Ruth 2

2 ¹ Naomi had a relative through her husband, a prominent, wealthy man from Elimelech's clan, named Boaz. ² Ruth the Moabite said to Naomi, "Let me glean grain behind anyone who favors me." She said, "Go, my daughter."

³ So she went out and gleaned behind the harvesters, and she happened to come to the field belonging to Boaz, of Elimelech's family.

⁴ Just then Boaz came from Bethlehem, telling the harvesters, "May our Father be with you." "Our Father bless you," they replied.

⁵ Then Boaz said to his foreman, "Whose young woman is this?"

⁶ The foreman answered, "She's the young Moabite woman who returned with Naomi from Moab's country." ⁷ She said, "Please let me glean and gather among the sheaves behind the harvesters." She came and has stayed from morning till now, resting only briefly in the shelter.

⁸ Boaz said to Ruth, "Listen, my daughter. Don't glean in another field or leave here; stay close to my young women." ⁹ Watch the field they harvest and follow behind them. I've told the young men not to touch you. When thirsty, drink from the jars the young men filled.

¹⁰ She bowed facedown to the ground and asked him, "Why have I found favor in your eyes that you notice me, a foreigner?"

¹¹ Boaz answered, "I've heard all you did for your mother-in-law since your husband died — how you left your father, mother, and homeland to come to a people you didn't know before." ¹² May our Father repay your deed; may our Father, the God of Israel, under whose wings you've come for refuge, reward you fully.

¹³ "May I find favor in your eyes, my lord," she said, "for you've comforted me and spoken kindly to your servant, though I'm not one of your servants."

¹⁴ At mealtime Boaz said, "Come here, eat some bread, dip your piece in the wine vinegar." She sat beside the harvesters; he passed her roasted grain. She ate her fill and had some left.

¹⁵ When she rose to glean, Boaz ordered his young men, "Let her glean even among the sheaves; don't shame her." ¹⁶ Instead, pull stalks from the bundles for her and leave them for her to pick up, and don't correct her."

¹⁷ She gleaned in the field till evening, then beat out what she'd gathered — about twenty quarts of barley. ¹⁸ She carried it to town; her mother-in-law saw how much she'd gleaned. She also brought out and gave her what she'd saved after eating her fill.

¹⁹ Her mother-in-law asked, "Where did you gather today? Where did you work? Blessed be the man who noticed you!" Ruth named whose field: "The man I worked with today is Boaz."

²⁰ Naomi told her daughter-in-law, "May our Father bless him, whose kindness hasn't left the living or the dead." She added, "He's a close relative, one of our redeemers." ^a a v20 Naomi names Boaz as one of their kinsman-redeemers — the relative with the right to buy back what was lost and restore the family. Boaz's role here foreshadows Jesus, our Redeemer who pays the price to bring us home to our Father.

²¹ Then Ruth the Moabite said, "He even told me, 'Stay with my workers until they finish all my harvest.'"

²² Naomi told her daughter-in-law Ruth, "Good, my daughter—go out with his young women, so you won't be harmed in another field." ²³ She stayed close to Boaz's young women, gleaning until the barley and wheat harvests ended, and lived with her mother-in-law.