2:4 Now at that very moment, 4 Boaz arrived from Bethlehem 5 and greeted 6 the harvesters, “May the Lord be with you!” They replied, 7 “May the Lord bless you!” 2:5 Boaz asked 8 his servant 9 in charge of the harvesters, “To whom does this young woman belong?” 10 2:6 The servant in charge of the harvesters replied, “She’s the young Moabite woman who came back with Naomi from the region of Moab. 2:7 She asked, 11 ‘May I follow the harvesters and gather 12 grain among the bundles?’ 13 Since she arrived she has been working hard 14 from this morning until now 15 – except for 16 sitting 17 in the resting hut 18 a short time.” 19
2:8 So Boaz said to Ruth, “Listen carefully, 20 my dear! 21 Do not leave to gather grain in another field. You need not 22 go beyond the limits of this field. You may go along beside 23 my female workers. 24 2:9 Take note of 25 the field where the men 26 are harvesting and follow behind with the female workers. 27 I will tell the men 28 to leave you alone. 29 When you are thirsty, you may go to 30 the water jars 31 and drink some of the water 32 the servants draw.” 33
2:10 Ruth 34 knelt before him with her forehead to the ground 35 and said to him, “Why are you so kind 36 and so attentive to me, 37 even though 38 I am a foreigner?” 39 2:11 Boaz replied to her, 40 “I have been given a full report of 41 all that you have done for your mother-in-law following the death of your husband – how you left 42 your father and your mother, as well as your homeland, and came to live among people you did not know previously. 43 2:12 May the Lord reward your efforts! 44 May your acts of kindness be repaid fully 45 by the Lord God of Israel, from whom you have sought protection!” 46 2:13 She said, “You really are being kind to me, 47 sir, 48 for you have reassured 49 and encouraged 50 me, your servant, 51 even though I am 52 not one of your servants!” 53
2:14 Later during the mealtime Boaz said to her, “Come here and have 54 some food! Dip your bread 55 in the vinegar!” So she sat down beside the harvesters. Then he handed 56 her some roasted grain. She ate until she was full and saved the rest. 57 2:15 When she got up to gather grain, Boaz told 58 his male servants, “Let her gather grain even among 59 the bundles! Don’t chase her off! 60 2:16 Make sure you pull out 61 ears of grain for her and drop them so she can gather them up. Don’t tell her not to!” 62 2:17 So she gathered grain in the field until evening. When she threshed 63 what she had gathered, it came to about thirty pounds 64 of barley!
2:18 She carried it back to town, and her mother-in-law saw 65 how much grain 66 she had gathered. Then Ruth 67 gave her the roasted grain she had saved from mealtime. 68 2:19 Her mother-in-law asked her, 69 “Where did you gather grain today? Where did you work? May the one who took notice of you be rewarded!” 70 So Ruth 71 told her mother-in-law with whom she had worked. She said, “The name of the man with whom I worked today is Boaz.” 2:20 Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, “May he be rewarded by the Lord because he 72 has shown loyalty to the living on behalf of the dead!” 73 Then Naomi said to her, “This man is a close relative of ours; he is our guardian.” 74 2:21 Ruth the Moabite replied, “He even 75 told me, ‘You may go along beside my servants 76 until they have finished gathering all my harvest!’” 77 2:22 Naomi then said to her daughter-in-law Ruth, “It is good, my daughter, that you should go out to work with his female servants. 78 That way you will not be harmed, which could happen in another field.” 79 2:23 So Ruth 80 worked beside 81 Boaz’s female servants, gathering grain until the end of the barley harvest as well as the wheat harvest. 82 After that she stayed home with her mother-in-law. 83