RUT 1:1
Now it came about in the days when the judges
governed, that there was a famine in the land. And a
certain man of Bethlehem in Judah went to sojourn in
the land of Moab with his wife and his two sons.
RUT 1:2 And the name of the man was Elimelech,
and the name of his wife, Naomi; and the names of
his two sons were Mahlon and Chilion, Ephrathites of
Bethlehem in Judah. Now they entered the land of
Moab and remained there.
RUT 1:3 Then Elimelech, Naomi's husband,
died; and she was left with her two sons.
RUT 1:4 And they took for themselves Moabite
women as wives; the name of the one was Orpah and
the name of the other Ruth. And they lived there
about ten years.
RUT 1:5 Then both Mahlon and Chilion also
died; and the woman was bereft of her two children
and her husband.
RUT 1:6 Then she arose with her
daughters-in-law that she might return from the land
of Moab, for she had heard in the land of Moab that
the Lord had visited His people in giving them food.
RUT 1:7 So she departed from the place where
she was, and her two daughters-in-law with her; and
they went on the way to return to the land of Judah.
RUT 1:8 And Naomi said to her two
daughters-in-law, "Go, return each of you to her
mother's house. May the Lord deal kindly with you as
you have dealt with the dead and with me.
RUT 1:9 "May the Lord grant that you may find
rest, each in the house of her husband." Then she
kissed them, and they lifted up their voices and
wept.
RUT 1:10 And they said to her, "No, but we
will surely return with you to your people."
RUT 1:11 But Naomi said, "Return, my
daughters. Why should you go with me? Have I yet
sons in my womb, that they may be your husbands?
RUT 1:12 "Return, my daughters! Go, for I am
too old to have a husband. If I said I have hope, if
I should even have a husband tonight and also bear
sons,
RUT 1:13 would you therefore wait until they
were grown? Would you therefore refrain from
marrying? No, my daughters; for it is harder for me
than for you, for the hand of the Lord has gone
forth against me."
RUT 1:14 And they lifted up their voices and
wept again; and Orpah kissed her mother-in-law, but
Ruth clung to her.
RUT 1:15 Then she said, "Behold, your
sister-in-law has gone back to her people and her
gods; return after your sister-in-law."
RUT 1:16 But Ruth said, "Do not urge me to
leave you or turn back from following you; for where
you go, I will go, and where you lodge, I will
lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God,
my God.
RUT 1:17 "Where you die, I will die, and
there I will be buried. Thus may the Lord do to me,
and worse, if anything but death parts you and me."
RUT 1:18 When she saw that she was determined
to go with her, she said no more to her.
RUT 1:19 So they both went until they came to
Bethlehem. And it came about when they had come to
Bethlehem, that all the city was stirred because of
them, and the women said, "Is this Naomi?"
RUT 1:20 And she said to them, "Do not call
me Naomi; call me Mara, for the Almighty has dealt
very bitterly with me.
RUT 1:21 "I went out full, but the Lord has
brought me back empty. Why do you call me Naomi,
since the Lord has witnessed against me and the
Almighty has afflicted me?"
RUT 1:22 So Naomi returned, and with her Ruth
the Moabitess, her daughter-in-law, who returned
from the land of Moab. And they came to Bethlehem at
the beginning of barley harvest.
Top of Page
RUT 2:1
Now Naomi had a kinsman of her husband, a man of
great wealth, of the family of Elimelech, whose name
was Boaz.
RUT 2:2 And Ruth the Moabitess said to Naomi,
"Please let me go to the field and glean among the
ears of grain after one in whose sight I may find
favor." And she said to her, "Go, my daughter."
RUT 2:3 So she departed and went and gleaned
in the field after the reapers; and she happened to
come to the portion of the field belonging to Boaz,
who was of the family of Elimelech.
RUT 2:4 Now behold, Boaz came from Bethlehem
and said to the reapers, "May the Lord be with you."
And they said to him, "May the Lord bless you."
RUT 2:5 Then Boaz said to his servant who was
in charge of the reapers, "Whose young woman is
this?"
