CLV(i)
1 Naomi had a near relative of her husband, a man who was a master of valor, of the family of Elimelech, and his name was Boaz.
2 Then Ruth the Moabite said to Naomi, Let me now go to the field, and let me glean among the ears of grain behind someone in whose eyes I may find favor. She replied to her, Go, my daughter.
3 So she went and came to glean in a field behind the reapers. And her chance happened that the portion of the field was allotted to Boaz, who was of the family of Elimelech.
4 And behold, Boaz was coming from Bethlehem and said to the reapers, Yahweh be with you! They replied to him, Yahweh bless you!"
5 Then Boaz said to his lad who was stationed over the reapers, Whose maiden is that?
6 The lad who was stationed over the reapers answered and said, She is the Moabite maiden who returned with Naomi from the field of Moab.
7 She pleaded, Please let me glean, and I will gather among the sheaves behind the reapers. She came early and has stayed since the morning until now; She did not even pause in the field a little while.
8 Boaz said to Ruth, Behold, hearken, my daughter. You must not go to glean in another field; also do not cross over from this one. And thus shall you follow hard behind my maidens.
9 Let your eyes be on the field which they are reaping; and you must go behind them. Behold, I have instructed the lads not to touch you at all. When you are thirsty, then you may go to the vessels and drink from what the lads shall bail.
10 Now she fell on her face, bowed herself down to the earth and said to him, For what reason have I found favor in your eyes to recognize me, since I am a foreigner?
11 Boaz answered and said to her, It was told, yea told to me, all that you have done for your husband's mother since the death of your husband, how you forsook your father and your mother and the country of your birth and went to a people you had not known heretofore.
12 May Yahweh repay your deeds. May your reward be equitable from Yahweh the Elohim of Israel, under Whose wings you have come to take refuge.
13 She replied, May I always find favor in your eyes, my lord, for you have comforted me, and you have spoken to the heart of your maidservant. As for me, I am not even like one of your maidservants.
14 At eating time Boaz said to her, Come close hither and eat from the bread; dip your morsel in the vinegar. So Ruth sat down by the side of the reapers, and Boaz held out toasted grain to her. She ate and was satisfied and had some left over.
15 When she arose to glean, Boaz instructed his lads, saying, Even between the sheaves let her glean, and you shall not mortify her.
16 Moreover, you shall pull out, yea pull out for her some stalks from the swaths and leave them for her to glean, and do not rebuke her.
17 She gleaned in the field until evening. When she beat out what she had gleaned, it was about an ephah of barley.
18 She took it up and came back into the city, and her husband's mother saw what she had gleaned. Then Ruth brought forth and gave her what she had left over from her satisfying meal.
19 Now her husband's mother asked her, Where then did you glean today? Where have you worked? Blessed be he who was recognizing you. So she told her husband's mother with whom she had worked, saying, The name of the man with whom I worked today is Boaz.
20 Naomi replied to her daughter-in-law, Blessed be he by Yahweh, Who has not forsaken His benignity toward the living and the dead. And Naomi explained to her, This man is a near relative of ours; he is one of our kinsmen redeemers.
21 Then Ruth the Moabite said to her husband's mother, He even told me, You shall follow hard behind the young workers who are mine until they have finished all the harvest that I have.
22 Naomi replied to Ruth, her daughter-in-law, It is best, my daughter, that you go forth with his maidens, so that the lads in another field may not touch on you.
23 So she followed hard behind the maidens of Boaz, and gleaned until the barley harvest and the wheat harvest were finished. And she dwelt with her husband's mother.