So she set out from the place {where she was} and her two daughters-in-law with her, and they went on the way to return to the land of Judah.

But Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, "Go, each [of you] return to her mother's house. May Yahweh {show kindness to you} [just] as you did with the dead and with me.

And they said to her, "[No,] we want to return with you to your people."

And Naomi said, "Return, my daughters. {Why do you still want to go with me}? [Are there] sons {in my womb} that may be husbands for you?

And she said, "Look, your sister-in-law has returned to her people and to her gods. Return after your sister-in-law [too]."

But Ruth said, "{Do not urge} me to leave you [or] to return from {following you}! For where you go, I will go, and where you lodge, I will lodge. Your people [will be] my people and your God [will be] my God.

[When Naomi] saw that she was determined to go with her, {she said no more}.

[So] the two of them went until they came to Bethlehem. {And when they came} to Bethlehem, all of the town was stirred because of them. And they said, "[Is] this Naomi?"

And she said to them, "You should not call me Naomi; call me Mara, for Shaddai has {caused me to be very bitter}.

And Ruth the Moabite said to Naomi, "Please let me go [to] the field and glean among the ears of grain after [someone] in whose eyes I [may] find favor." And she said to her, "Go, my daughter."

And look, Boaz came from Bethlehem and said to the reapers, "[May] Yahweh [be] with you." And they said to him, "[May] Yahweh bless you."

And Boaz said to his servant {in charge of the reapers}, "To whom [does] this young woman [belong]?"

And {the servant in charge of the reapers} said, "She [is] a Moabite girl returning with Naomi from the countryside of Moab.

And she said, 'Please let me glean and let me gather among the sheaves behind the reapers.' So she came and remained from the morning up to now. {She is sitting for a little while in the house}."

And Boaz said to Ruth, "{Listen carefully}, my daughter, go no longer to glean in another field. Moreover, do not leave from this one, but {stay close} with my young women.

And she fell on her face and bowed down to the ground and said to him, "Why have I found favor in your eyes by recognizing me--for I [am] a foreigner?"

And Boaz answered and said to her, "All that you have done for your mother-in-law after the death of your husband was fully told to me. [How] you left your father and mother and the land of your birth, and you went to a people that you did not know {before}.

And she said, "May I find favor in your eyes, my lord, for you have comforted me and have spoken {kindly to your servant}, and I am not one of your servants."

And Boaz said to her {at mealtime}, "Come here and eat from the bread and dip your morsel in the wine vinegar." So she sat beside the gleaners, and he offered to her roasted grain. And she ate and was satisfied, and she had some left over.

And her mother-in-law said to her, "Where did you glean {today} and where did you work? May he [who] took notice of you be blessed." And she told her mother-in-law {with whom she had worked} and said, "The name of the man who I worked with today [is] Boaz."

And Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, "[May] he be blessed by Yahweh, whose loyal love has not forsaken the living or the dead." And Naomi said to her, "The man is a close relative for us, he [is] one of our redeemers."

And Ruth the Moabite said, "Also, he said to me, 'You shall stay close with the servants which are mine until they have finished all of the harvest which is mine.'"

And Naomi said to Ruth her daughter-in-law, "[It is] good, my daughter, that you go out with his maidservants so that you will not {be bothered} in another field."

Now Naomi her mother-in-law said to her, "My daughter, should I not seek for you security that [things] may be good for you?

And she said to her, "I will do all that you say."

And he said, "Who [are] you?" And she said, "I [am] Ruth, your servant. Spread {your garment} over your servant because you [are] a redeemer."

And he said, "You [are] blessed by Yahweh my daughter. You did better [in this] last kindness than the first by not going after young men, whether poor or rich.

{Stay tonight,} and in the morning, if he wants to redeem you, good; but if he is not willing to redeem, {then as Yahweh lives,} I will redeem you. Lie down until the morning."

So she lay at his feet until morning and got up before {anyone could recognize each other}. And he said, "It must not be known that {you} came [to] the threshing floor."

And he said, "Bring the cloak that [is] on you and {hold it out}." And she held it out and he measured six [measures of] barley and put it on her [cloak]. Then she went [into] the city.

And she came to her mother-in-law, and she said, "{How did it go for you,} my daughter?" And she told her all that the man did for her.

And she said, "These six measures of barley he gave to me, for he said, 'You shall not go empty-handed to your mother-in-law.'"

And she said, "Wait, my daughter, until you know how the matter turns out, for the man will not rest but will settle the matter today."

And Boaz had gone up [to] the [city] gate and sat there. And look, the redeemer of whom Boaz had spoken [was] passing by. And he said, "Come over here to sit, {friend}." And he came over and sat.

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

And he said to the redeemer, "Naomi, who returned from the countryside [of] Moab, is selling the tract of land which [was] for our brother Elimelech.

And I thought {I would tell you} and say, '{Buy it in the presence of} those sitting and before the elders of my people,' if you want to redeem [it], redeem [it]. But if you do not want to redeem, tell me so that I may know, for there is no one except you to redeem [it], and I [am] after you." And he said, "I want to redeem [it]."

And Boaz said, "On the day of your acquiring the field from the hand of Naomi, you also acquire Ruth the Moabite, the wife of the dead [man], [in order] to raise up [for] the name of the dead his inheritance."

And the redeemer said, "I am not able to redeem for myself, lest I ruin my inheritance. You redeem for yourself my kinsman-redemption, for I am not able to redeem [it]."

So the redeemer said to Boaz, "Acquire [it] for yourself," and he removed his sandal.

And Boaz said to the elders and all of the people, "You [are] witnesses today that I have acquired all that [was] for Elimelech and that [was] for Kilion and Mahlon from the hand of Naomi.

And all of the people who [were] at the gate and the elders said, "[We are] witnesses. May Yahweh make the woman coming into your house as Rachel and as Leah, who {together} built the house of Israel. May you have strength in Ephrathah and bestow a name in Bethlehem.

And the women said to Naomi, "Blessed be Yahweh who today {did not leave you without a redeemer}! And may his name be renowned in Israel!