Ruth 2 · רות

Now No῾omi had a kinsman of her husband’s, a man of wealth, of the family of Elimelekh; and his name was Bo῾az.

And Rut the Mo᾽avite said to No῾omi, Let me now go to the field, and glean ears of corn after him in whose sight I shall find favour. And she said to her, Go, my daughter.

And she went, and came, and gleaned in the field after the reapers: and she happened to come to a part of the field belonging to Bo῾az, who was of the kindred of Elimelekh.

And, behold, Bo῾az came from Bet-leĥem, and said to the reapers, The Lord be with you. And they answered him, The Lord, bless thee.

Then Bo῾az said to his servant that was set over the reapers, Whose maiden is this?

And the servant that was set over the reapers answered and said, It is the Mo᾽avite girl who came back with No῾omi out of the country of Mo᾽av:

and she said, I pray you, let me glean and gather after the reapers among the sheaves: so she came, and has continued from the morning until now, scarcely spending any time in the hut.

Then said Bo῾az to Rut, Hearest thou not, my daughter? Go not to glean in another field, nor go away from here, but keep close here to my maidens:

let thy eyes be on the field that they reap, and go after them: have I not charged the young men that they shall not touch thee? and when thou art thirsty, go to the vessels, and drink of that which the young men have drawn.

Then she fell on her face, and bowed herself to the ground, and said to him, Why have I found favour in thy eyes, that thou shouldst take notice of me, seeing I am a stranger?

And Bo῾az answered and said to her, It has been fully related to 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 birth, and art come to a people whom thou knewest not before.

The Lord recompense thy deed, and may a full reward be given thee by the Lord God of Yisra᾽el, under whose wings thou art come to take refuge.

Then she said, Let me find favour in thy sight, my lord; for thou hast comforted me, and thou hast spoken gently to thy handmaid, though I am not even like one of thy handmaidens.

And Bo῾az said to her at the mealtime, Come here, 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 replete, and left.

And when she was risen up to glean, Bo῾az commanded his young men, saying, Let her even glean among the sheaves, and do not reproach her:

and let fall also some of the handfuls on purpose for her, and leave them, that she may glean them, and do not rebuke her.

So she gleaned in the field until evening, and beat out what she had gleaned: and it was about an efa of barley.

And she took it up, and went into the city: and her mother in law saw what she had gleaned: and she brought it out, and gave to her what she had left over after she had eaten her fill.

And her mother in law said to her, Where hast thou gleaned today? and where hast thou worked? blessed is he who took notice of thee. And she related to her mother in law where she had worked, and said, The man’s name where I worked today is Bo῾az.

And No῾omi said to her daughter in law, Blessed is he of the Lord, who has not left off his steadfast love to the living and to the dead. And No῾omi said to her, The man is near of kin to us, one of our nearest kinsmen.

And Rut the Mo᾽avite said, He said to me also, Thou shalt keep close by my young men, until they have ended all my harvest.

And No῾omi said to Rut her daughter in law, It is good, my daughter, that thou go out with his maidens, and that they meet thee not in any other field.

So she kept close to the maidens of Bo῾az to glean to the end of the barley harvest and of the wheat harvest; and dwelt with her mother in law.