Ruth 2

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

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

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

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

⁶The foreman answered, "She's the young Moabite woman who returned with Naomi from Moab's country. ⁷She 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."

⁸Boaz said to Ruth, "Listen, my daughter. Don't glean in another field or leave here; stay close to my young women. ⁹Watch 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."

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

¹¹Boaz 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. ¹²May 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."

¹⁴At 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.

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

¹⁷She gleaned in the field till evening, then beat out what she'd gathered—about twenty quarts of barley. ¹⁸She 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.

¹⁹Her 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."

²⁰Naomi 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.

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

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