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¹ AND Naomi had a kinsman of her husbands, a well-known man of wealth, of the family of Elimeleck, whose name was Boaz.² And Ruth the Moabitess said to her mother-in-law Naomi, Let me now go to the field and glean ears of wheat after the reapers in whose sight I may find favor. And her mother-in-law said to her, Go, my daughter.³ So Ruth went to glean ears of wheat after the reapers; and it happened that she came upon a portion of the field belonging to Boaz, who was of the kindred of Elimeleck.

⁴ And, behold, Boaz came from Beth-lehem, and said to the reapers, Peace be with you. And they answered him, The LORD bless you.⁵ Then Boaz said to the young man who was in charge of the reapers, Whose damsel is this?⁶ And the young man answered and said to him, It is the Moabite woman who came back with Naomi from the land of Moab;⁷ And she said, Let me glean the ears of wheat after the reapers; so she has been gleaning from the morning until the time of rest.⁸ Then Boaz said to Ruth, My daughter, have you not heard the saying, Do not glean in a field which is not yours? Now therefore stay here, and spend the night with my maidens.⁹ Look at the field where they are reaping, and follow them; behold, I have charged the young men that no man shall harm you; and when you get thirsty, go and drink from the vessels which the young men have drawn.¹⁰ Then she fell on her face to the ground, and made obeisance to him, and said, Is it because I have found grace in your eyes, that you should recognize me, seeing that I am a stranger?¹¹ And Boaz said to her, I have been fully informed of all that you have done for your mother-in-law after the death of your husband; and how you have left your father and mother and your family, and come to a people that you did not know before.¹² May the LORD God of Israel reward you, and may the One under whose wings you have come to take shelter recompense you.¹³ Then she said to him, Because I have found favor in your sight, my lord, and you have comforted me and have spoken kindly to your handmaid, let me become like one of your maidservants.¹⁴ And Boaz said to her at mealtime, Come near and eat of the bread; and he set her beside the reapers, and gave her barley-meal, and dipped bread in milk; then he gave her parched wheat, and she did eat and was satisfied, and she had some left over.¹⁵ And when she was risen up to glean, Boaz commanded his servants, saying, Let her glean even among the sheaves, and do not harm her;¹⁶ And they let her glean between the sheaves, and they did not harm her.

¹⁷ So she gleaned in the field until evening, and beat out what she had gleaned; and it was about an ephah of barley.¹⁸ And she took it up and went into the city; and she showed her mother-in-law what she had gleaned; and she gave her of the food which was left over after she had eaten and was satisfied.¹⁹ And her mother-in-law said to her, Where did you glean today? Blessed be the place in which you were and the man in whose eyes you have found favor. And she told her mother-in-law where she had been, and said, The mans name in whose field I gleaned today is Boaz.²⁰ And Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, Blessed is the LORD, because he has not caused his kindness to cease from the living nor from the dead. And Naomi said to her, The man is near of kin to us, he is one of our nearest kinsmen.²¹ And Ruth said to her mother-in-law, He said to me also, You shall keep close by my servants until all the harvest is finished.²² And Naomi said to Ruth her daughter-in-law, Happy are you, my daughter, for you have kept close to his maidens, and no man harmed you in the field, whose owner you did not know!²³ So she kept close by the maidservants of Boaz to glean until the end of the barley harvest and of the wheat harvest; and Ruth dwelt with her mother-in-law.