Ruth Chapter 2
Ruth's love and dedication to her mother-in-law, Naomi, are the subject of this book.
A Conservative Version
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 to Naomi, Let me now go to the field, and glean among the ears of grain after him in whose sight I shall find favor. And she said to her, Go, my daughter.
2 : 3 And she went, and came and gleaned in the field after the reapers. And her chance was to land on the portion of the field belonging to Boaz, who was of the family of Elimelech.
2 : 4 And, behold, Boaz came from Bethlehem, and said to the reapers, Jehovah be with you. And they answered him, Jehovah bless thee.
2 : 5 Then Boaz said to his servant who was set over the reapers, Whose damsel is this?
2 : 6 And the servant who was set over the reapers answered and said, It is the Moabite damsel who came back with Naomi out of the country of Moab.
2 : 7 And she said, Let me glean, I pray you, and gather behind the reapers among the sheaves. So she came, and has continued even from the morning until now, except that she tarried a little in the house.
2 : 8 Then Boaz said to Ruth, Do thou not hear, my daughter? Go not to glean in another field, neither pass from here, but abide here close by my maidens.
2 : 9 Let thine eyes be on the field that they reap, and go thou after them. Have I not charged the young men that they shall not touch thee? And when thou are thirsty, go to 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 to him, Why have I found favor in thy sight that thou should take knowledge of me, seeing I am a foreigner?
2 : 11 And Boaz answered and said to her, It has been fully shown me all that thou have done to thy mother-in-law since the death of thy husband, and how thou have left thy father and thy mother, and the land of thy nativity, and have come to a people that thou knew not formerly.
2 : 12 Jehovah recompense thy work, and a full reward be given thee of Jehovah, the God of Israel, under whose wings thou have come to take refuge.
2 : 13 Then she said, Let me find favor in thy sight, my lord, because thou have comforted me, and because thou have spoken kindly to thy handmaid, though I be not as one of thy handmaidens.
2 : 14 And at mealtime Boaz said to her, Come here, and eat of the bread, and dip thy morsel in the vinegar. And she sat beside the reapers, and they passed her parched grain, and she ate, and was satisfied, and left of it.
2 : 15 And when she arose up to glean, Boaz commanded his young men, saying, Let her glean even among the sheaves, and do not reproach her.
2 : 16 And also pull out some for her from the bundles, and leave it, and let her glean, and do not rebuke her.
2 : 17 So she gleaned in the field until evening. And she beat out that which 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 which she had left after she was satisfied.
2 : 19 And her mother-in-law said to her, Where have thou gleaned today? And where have thou worked? Blessed be he who took knowledge of thee. And she showed her mother-in-law with whom she had worked, and said, The man's name with whom I worked today is Boaz.
2 : 20 And Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, Blessed be he of Jehovah who has not left off his kindness to the living and to the dead. And Naomi said to her, The man is near of kin to us, one of our near kinsmen.
2 : 21 And Ruth the Moabitess said, Yes, he said to me, Thou shall keep close by my young men until they have ended all my harvest.
2 : 22 And Naomi said to Ruth her daughter-in-law, It is good, my daughter, that thou go out with his maidens, and that they not meet thee in any other field.
2 : 23 So she kept close by the maidens of Boaz, to glean to the end of barley harvest and of wheat harvest. And she dwelt with her mother-in-law.