And it came to pass in the days when the judges judged, that there was a famine in the land. And a certain man of Bethlehem-judah went to sojourn in the country of Moab, he, and his wife, and his two sons.

And the name of the man was Elimelech, and the name of his wife Naomi, and the name of his two sons Mahlon and Chilion, Ephrathites of Bethlehem-judah. And they came into the country of Moab, and continued there.

And Naomi had a kinsman of her husband's, a mighty man of wealth, of the family of Elimelech, and his name was Boaz.

Let thine eyes be on the field that they reap, and go thou after them. Have I not charged the young men that they shall not touch thee? And when thou are thirsty, go to the vessels, and drink of that which the young men have drawn.

And when she arose up to glean, Boaz commanded his young men, saying, Let her glean even among the sheaves, and do not reproach her.

And her mother-in-law said to her, Where have thou gleaned today? And where have thou worked? Blessed be he who took knowledge of thee. And she showed her mother-in-law with whom she had worked, and said, The man's name with whom I

And Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, Blessed be he of LORD who has not left off his kindness to the living and to the dead. And Naomi said to her, The man is near of kin to us, one of our near kinsmen.

And Ruth the Moabitess said, Yes, he said to me, Thou shall keep close by my young men until they have ended all my harvest.

Wash thyself therefore, and anoint thee, and put thy raiment upon thee, and get thee down to the threshing-floor. But do not make thyself known to the man until he shall have done eating and drinking.

And it came to pass at midnight, that the man was startled, and turned himself, and, behold, a woman lay at his feet.

And he said, Blessed be thou of LORD, my daughter. Thou have shown more kindness in the latter end than at the beginning, inasmuch as thou did not follow young men, whether poor or rich.

And when she came to her mother-in-law, she said, Who are thou, my daughter? And she told her all that the man had done to her.

Then she said, Sit still, my daughter, until thou know how the matter will fall, for the man will not rest until he has finished the thing this day.

Now Boaz went up to the gate, and sat down there. And, behold, the near kinsman of whom Boaz spoke came by, to whom he said, Such man, stay, turn aside. Sit down here. And he turned aside, and sat down.

And he took ten men of the elders of the city, and said, Sit ye down here. And they sat down.

Now this was [the custom] in former time in Israel concerning redeeming and concerning exchanging, to confirm all things: A man drew off his shoe, and gave it to his neighbor. And this was the [manner of] attestation in Israel.