RUT 2:6 And the servant in charge of the
reapers answered and said, "She is the young Moabite
woman who returned with Naomi from the land of Moab.
RUT 2:7 "And 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."
RUT 2:8 Then Boaz said to Ruth, "Listen
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.
RUT 2:9 "Let 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 water jars and drink from
what the servants draw."
RUT 2:10 Then she fell 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?"
RUT 2:11 And Boaz answered and said 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.
RUT 2:12 "May the Lord reward your work, and
your wages be full from the Lord, the God of Israel,
under whose wings you have come to seek refuge."
RUT 2:13 Then she said, "I have found favor
in your sight, my lord, for you have comforted me
and indeed have spoken kindly to your maidservant,
though I am not like one of your maidservants."
RUT 2:14 And at mealtime Boaz said to her,
"Come 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 served her roasted grain,
and she ate and was satisfied and had some left.
RUT 2:15 When she rose to glean, Boaz
commanded his servants, saying, "Let her glean even
among the sheaves, and do not insult her.
RUT 2:16 "And also you shall purposely pull
out for her some grain from the bundles and leave it
that she may glean, and do not rebuke her."
RUT 2:17 So she gleaned in the field until
evening. Then she beat out what she had gleaned, and
it was about an ephah of barley.
RUT 2:18 And she took it up and went into the
city, and her mother-in-law saw what she had
gleaned. She also took it out and gave Naomi what
she had left after she was satisfied.
RUT 2:19 Her mother-in-law then said to her,
"Where did you glean today and where did you work?
May he who took 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."
RUT 2:20 And Naomi said to her
daughter-in-law, "May 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 our
relative, he is one of our closest relatives."
RUT 2:21 Then Ruth the Moabitess said,
"Furthermore, he said to me, 'You should stay close
to my servants until they have finished all my
harvest.'"
RUT 2:22 And Naomi said to Ruth her
daughter-in-law, "It is good, my daughter, that you
go out with his maids, lest others fall upon you in
another field."
RUT 2:23 So she stayed close by the maids of
Boaz in order to glean until the end of the barley
harvest and the wheat harvest. And she lived with
her mother-in-law.
Top of Page
RUT 3:1
Then Naomi her mother-in-law said to her, "My
daughter, shall I not seek security for you, that it
may be well with you?
RUT 3:2 "And now is not Boaz our kinsman,
with whose maids you were? Behold, he winnows barley
at the threshing floor tonight.
RUT 3:3 "Wash yourself therefore, and anoint
yourself and put on your best clothes, and go down
to the threshing floor; but do not make yourself
known to the man until he has finished eating and
drinking.
RUT 3:4 "And it shall be when he lies down,
that you shall notice the place where he lies, and
you shall go and uncover his feet and lie down; then
he will tell you what you shall do."
RUT 3:5 And she said to her, "All that you
say I will do."
RUT 3:6 So she went down to the threshing
floor and did according to all that her
mother-in-law had commanded her.
RUT 3:7 When Boaz had eaten and drunk and his
heart was merry, he went to lie down at the end of
the heap of grain; and she came secretly, and
uncovered his feet and lay down.
RUT 3:8 And it happened in the middle of the
night that the man was startled and bent forward;
and behold, a woman was lying at his feet.
RUT 3:9 And he said, "Who are you?" And she
answered, "I am Ruth your maid. So spread your
covering over your maid, for you are a close
relative."
RUT 3:10 Then he said, "May you be blessed of
the Lord, my daughter. You have shown your last
kindness to be better than the first by not going
after young men, whether poor or rich.
RUT 3:11 "And now, my daughter, do not fear.
I will do for you whatever you ask, for all my
people in the city know that you are a woman of
excellence.
RUT 3:12 "And now it is true I am a close
relative; however, there is a relative closer than
I.
RUT 3:13 "Remain this night, and when morning
comes, if he will redeem you, good; let him redeem
you. But if he does not wish to redeem you, then I
will redeem you, as the Lord lives. Lie down until
morning."
RUT 3:14 So she lay at his feet until morning
and rose before one could recognize another; and he
said, "Let it not be known that the woman came to
the threshing floor."
