1 {1:1} Now it came to pass in the days when the judges
ruled, that there was a famine in the land. And a certain man
of Bethlehemjudah went to sojourn in the country of Moab,
he, and his wife, and his two sons. {1:2} 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 Bethlehemjudah. And they came into the
country of Moab, and continued there. {1:3} And Elimelech
Naomi’s husband died; and she was left, and her two sons.
{1:4} And they took them wives of the women of Moab; the
name of the one [was] Orpah, and the name of the other
Ruth: and they dwelled there about ten years. {1:5} And
Mahlon and Chilion died also both of them; and the woman
was left of her two sons and her husband.
{1:6} Then she arose with her daughters in law, that she
might return from the country of Moab: for she had heard in
the country of Moab how that the LORD had visited his
people in giving them bread. {1:7} Wherefore 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 unto the
land of Judah. {1:8} And Naomi said unto her two
daughters in law, Go, return each to her mother’s house: the
LORD deal kindly with you, as ye have dealt with the dead,
and with me. {1:9} The LORD grant you that ye 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}
And they said unto her, Surely we will return with thee unto
thy people. {1:11} And Naomi said, Turn again, my
daughters: why will ye go with me? [are] there yet [any
more] 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 an husband. If I should say, I have hope, [if]
I should have an husband also to night, and should also bear
sons; {1:13} Would ye tarry for them till they were grown?
would ye stay for them from having husbands? nay, my
daughters; for it grieveth me much for your sakes that the
hand of the LORD is gone out against me. {1:14} And they
lifted up their voice, and wept again: and Orpah kissed her
mother in law; but Ruth clave unto her. {1:15} And she
said, Behold, thy sister in law is gone back unto her people,
and unto her gods: return thou after thy sister in law. {1:16}
And Ruth said, Entreat me not to leave thee, [or] to return
from following after thee: for whither thou goest, I will go;
and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people [shall be]
my people, and thy God my God: {1:17} Where thou diest,
will I die, and there will I be buried: the LORD do so to me,
and more also, [if ought] but death part thee and me. {1:18}
When she saw that she was stedfastly minded to go with
her, then she left speaking unto her.
{1:19} So they two went until they came to Bethlehem.
And it came to pass, when they were come to Bethlehem,
that all the city was moved about them, and they said, [Is]
this Naomi? {1:20} And she said unto them, Call me not
Naomi, call me Mara: for the Almighty hath dealt very
bitterly with me. {1:21} I went out full, and the LORD hath
brought me home again empty: why [then] call ye me
Naomi, seeing the LORD hath testified against me, and the
Almighty hath afflicted me? {1:22} So Naomi returned, and
Ruth the Moabitess, her daughter in law, with her, which
returned out of the country of Moab: and they came to
Bethlehem in the beginning of barley harvest.

