Ruth 2:1-23

Naomi’s deceased husband, Elimelech, had a very wealthy relative, an honorable and prominent man in Bethlehem named Boaz. One day Ruth the Moabite said to Naomi, “Let me go to the fields and pick up the leftover grain. Maybe someone will be kind enough to let me gather the grain he leaves behind.” Naomi said to her, “Go, my daughter.” So Ruth went to the fields to gather the grain the reapers left behind. It just so happened that she found herself working at the edges of a field belonging to Boaz of the family of Elimelech. At that moment, Boaz came from Bethlehem to survey his harvest. He greeted the harvesters, “May YAHWEH be with you.” They replied, “May YAHWEH bless you.” Noticing Ruth, Boaz asked his foreman in charge of the harvesters, “Who is that young woman over there?” The foreman answered, “She’s a Moabite girl who came back with Naomi from the country of Moab. She asked for permission to gather the grain left behind by the reapers. Except for one short break, she’s been on her feet working in the field since early this morning.” Boaz walked over to Ruth and said, “Listen, my daughter, don’t leave this field to glean somewhere else. Stay here in my field and follow the young women who work for me. Watch my harvesters to see into which fields they go to cut grain, and follow them. When you’re thirsty, go and drink from the water jugs that the young men have filled. I’ve warned the young men not to bother you.” Astounded, Ruth bowed low with her face to the ground, and said to him, “I’m a foreigner. Why have you been so kind and taken notice of me?” Boaz answered, “I’ve heard all about what you’ve done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband. I know your story—how you left your father and mother and your native land and came to a people and a culture that must seem strange to you. May YAHWEH reward you for your sacrifices, and because of what you’ve done, may you have a full and rich reward from YAHWEH, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to find shelter!” Ruth replied, “May I continue to find favor in your sight, kind sir. You have spoken to my heart kind and reassuring words that comfort me, even though I am not as worthy as one of your servant girls.” At mealtime, Boaz said to her, “Come here and eat with us. Here is bread, and wine to dip it in.” Ruth immediately sat down with the workers. Boaz handed her some roasted grain, and she ate all she wanted until she was satisfied—she even had some left over. After she had returned to gather grain, Boaz instructed his young men, “Let her glean even among the standing sheaves, and don’t disgrace her. Pull out from the bundles some handfuls of grain and drop them on purpose for her to gather, and don’t bother her.” So Ruth gathered grain in Boaz’s field until evening. When she threshed out what she had gathered, it came to more than half a bushel of barley. She carried it back to town and showed her mother-in-law how much she had gleaned. Then Ruth also took out the roasted grain she had saved from mealtime and shared it with Naomi. Her mother-in-law asked Ruth, “Where did you gather all this from? In whose field did you work? May YAHWEH bless the man who showed you special attention.” She told her mother-in-law about all that happened that day, and said, “The man in whose field I gathered grain today is Boaz.” Naomi said to Ruth, “YAHWEH’s loving-kindness has not left us either through life or through death! Boaz is closely related to us. He is a kinsman-redeemer of our family. May YAHWEH greatly bless Boaz!” Ruth the Moabite responded, “He even said to me, ‘Stay close by my servants until they have finished all my harvest.’ ” Naomi replied, “It is best, my daughter, that you stay near his young women, otherwise you’ll be alone and might be bothered in someone else’s field.” So Ruth worked alongside the young women who served Boaz. She lived with her mother-in-law and gleaned in Boaz’s fields until the end of the barley and wheat harvests.