UST RUTH Chapter 3

3 One day, Naomi said to Ruth, “My daughter, I want to arrange for you to have a secure home with a good husband. 2 Now, you have been working with Boaz’s servant girls. As you know, he is a close relative of ours. So listen carefully. Tonight he will be at the place where they thresh the barley. He will be separating the grain from the chaff. 3 Bathe yourself and put on some perfume. Put on your full outer cloak. Then go down to the place where they thresh the grain. But do not let him know that you are there until he has finished his evening meal. 4 When he lies down to sleep, pay attention to where he lies down. Then go over to him, uncover his feet, and lie down there. When he wakes up, he will be the one to tell you what to do next.”

5 Ruth replied, “I will do everything that you have told me to do.” 6 So she went down to the place where people thresh the grain. There she did everything that her mother-in-law had told her to do.

7 This is what happened: When Boaz finished eating and drinking, he was feeling good. He went over to the far end of the grain pile, lay down there, and went to sleep. Then Ruth stealthily approached him. She took the covering off his feet and lay down there. 8 In the middle of the night, he woke up suddenly. He sat up and was amazed to find a woman lying at his feet! 9 He asked her, “Who are you?” She replied, “I am your servant, Ruth. Since you are the one responsible for my dead husband’s family, please make me secure by marrying me.”

10 Boaz replied, “May Yahweh bless you, my dear! Previously, you were very faithful to your mother-in-law, but you are acting even more faithfully now by not chasing after a young man to marry, whether rich or poor. 11 Now, my dear, I will do everything that you asked. Do not be afraid, because everyone in this town knows that you are an honorable woman. 12 However, while it is true that I am one of Elimelek's close relatives and, therefore, could be responsible for you and Naomi, there is another man who is a closer relative than I am. He is the one who is actually responsible for you. 13 You stay here for the rest of the night. Tomorrow morning I will tell this man about you. If he says that he will take care of you, fine, he can marry you. But if he is unwilling to take care of you, I solemnly promise that, as surely as Yahweh lives, I will marry you and take care of you myself. So stay here until it is morning.”

14 Then Boaz added, “It would be best if no one knew that a woman came here.” So she lay at his feet until early morning and got up to leave before it was light enough that people would be able to recognize her. 15 Then Boaz said to her, “Bring your shawl over here and hold it out.” When she did that, he poured a generous amount of barley into it and put it on her back. Then he went into town.

16 When Ruth arrived home, her mother-in-law asked her, “How did things turn out for you, my daughter?” Then Ruth told her all that Boaz had said and done for her. 17 She also said to Naomi, “He gave me all this barley, saying, ‘I do not want you to return to your mother-in-law with nothing.’ ” 18 Then Naomi said, “My daughter, just wait here until we see what happens. That man will work hard on this matter until he has resolved it today.”

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