And Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, Go, return each of you to her mother's house. LORD deal kindly with you, as ye have dealt with the dead, and with me.

And they said to her, No, but we will return with thee to thy people.

And Naomi said, Turn again, my daughters. Why will ye go with me? Have I yet sons in my womb, that they may be your husbands?

would ye therefore delay till they were grown? Would ye therefore stay from having husbands? No, my daughters, for it grieves me much for your sakes, for the hand of LORD has gone forth against me.

And she said, Behold, thy sister-in-law has gone back to her people, and to her god. Return thou after thy sister-in-law.

And Ruth said, Entreat me not to leave thee, and to return from following after thee, for where thou go, I will go, and where thou lodge, I will lodge. Thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God.

So those two went until they came to Bethlehem. And it came to pass, when they came to Bethlehem, that all the city was moved about them, and [the women] said, Is this Naomi?

And she said to them, Call me not Naomi. Call me Mara, for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me.

And Ruth the Moabitess said to Naomi, Let me now go to the field, and glean among the ears of grain after him in whose sight I shall find favor. And she said to her, Go, my daughter.

And, behold, Boaz came from Bethlehem, and said to the reapers, LORD be with you. And they answered him, LORD bless thee.

Then Boaz said to his servant who was set over the reapers, Whose damsel is this?

And the servant who was set over the reapers answered and said, It is the Moabite damsel who came back with Naomi out of the country of Moab.

And she said, Let me glean, I pray you, and gather behind the reapers among the sheaves. So she came, and has continued even from the morning until now, except that she tarried a little in the house.

Then Boaz said to Ruth, Do thou not hear, my daughter? Go not to glean in another field, neither pass from here, but abide here close by my maidens.

Then she fell on her face, and bowed herself to the ground, and said to him, Why have I found favor in thy sight that thou should take knowledge of me, seeing I am a foreigner?

And Boaz answered and said to her, It has been fully shown me all that thou have done to thy mother-in-law since the death of thy husband, and how thou have left thy father and thy mother, and the land of thy nativity, and have com

Then she said, Let me find favor in thy sight, my lord, because thou have comforted me, and because thou have spoken kindly to thy handmaid, though I be not as one of thy handmaidens.

And at mealtime Boaz said to her, Come here, and eat of the bread, and dip thy morsel in the vinegar. And she sat beside the reapers, and they passed her parched grain, and she ate, and was satisfied, and left of it.

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.

And Naomi said to Ruth her daughter-in-law, It is good, my daughter, that thou go out with his maidens, and that they not meet thee in any other field.

And Naomi her mother-in-law said to her, My daughter, shall I not seek rest for thee, that it may be well with thee?

And she said to her, All that thou say I will do.

And he said, Who are thou? And she answered, I am Ruth thy handmaid. Spread therefore thy skirt over thy handmaid, for thou are a near kinsman.

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 she lay at his feet until the morning. And she rose up before one could discern another. For he said, Let it not be known that the woman came to the threshing-floor.

And he said, Bring the mantle that is upon thee, and hold it. And she held it, and he measured six [measures] of barley, and laid it on her, and he went into the city.

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.

And she said, He gave me these six [measures] of barley, for he said, Go not empty to thy mother-in-law.

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.

And he said to the near kinsman, Naomi, who has come again out of the country of Moab, sells the parcel of land, which was our brother Elimelech's.

And I thought to disclose it to thee, saying, Buy it before those who sit here, and before the elders of my people. If thou will redeem it, redeem it, but if thou will not redeem it, then tell me that I may know, for there is none

Then Boaz said, That day thou buy the field of the hand of Naomi, thou must buy it also of Ruth the Moabitess, the wife of the dead, to raise up the name of the dead upon his inheritance.

And the near kinsman said, I cannot redeem it for myself lest I mar my own inheritance. Take thou my right of redemption on thee, for I cannot redeem it.

So the near kinsman said to Boaz, Buy it for thyself. And he drew off his shoe.

And Boaz said to the elders, and to all the people, Ye are witnesses this day, that I have bought all that was Elimelech's, and all that was Chilion's and Mahlon's, from the hand of Naomi.

And all the people who were in the gate, and the elders, said, We are witnesses. LORD make the woman that has come into thy house like Rachel and like Leah, which two built the house of Israel, and do thou worthily in Ephrathah, an

And let thy house be like the house of Perez whom Tamar bore to Judah, of the seed which LORD shall give thee by this young woman.

And the women said to Naomi, Blessed be LORD, who has not left thee this day without a near kinsman. And let his name be famous in Israel.