Ruth 3

Great^{(i) 1} Then Naomi her mother in lawe sayde vnto her: my daughter, shal I not seke reast for the, that thou mayst prosper? ² And is not Booz onre kynsman, with whose maydens thou wast? Beholde, he wenoweth barleye to nyght in the thresshynge floure: ³ washe thy selfe therfore, and anoynt the, and put thy rayment vpon the, and gett the downe to the barne. But let not a man knowe of the, vntyll he haue leaft eatynge and drynckyng. ⁴ And when he goeth to slepe, marcke the place where he layeth hym downe, and then go and lyfte vp the clothes, that are on his fete, and laye the downe there, and so shall he tell the what thou shalt do. ⁵ And she answered her: all that thou byddyst me, I wyll do. ⁶ And so she went downe vnto the barne, and dyd accordynge to all that her mother in lawe bade her. ⁷ And when Booz had eaten & droncken, and made him merye, and was gone in, to lye downe besyde the heape of corne, she came softlye, and lifte vp the clothes of his fete, and layde her downe. ⁸ And at mydnight the man was afrayde and groped. And beholde: a woman laye at his fete. ⁹ And he sayde: what art thou? she answered: I am Ruth thine hand mayde, sprede thy wynge ouer thine hand mayde, for thou art the next of the kynne. ¹⁰ He sayd: blessed be thou in the Lorde my daughter, for thou hast shewed more goodnesse in the later ende, then at the beginnynge, in as moche as thou folowedest not younge men, whether they were poore or riche. ¹¹ And now my daughter feare not, I will do to the all that thou requirest, for all the cytie of my people doth knowe, that thou art a woman of vertue. ¹² And it is true that I am of thy next kynne: howbe it, there is one nyer then I. ¹³ Tary this night. And when mornyng is come, yf he will marye the, it is good, so let him do. But and yf he will not haue the, as sure as the Lorde lyueth I will haue the: lye styll vntil the morning. ¹⁴ And so she laye at his fete vntill the morninge. And she arose vp before one coulde knowe another. And he sayde: let no man knowe, that there came any woman into the barne. ¹⁵ And he sayde agayne: bringe thy mantell that thou hast vpon the, and holde it vp. And whan she helde it vp, he mette in sixe measures of Barleye, and layed it on her. And she gatt her into the cytie: ¹⁶ and whan she came into her mother in lawe, she sayde: how is it with the my daughter? And she tolde her all that the man had done to her. ¹⁷ And sayde also: these sixe measures of barlye gaue he me, and sayd: thou shalt not come emptie vnto thy mother in lawe. ¹⁸ Then sayd she, my daughter, syt still, vntill thou knowe how the matter will chaunce. For the man wyll not be in reast, vntill he haue fynysshed the thinge this same day.