Again they wept loudly. ¹  Then Orpah kissed her mother-in-law goodbye, ²  but Ruth ³  clung tightly to her. ⁴ 

But they said to her, “No! ¹  We will ²  return with you to your people.”

Now yes, it is true that ¹  I am a guardian, ²  but there is another guardian who is a closer relative than I am.

But Naomi replied, “Go back home, my daughters! There is no reason for you to return to Judah with me! ¹  I am no longer capable of giving birth to sons who might become your husbands! ² 

But she replied ¹  to them, ²  “Don’t call me ‘Naomi’! ³  Call me ‘Mara’ ⁴  because the Sovereign One ⁵  has treated me very harshly. ⁶ 

So bathe yourself, ¹  rub on some perfumed oil, ²  and get dressed up. ³  Then go down ⁴  to the threshing floor. But don’t let the man know you’re there until he finishes his meal. ⁵ 

But Ruth replied, “Stop urging me to abandon you! ¹  For wherever you go, I will go. Wherever you live, I will live. Your people will become my people, and your God will become my God.

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 

Remain here tonight. Then in the morning, if he agrees to marry you, ¹  fine, ²  let him do so. ³  But if he does not want to do so, I promise, as surely as the Lord lives, to marry you. ⁴  Sleep here until morning.” ⁵ 

So I am legally informing you: ¹  Acquire it before those sitting here and before the leaders of my people! ²  If you want to exercise your right to redeem it, then do so. ³  But if not, then tell me ⁴  so I will know. ⁵  For you possess the first option to redeem it; I am next in line after you.” ⁶  He replied, “I will redeem it.”

Wherever you die, I will die – and there I will be buried. May the Lord punish me severely if I do not keep my promise! ¹  Only death will be able to separate me from you!” ² 

So Boaz said to Ruth, “Listen carefully, ¹  my dear! ²  Do not leave to gather grain in another field. You need not ³  go beyond the limits of this field. You may go along beside ⁴  my female workers. ⁵ 

Sometime later ¹  Naomi’s husband Elimelech died, so she and her two sons were left alone.

So she slept beside him ¹  until morning. She woke up while it was still dark. ²  Boaz thought, ³  “No one must know that a woman visited the threshing floor.” ⁴ 

Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, “Listen to me! Each of you should return to your mother’s home! ¹  May the Lord show ²  you ³  the same kind of devotion that you have shown to your deceased husbands ⁴  and to me! ⁵ 

When he gets ready to go to sleep, ¹  take careful notice of the place where he lies down. Then go, uncover his legs, ²  and lie down ³  beside him. ⁴  He will tell ⁵  you what you should do.”

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.”

Boaz replied to her, ¹  “I have been given a full report of ²  all that you have done for your mother-in-law following the death of your husband – how you left ³  your father and your mother, as well as your homeland, and came to live among people you did not know previously. ⁴ 

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.

surely you would not want to wait until they were old enough to marry! ¹  Surely you would not remain unmarried all that time! ²  No, ³  my daughters, you must not return with me. ⁴  For my intense suffering ⁵  is too much for you to bear. ⁶  For the Lord is afflicting me!” ⁷