweh shall give thee of this young woman.
13 So Boaz took Ruth, and she was his wife: and when he went in unto her,
Yahweh gave her conception, and she bare a son.
14 And the women said unto Naomi, Blessed [be] Yahweh, Which hath not left thee
this day without a kinsman, that his name may be famous in
15 And he shall be unto thee a restorer of [thy] life, and a nourisher of thine
old age: for thy daughter in law, which loveth thee, which is better to thee
than seven sons, hath born him.
16 And Naomi took the child, and laid it in her bosom, and became nurse unto
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 Pharez: Pharez begat Hezron,
19 And Hezron begat Ram, and Ram begat Amminadab,
20 And Amminadab begat Nahshon,
and Nahshon begat Salmon,
21 And Salmon begat Boaz, and Boaz begat Obed,
22 And Obed begat Jesse, and Jesse begat David.