Ruth 4

4 ¹ Boaz went up to the town gate and sat. When the family redeemer he'd mentioned came by, Boaz said, "Come sit here, friend." So he came and sat. ² Then he took ten of the town elders and said, "Sit here." So they sat down. ³ He told the family redeemer, "Naomi, back from Moab's country, is selling the parcel of land that belonged to our brother Elimelech. ⁴ So I decided to tell you: buy it before those sitting here and my people's elders. If you'll redeem it, redeem it. If not, tell me so I know, since no one but you can redeem, and I'm after you.' He said, 'I will redeem it.'

⁵ Boaz said, "The day you buy the field from Naomi, you also acquire Ruth the Moabite, the dead man's widow, to raise up his name on his inheritance."

⁶ Then the redeemer said, "I can't redeem it myself, or I'd ruin my own inheritance. You take my right of redemption; I cannot redeem it."

⁷ Earlier in Israel, to make any deal for redeeming or exchanging property binding, a man would take off his sandal and give it to the other. This confirmed agreements in Israel. ^a a v7 Removing a sandal and handing it over publicly sealed a legal transaction in ancient Israel — the equivalent of signing a contract before witnesses. ⁸ So when the family redeemer said to Boaz, "Buy it for yourself," he took off his sandal.

⁹ Then Boaz told the elders and all the people, "You are witnesses today that I have bought from Naomi all that belonged to Elimelech, Chilion, and Mahlon." ¹⁰ I have also taken Ruth the Moabite, Mahlon's widow, as my wife, to preserve the dead man's name with his inheritance, so his name won't vanish from his family or his hometown's records. You are witnesses today."

¹¹ Then all the people at the gate and the elders said, "We are witnesses. May our Father make the woman entering your house like Rachel and Leah, who together built the house of Israel. Prosper in Ephrathah and be famous in Bethlehem." ¹² May your house be like Perez's, whom Tamar bore to Judah, through the children our Father gives you by this young woman."

Boaz and Ruth Wed

¹³ So Boaz took Ruth as his wife. He slept with her, and our Father let her conceive, and she gave birth to a son. ¹⁴ Then the women said to Naomi, Praise our Father, who has not left you today without a family redeemer—may his name become famous in Israel! ¹⁵ He will renew your life and sustain your old age, for your daughter-in-law who loves you, worth more to you than seven sons, has borne him. ¹⁶ Then Naomi took the child, held him on her lap, and cared for him. ¹⁷ The neighbor women named him: "A son is born to Naomi!" They called him Obed, father of Jesse, father of David.

The Line to David

¹⁸ Now these are the generations of Perez: Perez fathered Hezron, ¹⁹ Hezron fathered Ram, Ram fathered Amminadab, ²⁰ Amminadab fathered Nahshon, Nahshon fathered Salmon, ²¹ Salmon fathered Boaz, Boaz fathered Obed, ²² Obed fathered Jesse, and Jesse fathered David. ^b b v22 The book of Ruth has been moving toward this name all along. From David's house will come Jesus — the Son of David, the true Kinsman-Redeemer whom Boaz quietly foreshadows.