2 {2:1} And Naomi had a kinsman of her husband’s, a
mighty man of wealth, of the family of Elimelech; and his
name [was] Boaz. {2:2} And Ruth the Moabitess said unto
Naomi, Let me now go to the field, and glean ears of corn
after [him] in whose sight I shall find grace. And she said
unto her, Go, my daughter. {2:3} And she went, and came,
and gleaned in the field after the reapers: and her hap was
to light on a part of the field [belonging] unto Boaz, who
[was] of the kindred of Elimelech.
{2:4} And behold, Boaz came from Bethlehem, and said
unto the reapers, The LORD [be] with you. And they
answered him, The LORD bless thee. {2:5} Then said Boaz
unto his servant that was set over the reapers, Whose
damsel [is] this? {2:6} And the servant that was set over the
reapers answered and said, It [is] the Moabitish damsel that
came back with Naomi out of the country of Moab: {2:7}
And she said, I pray you, let me glean and gather after the
reapers among the sheaves: so she came, and hath continued
even from the morning until now, that she tarried a little in
the house. {2:8} Then said Boaz unto Ruth, Hearest thou
not, my daughter? Go not to glean in another field, neither
go from hence, but abide here fast by my maidens: {2:9}
[Let] thine eyes [be] on the field that they do reap, and go
thou after them: have I not charged the young men that they
shall not touch thee? and when thou art athirst, go unto 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 unto him, Why have I found grace in
thine eyes, that thou shouldest take knowledge of me,
seeing I [am] a stranger? {2:11} And Boaz answered and
said unto her, It hath fully been shewed me, all that thou
hast done unto thy mother in law since the death of thine
husband: and [how] thou hast left thy father and thy mother,
and the land of thy nativity, and art come unto a people
which thou knewest not heretofore. {2:12} The LORD
recompense thy work, and a full reward be given thee of the
LORD God of Israel, under whose wings thou art come to
trust. {2:13} Then she said, Let me find favour in thy sight,
my lord; for that thou hast comforted me, and for that thou
hast spoken friendly unto thine handmaid, though I be not
like unto one of thine handmaidens. {2:14} And Boaz said
unto her, At mealtime come thou hither, and eat of the
bread, and dip thy morsel in the vinegar. And she sat beside
the reapers: and he reached her parched [corn,] and she did
eat, and was sufficed, and left. {2:15} And when she was
risen up to glean, Boaz commanded his young men, saying,
Let her glean even among the sheaves, and reproach her
not: {2:16} And let fall also [some] of the handfuls of
purpose for her, and leave [them,] that she may glean
[them,] and rebuke her not. {2:17} So she gleaned in the
field until even, and beat out that she had gleaned: and it
was about an ephah of barley.
{2:18} And 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 she had reserved after
she was sufficed. {2:19} And her mother in law said unto
her, Where hast thou gleaned to day? and where wroughtest
thou? blessed be he that did take knowledge of thee. And
she shewed her mother in law with whom she had wrought,
and said, The man’s name with whom I wrought to day [is]
Boaz. {2:20} And Naomi said unto her daughter in law,
Blessed [be] he of the LORD, who hath not left off his
kindness to the living and to the dead. And Naomi said unto
her, The man [is] near of kin unto us, one of our next
kinsmen. {2:21} And Ruth the Moabitess said, He said unto
me also, Thou shalt keep fast by my young men, until they
have ended all my harvest. {2:22} And Naomi said unto
Ruth her daughter in law, [It is] good, my daughter, that
thou go out with his maidens, that they meet thee not in any
other field. {2:23} So she kept fast by the maidens of Boaz
to glean unto the end of barley harvest and of wheat harvest;
and dwelt with her mother in law.

3 {3:1} Then Naomi her mother in law said unto her, My
daughter, shall I not seek rest for thee, that it may be well
with thee? {3:2} And now [is] not Boaz of our kindred,
with whose maidens thou wast? Behold, he winnoweth
barley to night in the threshingfloor. {3:3} Wash thyself
therefore, and anoint thee, and put thy raiment upon thee,
and get thee down to the floor: [but] make not thyself
known unto the man, until he shall have done eating and
drinking. {3:4} And it shall be, when he lieth down, that
thou shalt mark the place where he shall lie, and thou shalt
go in, and uncover his feet, and lay thee down; and he will
tell thee what thou shalt do. {3:5} And she said unto her,
All that thou sayest unto me I will do.
{3:6} And she went down unto the floor, and did
according to all that her mother in law bade her. {3:7} And
when Boaz had eaten and drunk, and his heart was merry,
he went to lie down at the end of the heap of corn: and she
came softly, and uncovered his feet, and laid her down.
{3:8} And it came to pass at midnight, that the man was
afraid, and turned himself: and, behold, a woman lay at his
feet. {3:9} And he said, Who [art] thou? And she answered,
I [am] Ruth thine handmaid: spread therefore thy skirt over
thine handmaid; for thou [art] a near kinsman. {3:10} And
he said, Blessed [be] thou of the LORD, my daughter: [for]
thou hast shewed more kindness in the latter end than at the
beginning, inasmuch as thou followedst not young men,
whether poor or rich. {3:11} And now, my daughter, fear
not; I will do to thee all that thou requirest: for all the city of
my people doth know that thou [art] a virtuous woman.
{3:12} And now it is true that I [am thy] near kinsman:
howbeit there is a kinsman nearer than I. {3:13} Tarry this
night, and it shall be in the morning, [that] if he will
perform unto thee 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
thee, then will I do the part of a kinsman to thee, [as] the
LORD liveth: lie down until the morning.
{3:14} And she lay at his feet until the morning: and she
rose up before one could know another. And he said, Let it
not be known that a woman came into the floor. {3:15}
Also he said, Bring the veil that [thou hast] upon thee, and
hold it. And when she held it, he measured six [measures]
of barley, and laid [it] on her: and she went into the city.
{3:16} And when she came to her mother in law, she said,
Who [art] thou, my daughter? And she told her all that the
man had done to her. {3:17} And she said, These six
[measures] of barley gave he me; for he said to me, Go not
empty unto thy mother in law. {3:18} Then said she, Sit
still, my daughter, until thou know how the matter will fall:
for the man will not be in rest, until he have finished the
thing this day.

