Rut, starting at chapter 1
{1:1} It happened in the days when the judges judged, that there was
a famine in the land. A certain man of Beit-Lechem-Yehudah went to
sojourn in the country of Mo'av, he, and his wife, and his two sons.
{1:2} The name of the man was Elimelekh, and the name of his wife
Na`omi, and the name of his two sons Machlon and Kilyon, Efratites of
Beit-Lechem-Yehudah. They came into the country of Mo'av, and
continued there. {1:3} Elimelekh, Na`omi's husband, died; and she was
left, and her two sons. {1:4} They took them wives of the women of
Mo'av; the name of the one was Orpah, and the name of the other Rut:
and they lived there about ten years. {1:5} Machlon and Kilyon died
both of them; and the woman was left of her two children and of her
husband. {1:6} Then she arose with her daughters-in-law, that she
might return from the country of Mo'av: for she had heard in the
country of Mo'av how that the LORD had visited his people in giving
them bread. {1:7} She went forth out of 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 Yehudah. {1:8} Na`omi said to her two daughters-in-law,
Go, return each of you to her mother's house: the LORD deal kindly
with you, as you have dealt with the dead, and with me. {1:9} The LORD
grant you that you may find rest, each of you in the house of her
husband. Then she kissed them, and they lifted up their voice, and
wept. {1:10} They said to her, No, but we will return with you to your
people. {1:11} Na`omi said, Turn again, my daughters: why will you go
with me? have I yet sons in my womb, that they may be your husbands?
{1:12} Turn again, my daughters, go your way; for I am too old to have
a husband. If I should say, I have hope, if I should even have a
husband tonight, and should also bear sons; {1:13} would you therefore
wait until they were grown? would you therefore stay from having
husbands? nay, my daughters, for it grieves me much for your sakes,
for the hand of the LORD is gone forth against me. {1:14} They lifted
up their voice, and wept again: and Orpah kissed her mother-in-law,
but Rut joined with her. {1:15} She said, Behold, your sister-in-law
is gone back to her people, and to her god: return you after your
sister-in-law. {1:16} Rut said, "Don't entreat me to leave you, and to
return from following after you, for where you go, I will go; and
where you lodge, I will lodge; your people shall be my people, and
your God my God; {1:17} where you die, will I die, and there will I be
buried: the LORD do so to me, and more also, if anything but death
part you and me." {1:18} When she saw that she was steadfastly minded
to go with her, she left off speaking to her. {1:19} So they two went
until they came to Beit-Lechem. It happened, when they were come to
Beit-Lechem, that all the city was moved about them, and [the women]
said, Is this Na`omi? {1:20} She said to them, "Don't call me Na`omi,
call me Mara; for [1>]Shaddai[<1] has dealt very bitterly with me.
{1:21} I went out full, and the LORD has brought me home again empty;
why do you call me Na`omi, seeing the LORD has testified against me,
and [2>]Shaddai[<2] has afflicted me?" {1:22} So Na`omi returned, and
Rut the Mo'avite, her daughter-in-law, with her, who returned out of
the country of Mo'av: and they came to Beit-Lechem in the beginning of
barley harvest.
{2:1} Na`omi had a kinsman of her husband's, a mighty man of
wealth, of the family of Elimelekh, and his name was Bo`az. {2:2} Rut
the Mo'avite said to Na`omi, Let me now go to the field, and glean
among the ears of grain after him in whose sight I shall find favor.
She said to her, Go, my daughter. {2:3} She went, and came and gleaned
in the field after the reapers: and she happened to come to the
portion of the field belonging to Bo`az, who was of the family of
Elimelekh. {2:4} Behold, Bo`az came from Beit-Lechem, and said to the
reapers, the LORD be with you. They answered him, the LORD bless you.
