Naomi said to Ruth, her daughter-in-law, “It is better, my daughter, that you go out with his young women, otherwise you might be bothered in another field.”
So she stayed close to the young women of Boaz, gleaning until the end of the barley and wheat harvests; and she lived with her mother-in-law.
3 Naomi her mother-in-law said to her, “My daughter, I need to seek some security for you, so that it may be well with you.
Now here is our kinsman Boaz, with whose young women you have been working. See, he is winnowing barley tonight at the threshing floor.
Now wash and anoint yourself, and put on your best clothes and go down to the threshing floor; but do not make yourself known to the man until he has finished eating and drinking.
When he lies down, observe the place where he lies; then, go and uncover his feet and lie down; and he will tell you what to do.”
She said to her, “All that you tell me I will do.”
6 So she went down to the threshing floor and did just as her mother-in-law had instructed her.
When Boaz had eaten and drunk, and he was in a contented mood, he went to lie down at the end of the heap of grain. Then she came stealthily and uncovered his feet, and lay down.
At midnight the man was startled, and turned over, and there, lying at his feet, was a woman!
He said, “Who are you?” And she answered, “I am Ruth, your servant; spread your cloak over your servant, for you are next-of-kin.”[6 (#ulink_1d25d02a-bb6f-54fd-803b-19bdb0c5817d)]
He said, “May you be blessed by the LORD, my daughter; this last instance of your loyalty is better than the first; you have not gone after young men, whether poor or rich.
And now, my daughter, do not be afraid, I will do for you all that you ask, for all the assembly of my people know that you are a worthy woman.
But now, though it is true that I am a near kinsman, there is another kinsman more closely related than I.
Remain this night, and in the morning, if he will act as next-of-kin[7 (#ulink_f975981d-fc97-5f12-b3a1-3bea4506276f)] for you, good; let him do it. If he is not willing to act as next-of-kin[7 (#ulink_f975981d-fc97-5f12-b3a1-3bea4506276f)] for you, then, as the LORD lives, I will act as next-of-kin[7 (#ulink_f975981d-fc97-5f12-b3a1-3bea4506276f)] for you. Lie down until the morning.”
TAKING HELP
I am very, very glad that God has sent you good friends who won’t let you sink, and that you have turned the corner about that bad feeling that one must not take help even when one needs it. If it were really true that to receive money or money’s worth degraded the recipient, then every act of alms we have done in our lives wd. be wicked! . . . Or else (which might be even worse) we shd. have to hold that to receive was good enough for those we call “the poor” but not for our precious selves however poor we become!
—from a letter to Mary Willis Shelburne, July 5, 1956
For reflection
Ruth 3:1–13
14 So she lay at his feet until morning, but got up before one person could recognize another; for he said, “It must not be known that the woman came to the threshing floor.”
Then he said, “Bring the cloak you are wearing and hold it out.” So she held it, and he measured out six measures of barley, and put it on her back; then he went into the city.
She came to her mother-in-law, who said, “How did things go with you,[8 (#ulink_deb70c62-3b1b-5c1d-9882-12080d7afa10)] my daughter?” Then she told her all that the man had done for her,
saying, “He gave me these six measures of barley, for he said, ‘Do not go back to your mother-in-law empty-handed.’”
She replied, “Wait, my daughter, until you learn how the matter turns out, for the man will not rest, but will settle the matter today.”
4 No sooner had Boaz gone up to the gate and sat down there than the next-of-kin,[7 (#ulink_f975981d-fc97-5f12-b3a1-3bea4506276f)] of whom Boaz had spoken, came passing by. So Boaz said, “Come over, friend; sit down here.” And he went over and sat down.
Then Boaz took ten men of the elders of the city, and said, “Sit down here”; so they sat down.
He then said to the next-of-kin,[7 (#ulink_f975981d-fc97-5f12-b3a1-3bea4506276f)] “Naomi, who has come back from the country of Moab, is selling the parcel of land that belonged to our kinsman Elimelech.
So I thought I would tell you of it, and say: Buy it in the presence of those sitting here, and in the presence of the elders of my people. If you will redeem it, redeem it; but if you will not, tell me, so that I may know; for there is no one prior to you to redeem it, and I come after you.” So he said, “I will redeem it.”
Then Boaz said, “The day you acquire the field from the hand of Naomi, you are also acquiring Ruth[9 (#ulink_3bc5648b-bd8f-521d-bad4-7ab258d6004f)] the Moabite, the widow of the dead man, to maintain the dead man’s name on his inheritance.”
At this, the next-of-kin[7 (#ulink_f975981d-fc97-5f12-b3a1-3bea4506276f)] said, “I cannot redeem it for myself without damaging my own inheritance. Take my right of redemption yourself, for I cannot redeem it.”
7 Now this was the custom in former times in Israel concerning redeeming and exchanging: to confirm a transaction, the one took off a sandal and gave it to the other; this was the manner of attesting in Israel.
So when the next-of-kin[10 (#ulink_829a9b89-d191-5ae3-a935-c079a253b949)] said to Boaz, “Acquire it for yourself,” he took off his sandal.
Then Boaz said to the elders and all the people, “Today you are witnesses that I have acquired from the hand of Naomi all that belonged to Elimelech and all that belonged to Chilion and Mahlon.
I have also acquired Ruth the Moabite, the wife of Mahlon, to be my wife, to maintain the dead man’s name on his inheritance, in order that the name of the dead may not be cut off from his kindred and from the gate of his native place; today you are witnesses.”
Then all the people who were at the gate, along with the elders, said, “We are witnesses. May the LORD make the woman who is coming into your house like Rachel and Leah, who together built up the house of Israel. May you produce children in Ephrathah and bestow a name in Bethlehem;
and, through the children that the LORD will give you by this young woman, may your house be like the house of Perez, whom Tamar bore to Judah.”
13 So Boaz took Ruth and she became his wife. When they came together, the LORD made her conceive, and she bore a son.
Then the women said to Naomi, “Blessed be the LORD, who has not left you this day without next-of-kin;[10 (#ulink_829a9b89-d191-5ae3-a935-c079a253b949)] and may his name be renowned in Israel!
He shall be to you a restorer of life and a nourisher of your old age; for your daughter-in-law who loves you, who is more to you than seven sons, has borne him.”
Then Naomi took the child and laid him in her bosom, and became his nurse.
The women of the neighborhood gave him a name, saying, “A son has been born to Naomi.” They named him Obed; he became the father of Jesse, the father of David.
18 Now these are the descendants of Perez: Perez became the father of Hezron,
Hezron of Ram, Ram of Amminadab,
Amminadab of Nahshon, Nahshon of Salmon,
Salmon of Boaz, Boaz of Obed,
Obed of Jesse, and Jesse of David.
[1 (#ulink_c3bd1f09-858d-5e03-b874-15771e7d1a43)] That is Pleasant
[2 (#ulink_125fe866-60d4-59a5-9967-fcb73bc01ba2)] That is Bitter
[3 (#ulink_68c9127e-05a2-5d55-8d4a-cd635a422cb4)] Traditional rendering of Heb Shaddai
