And she went out of the place where she was, and her two daughters-in-law with her; and they went on their way to go back to the land of Judah.

I went out full, and the Lord has sent me back again with nothing; why do you give me the name Naomi, seeing that the Lord has given witness against me, and the Ruler of all has sent sorrow on me?

So Naomi came back out of the country of Moab, and Ruth the Moabitess, her daughter-in-law, with her; and they came to Beth-lehem in the first days of the grain-cutting.

And the servant who was in authority over the cutters said, It is a Moabite girl who came back with Naomi out of the country of Moab;

Keep your eyes on the field they are cutting, and go after them; have I not given orders to the young men not to put a hand on you? And when you are in need of drink go to the vessels and take of what the young men have put there.

The Lord give you a reward for what you have done, and may a full reward be given to you by the Lord, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take cover.

And at meal-time Boaz said to her, Come here, and take some of the bread, and put your bit into the wine. And she took her seat among the grain-cutters: and he gave her dry grain, and she took it, and there was more than enough for her meal.

And when she got ready to take up the grain, Boaz gave his young men orders, saying, Let her take it even from among the cut grain, and say nothing to her.

And let some heads of grain be pulled out of what has been corded up, and dropped for her to take, and let no sharp word be said to her.

So she went on getting together the heads of grain till evening; and after crushing out the seed it came to about an ephah of grain.

And she took it up and went into the town; and she let her mother-in-law see what she had got, and after taking enough for herself she gave her the rest.

And Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, May the blessing of the Lord, who has at all times been kind to the living and to the dead, be on him. And Naomi said to her, The man is of our family, one of our near relations.

And Naomi said to Ruth, her daughter-in-law, It is better, my daughter, for you to go out with his servant-girls, so that no danger may come to you in another field.

But see to it, when he goes to rest, that you take note of the place where he is sleeping, and go in there, and, uncovering his feet, take your place by him; and he will say what you are to do.

Now when Boaz had taken meat and drink, and his heart was glad, he went to take his rest at the end of the mass of grain; then she came softly and, uncovering his feet, went to rest.

Now in the middle of the night, the man awaking from his sleep in fear, and lifting himself up, saw a woman stretched at his feet.

And he said, May the Lord give you his blessing, my daughter: even better than what you did at the first is this last kind act you have done, in not going after young men, with or without wealth.

And now, my daughter, have no fear; I will do for you whatever you say: for it is clear to all my townspeople that you are a woman of virtue.

Now it is true that I am a near relation: but there is a relation nearer than I.

Take your rest here tonight; and in the morning, if he will do for you what it is right for a relation to do, very well, let him do so: but if he will not, then by the living Lord I myself will do so.

And she took her rest at his feet till the morning: and she got up before it was light enough for one to see another. And he said, Let it not come to anyone's knowledge that the woman came to the grain-floor.

And he said, Take your robe, stretching it out in your hands: and she did so, and he took six measures of grain and put them into it, and gave it her to take: and she went back to the town.

And when she came back her mother-in-law said to her, How did it go with you, my daughter? And she gave her an account of all the man had done to her.

Then she said, Do nothing now, my daughter, till you see what will come of this; for the man will take no rest till he has put this thing through.

And Boaz went up to the public place of the town, and took his seat there: and the near relation of whom he had been talking came by; and Boaz, crying out to him by name, said, Come and be seated here. And he came and was seated.

And it was in my mind to give you the chance of taking it, with the approval of those seated here and of the responsible men of my people. If you are ready to do what it is right for a relation to do, then do it: but if you will not do it, say so to me now; for there is no one who has the right to do it but you, and after you myself. And he said, I will do it.

Then Boaz said, On the day when you take this field, you will have to take with it Ruth, the Moabitess, the wife of the dead, so that you may keep the name of the dead living in his heritage.

And the near relation said, I am not able to do the relation's part, for fear of damaging the heritage I have: you may do it in my place, for I am not able to do it myself.

Now, in earlier times this was the way in Israel when property was taken over by a near relation, or when there was a change of owner. To make the exchange certain one man took off his shoe and gave it to the other; and this was a witness in Israel.

So the near relation said to Boaz, Take it for yourself. And he took off his shoe.

Then Boaz said to the responsible men and to all the people, You are witnesses today that I have taken at a price from Naomi all the property which was Elimelech's, and everything which was Chilion's and Mahlon's.

And Naomi took the child and put her arms round it, and she took care of it.

And the women who were her neighbours gave it a name, saying, Naomi has a child; and they gave him the name of Obed: he is the father of Jesse, the father of David.