{2:5} Then said Bo`az to his servant who was set over the reapers,
Whose young lady is this? {2:6} The servant who was set over the
reapers answered, It is the Mo'avite lady who came back with Na`omi
out of the country of Mo'av: {2:7} She said, Please let me glean and
gather after the reapers among the sheaves. So she came, and has
continued even from the morning until now, except that she stayed a
little in the house. {2:8} Then said Bo`az to Rut, Don't you hear, my
daughter? Don't go to glean in another field, neither pass from hence,
but abide here fast by my maidens. {2:9} Let your eyes be on the field
that they reap, and go after them: haven't I charged the young men
that they shall not touch you? and when you are thirsty, go to the
vessels, and drink of that which the young men have drawn. {2:10} Then
she fell on her face, and bowed herself to the ground, and said to
him, Why have I found favor in your sight, that you should take
knowledge of me, seeing I am a foreigner? {2:11} Bo`az answered her,
It has fully been shown me, all that you have done to your
mother-in-law since the death of your husband; and how you have left
your father and your mother, and the land of your birth, and have come
to a people that you didn't know before. {2:12} The LORD recompense
your work, and a full reward be given you of the LORD, the God of
Yisra'el, under whose wings you are come to take refuge. {2:13} Then
she said, Let me find favor in your sight, my lord, because you have
comforted me, and because you have spoken kindly to your handmaid,
though I am not as one of your handmaidens. {2:14} At meal-time Bo`az
said to her, Come here, and eat of the bread, and dip your morsel in
the vinegar. She sat beside the reapers, and they reached her parched
grain, and she ate, and was sufficed, and left of it. {2:15} When she
was risen up to glean, Bo`az commanded his young men, saying, Let her
glean even among the sheaves, and don't reproach her. {2:16} Also pull
out some for her from the bundles, and leave it, and let her glean,
and don't rebuke her. {2:17} So she gleaned in the field until even;
and she beat out that which she had gleaned, and it was about an efah
of barley. {2:18} She took it up, and went into the city; and her
mother-in-law saw what she had gleaned: and she brought forth and gave
to her that which she had left after she was sufficed. {2:19} Her
mother-in-law said to her, Where have you gleaned today? and where
have you worked? blessed be he who did take knowledge of you. She
shown her mother-in-law with whom she had worked, and said, The man's
name with whom I worked today is Bo`az. {2:20} Na`omi said to her
daughter-in-law, Blessed be he of the LORD, who has not left off his
kindness to the living and to the dead. Na`omi said to her, The man is
a close relative to us, one of our near kinsmen. {2:21} Rut the
Mo'avite said, Yes, he said to me, You shall keep fast by my young
men, until they have ended all my harvest. {2:22} Na`omi said to Rut
her daughter-in-law, It is good, my daughter, that you go out with his
maidens, and that they not meet you in any other field. {2:23} So she
kept fast by the maidens of Bo`az, to glean to the end of barley
harvest and of wheat harvest; and she lived with her mother-in-law.
{3:1} Na`omi her mother-in-law said to her, My daughter, shall I
not seek rest for you, that it may be well with you? {3:2} Now isn't
Bo`az our kinsman, with whose maidens you were? Behold, he winnows
barley tonight in the threshing floor. {3:3} Wash yourself therefore,
and anoint you, and put your clothing on you, and get you down to the
threshing floor, but don't make yourself known to the man, until he
shall have done eating and drinking. {3:4} It shall be, when he lies
down, that you shall mark the place where he shall lie, and you shall
go in, and uncover his feet, and lay you down; and he will tell you
what you shall do. {3:5} She said to her, All that you say I will do.
{3:6} She went down to the threshing floor, and did according to all
that her mother-in-law bade her. {3:7} When Bo`az had eaten and drunk,
and his heart was merry, he went to lie down at the end of the heap of
grain: and she came softly, and uncovered his feet, and laid her down.
{3:8} It happened at midnight, that the man was afraid, and turned
himself; and, behold, a woman lay at his feet. {3:9} He said, Who are
you? She answered, I am Rut your handmaid: spread therefore your skirt
over your handmaid; for you are a near kinsman. {3:10} He said,
Blessed are you by the LORD, my daughter: you have shown more kindness
in the latter end than at the beginning, inasmuch as you didn't follow
young men, whether poor or rich. {3:11} Now, my daughter, don't be
afraid; I will do to you all that you say; for all the city of my
people does know that you are a worthy woman. {3:12} Now it is true
that I am a near kinsman; however there is a kinsman nearer than I.
{3:13} Stay this night, and it shall be in the morning, that if he
will perform to you the part of a kinsman, well; let him do the
kinsman's part: but if he will not do the part of a kinsman to you,
then will I do the part of a kinsman to you, as the LORD lives: lie
down until the morning. {3:14} She lay at his feet until the morning.
She rose up before one could discern another. For he said, Let it not
be known that the woman came to the threshing floor. {3:15} He said,
Bring the mantle that is on you, 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. {3:16} When she came to her mother-in-law, she said,
Who are you, my daughter? She told her all that the man had done to
her. {3:17} She said, These six [measures] of barley gave he me; for
he said, "Don't go empty to your mother-in-law." {3:18} Then said she,
"Sit still, my daughter, until you know how the matter will fall; for
the man will not rest, until he has finished the thing this day."
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Footnotes:
[1] {1:20} the Almighty
[2] {1:21} the Almighty
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