RUT 3:15 Again he said, "Give me the cloak
that is on you and hold it." So she held it, and he
measured six measures of barley and laid it on her.
Then she went into the city.
RUT 3:16 And when she came to her
mother-in-law, she said, "How did it go, my
daughter?" And she told her all that the man had
done for her.
RUT 3:17 And she said, "These six measures of
barley he gave to me, for he said, 'Do not go to
your mother-in-law empty-handed.'"
RUT 3:18 Then she said, "Wait, my daughter,
until you know how the matter turns out; for the man
will not rest until he has settled it today."
Top of Page
RUT 4:1
Now Boaz went up to the gate and sat down there, and
behold, the close relative of whom Boaz spoke was
passing by, so he said, "Turn aside, friend, sit
down here." And he turned aside and sat down.
RUT 4:2 And he took ten men of the elders of
the city and said, "Sit down here." So they sat
down.
RUT 4:3 Then he said to the closest relative,
"Naomi, who has come back from the land of Moab, has
to sell the piece of land which belonged to our
brother Elimelech.
RUT 4:4 "So I thought to inform you, saying,
'Buy it before those who are sitting here, and
before the elders of my people. If you will redeem
it, redeem it; but if not, tell me that I may know;
for there is no one but you to redeem it, and I am
after you.'" And he said, "I will redeem it."
RUT 4:5 Then Boaz said, "On the day you buy
the field from the hand of Naomi, you must also
acquire Ruth the Moabitess, the widow of the
deceased, in order to raise up the name of the
deceased on his inheritance."
RUT 4:6 And the closest relative said, "I
cannot redeem it for myself, lest I jeopardize my
own inheritance. Redeem it for yourself; you may
have my right of redemption, for I cannot redeem
it."
RUT 4:7 Now this was the custom in former
times in Israel concerning the redemption and the
exchange of land to confirm any matter: a man
removed his sandal and gave it to another; and this
was the manner of attestation in Israel.
RUT 4:8 So the closest relative said to Boaz,
"Buy it for yourself." And he removed his sandal.
RUT 4:9 Then Boaz said to the elders and all
the people, "You are witnesses today that I have
bought from the hand of Naomi all that belonged to
Elimelech and all that belonged to Chilion and
Mahlon.
RUT 4:10 "Moreover, I have acquired Ruth the
Moabitess, the widow of Mahlon, to be my wife in
order to raise up the name of the deceased on his
inheritance, so that the name of the deceased may
not be cut off from his brothers or from the court
of his birth place; you are witnesses today."
RUT 4:11 And all the people who were in the
court, and the elders, said, "We are witnesses. May
the Lord make the woman who is coming into your home
like Rachel and Leah, both of whom built the house
of Israel; and may you achieve wealth in Ephrathah
and become famous in Bethlehem.
RUT 4:12 "Moreover, may your house be like
the house of Perez whom Tamar bore to Judah, through
the offspring which the Lord shall give you by this
young woman."
RUT 4:13 So Boaz took Ruth, and she became
his wife, and he went in to her. And the Lord
enabled her to conceive, and she gave birth to a
son.
RUT 4:14 Then the women said to Naomi,
"Blessed is the Lord who has not left you without a
redeemer today, and may his name become famous in
Israel.
RUT 4:15 "May he also be to you a restorer of
life and a sustainer of your old age; for your
daughter-in-law, who loves you and is better to you
than seven sons, has given birth to him."
RUT 4:16 Then Naomi took the child and laid
him in her lap, and became his nurse.
RUT 4:17 And the neighbor women gave him a
name, saying, "A son has been born to Naomi!" So
they named him Obed. He is the father of Jesse, the
father of David.
RUT 4:18 Now these are the generations of
Perez: to Perez was born Hezron,
RUT 4:19 and to Hezron was born Ram, and to
Ram, Amminadab,
RUT 4:20 and to Amminadab was born Nahshon,
and to Nahshon, Salmon,
RUT 4:21 and to Salmon was born Boaz, and to
Boaz, Obed,
RUT 4:22 and to Obed was born Jesse, and to
Jesse, David.