Ruth Meets Boaz

2 Now Naomi had a ·rich [or influential; ^Lman of great wealth/standing] relative named Boaz, from Elimelech’s ·family [clan].

² One day Ruth, the Moabite, said to Naomi, “[^LPlease] Let me go to the fields. Maybe someone ·will be kind enough to [^Lin whose eyes/sight I find grace/favor will] let me ·gather the grain he leaves behind [^Lglean among the sheaves/bundles; Deut. 24:21–22].”

Naomi said, “Go, my daughter.”

³ So Ruth went ·to the fields and gathered the grain that the workers cutting the grain had left behind [^Land gleaned in the field behind the reapers/harvesters]. It just so happened that the field belonged to Boaz, from Elimelech’s ·family [clan; ^Ca chance event from Ruth’s perspective, but part of God’s plan].

⁴ ·Soon [or Just then; ^LAnd look/^Tbehold] Boaz came from Bethlehem and greeted his ·workers [reapers; harvesters], “The Lord be with you!”

And the workers answered, “May the Lord bless you!”

⁵ Then Boaz asked his ·servant [young man; foreman] in charge of the ·workers [reapers; harvesters], “·Whose girl is that [To whom does that young woman belong; ^Creferring, in this patriarchal culture, to her husband or father]?”

⁶ The ·servant [young man; foreman] answered, “She is the young Moabite woman who came back with Naomi from the ·country [land] of Moab. ⁷ She said, ‘Please let me follow the ·workers cutting grain [reapers; harvesters] and ·gather what they leave behind [^Lglean among the sheaves/bundles].’ She came and has remained here, from morning until just now. She ·has stopped only a few moments [or just now stopped for a moment] to rest in the ·shelter [hut; house].”

⁸ Then Boaz said to Ruth, “·Listen [^LHave you not heard…?], my daughter. Don’t go to ·gather grain for yourself [glean] in another field. Don’t even leave this field at all, but ·continue following closely behind [stay close to; cling to] my ·women workers [servant girls; young women]. ⁹ Watch to see into which fields ·they [the men reaping; ^Cthe Hebrew pronoun is masculine] go to ·cut grain [reap] and follow ·them [the women gathering; ^Cthe Hebrew pronoun is feminine]. I ·have warned [or will warn] the young men not to ·bother [harass; touch] you. When you are thirsty, you may go and drink from the water jugs that the young men have ·filled [^Ldrawn (from the well)].”

¹⁰ Then Ruth bowed low with her face to the ground and said to him, “I am ·not an Israelite [^La foreigner]. Why have ·you been so kind to notice me [^LI found favor/grace in your eyes]?”

¹¹ Boaz answered her, “I ·know [have been fully informed] about all ·the help you have given [that you have done for] your mother-in-law after your husband died. You left your father and mother and your ·own country [native land] to come to a ·nation [people] where you did not know anyone. ¹² May the Lord reward you for all you have done. May your wages be paid in full by the Lord, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come for shelter [^Clike a protective mother bird].”

¹³ Then Ruth said, “·I hope I can continue to please you [May I continue to find grace/favor in your eyes; or I have found favor/grace in your eyes], ·sir [my lord]. [^LBecause] You have ·said kind and encouraging words to [^Lcomforted and spoken to the heart of] me, your servant, though I am not one of your servants.”

¹⁴ At mealtime Boaz told Ruth, “Come here. Eat some of our bread and dip it in ·our sauce [the vinegar/wine-vinegar].”

So Ruth sat down beside the ·workers [reapers; harvesters]. Boaz ·handed [offered; served] her some roasted grain, and she ate until she was ·full [satisfied]; she even had some food left over. ¹⁵ When Ruth rose and went back to work, Boaz commanded his ·workers [young men], “Let her ·gather [glean] even around the ·piles of cut grain [sheaves]. Don’t ·tell her to go away [reprimand/insult/humiliate her]. ¹⁶ In fact, pull out some full heads of grain for her from the bundles and let her gather them. Don’t ·tell her to stop [rebuke/scold her].”

¹⁷ So Ruth gathered grain in the field until evening. Then she ·separated the grain from the chaff [threshed/beat out what she had gleaned], and there was about ·one-half bushel [^Lan ephah; ^Cabout 30 pounds] of barley. ¹⁸ Ruth carried the grain into town, and her mother-in-law saw how much she had ·gathered [gleaned]. Ruth also took out the food that was left over ·from lunch [^Lafter she was full/satisfied] and gave it to Naomi.

¹⁹ ·Naomi [^LHer mother-in-law] asked her, “Where did you ·gather all this grain [glean] today? Where did you work? Blessed be whoever noticed you!”

Ruth told her mother-in-law in whose field she had worked. She said, “The man I worked with today is named Boaz.”

²⁰ Naomi told her daughter-in-law, “The Lord bless him! ·He continues to be kind to us—both [^L…who has not abandoned] the living and the dead!” Then Naomi told Ruth, “Boaz is one of our close relatives, one ·who should take care of us [of our guardians/^Tkinsmen-redeemers; ^Ca relative who would care for a bereaved family in various ways: looking after destitute members (Lev. 25:35); avenging a murdered relative (Num. 35:19); marrying a sister-in-law to raise up children for her deceased husband (Deut. 25:5–10; called “levirate” marriage); buying back family land (Lev. 25:25) or redeeming family members who had been sold as slaves (Lev. 25:47–49)].”

²¹ Then Ruth, the Moabite, said, “Boaz ·also [even] told me, ‘Keep close to my ·workers [young men] until they have finished my whole harvest.’”

²² But Naomi said to her daughter-in-law Ruth, “It is better for you to continue working with his ·women workers [female servants; young women]. If you work in another field, someone might ·hurt [harm; or harass] you.” ²³ So Ruth continued working closely with the ·workers [female workers; young women] of Boaz, gathering grain until the barley harvest [^CMarch-April] and the wheat harvest [^CApril-May] were finished. And she continued to live with Naomi, her mother-in-law.