So Ruth ¹  worked beside ²  Boaz’s female servants, gathering grain until the end of the barley harvest as well as the wheat harvest. ³  After that she stayed home with her mother-in-law. ⁴ 

During the time of the judges ¹  there was a famine in the land of Judah. ²  So a man from Bethlehem ³  in Judah went to live as a resident foreigner ⁴  in the region of Moab, along with his wife and two sons. ⁵ 

Then Naomi ¹  said, “Stay put, ²  my daughter, until you know how the matter turns out. For the man will not rest until he has taken care of the matter today.”

Now as she and her two daughters-in-law began to leave the place where she had been living to return to the land of Judah, ¹ 

I left here full, ¹  but the Lord has caused me to return empty-handed. ²  Why do you call me ‘Naomi,’ seeing that ³  the Lord has opposed me, ⁴  and the Sovereign One ⁵  has caused me to suffer?” ⁶ 

She asked, ¹  ‘May I follow the harvesters and gather ²  grain among the bundles?’ ³  Since she arrived she has been working hard ⁴  from this morning until now ⁵  – except for ⁶  sitting ⁷  in the resting hut ⁸  a short time.” ⁹ 

Then Boaz said to the leaders and all the people, “You are witnesses today that I have acquired from Naomi all that belonged to Elimelech, Kilion, and Mahlon.

The village women said to Naomi, “May the Lord be praised because he has not left you without a guardian ¹  today! May he ²  become famous in Israel! ³ 

May the Lord enable each of you to find ¹  security ²  in the home of a new husband!” ³  Then she kissed them goodbye and they wept loudly. ⁴ 

Boaz chose ten of the village leaders ¹  and said, “Sit down here!” So they sat down.

Naomi took the child and placed him on her lap; ¹  she became his caregiver. ² 

So her sons ¹  married ²  Moabite women. (One was named Orpah and the other Ruth.) ³  And they continued to live there about ten years.

Now Naomi ¹  had a relative ²  on her husband’s side of the family named Boaz. He was a wealthy, prominent man from the clan of Elimelech. ³ 

(Now this used to be the customary way to finalize a transaction involving redemption in Israel: ¹  A man would remove his sandal and give it to the other party. ²  This was a legally binding act ³  in Israel.)

So the guardian said to Boaz, “You may acquire it,” and he removed his sandal. ¹ 

Later during the mealtime Boaz said to her, “Come here and have ¹  some food! Dip your bread ²  in the vinegar!” So she sat down beside the harvesters. Then he handed ³  her some roasted grain. She ate until she was full and saved the rest. ⁴ 

One day Ruth the Moabite said to Naomi, “Let me go ¹  to the fields so I can gather ²  grain behind whoever permits me to do so.” ³  Naomi ⁴  replied, “You may go, my daughter.”

So she decided to return home from the region of Moab, accompanied by her daughters-in-law, ¹  because while she was living in Moab ²  she had heard that the Lord had shown concern ³  for his people, reversing the famine by providing abundant crops. ⁴ 

Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, “May he be rewarded by the Lord because he ¹  has shown loyalty to the living on behalf of the dead!” ²  Then Naomi said to her, “This man is a close relative of ours; he is our guardian.” ³ 

Boaz asked ¹  his servant ²  in charge of the harvesters, “To whom does this young woman belong?” ³