4 {4:1} Then went Boaz up to the gate, and sat him down
there: and, behold, the kinsman of whom Boaz spake came
by; unto whom he said, Ho, such a one! turn aside, sit down
here. And he turned aside, and sat down. {4:2} And he took
ten men of the elders of the city, and said, Sit ye down here.
And they sat down. {4:3} And he said unto the kinsman,
Naomi, that is come again out of the country of Moab,
selleth a parcel of land, which [was] our brother
Elimelech’s: {4:4} And I thought to advertise thee, saying,
Buy [it] before the inhabitants, and before the elders of my
people. If thou wilt redeem [it,] redeem [it:] but if thou wilt
not redeem [it, then] tell me, that I may know: for [there is]
none to redeem [it] beside thee; and I [am] after thee. And
he said, I will redeem [it.] {4:5} Then said Boaz, What day
thou buyest 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.
{4:6} And the kinsman said, I cannot redeem [it] for
myself, lest I mar mine own inheritance: redeem thou my
right to thyself; for I cannot redeem it. {4:7} Now this [was
the manner] in former time in Israel concerning redeeming
and concerning changing, for to confirm all things; a man
plucked off his shoe, and gave [it] to his neighbour: and this
[was] a testimony in Israel. {4:8} Therefore the kinsman
said unto Boaz, Buy [it] for thee. So he drew off his shoe.
{4:9} And Boaz said unto the elders, and [unto] 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, of the hand of Naomi. {4:10} Moreover Ruth the
Moabitess, the wife of Mahlon, have I purchased to be my
wife, to raise up the name of the dead upon his inheritance,
that the name of the dead be not cut off from among his
brethren, and from the gate of his place: ye [are] witnesses
this day. {4:11} And all the people that [were] in the gate,
and the elders, said, [We are] witnesses. The LORD make
the woman that is come into thine house like Rachel and
like Leah, which two did build the house of Israel: and do
thou worthily in Ephratah, and be famous in Bethlehem:
{4:12} And let thy house be like the house of Pharez, whom
Tamar bare unto Judah, of the seed which the LORD shall
give thee of this young woman.
{4:13} So Boaz took Ruth, and she was his wife: and
when he went in unto her, the LORD gave her conception,
and she bare a son. {4:14} And the women said unto
Naomi, Blessed [be] the LORD, which hath not left thee
this day without a kinsman, that his name may be famous in
Israel. {4:15} And he shall be unto thee a restorer of [thy]
life, and a nourisher of thine old age: for thy daughter in
law, which loveth thee, which is better to thee than seven
sons, hath born him. {4:16} And Naomi took the child, and
laid it in her bosom, and became nurse unto it. {4:17} And
the women her neighbours gave it a name, saying, There is
a son born to Naomi; and they called his name Obed: he [is]
the father of Jesse, the father of David.
{4:18} Now these [are] the generations of Pharez: Pharez
begat Hezron, {4:19} And Hezron begat Ram, and Ram
begat Amminadab, {4:20} And Amminadab begat
Nahshon, and Nahshon begat Salmon, {4:21} And Salmon
begat Boaz, and Boaz begat Obed, {4:22} And Obed begat
Jesse, and Jesse begat David.

Richest Passages

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