She carried it back to town, and her mother-in-law saw ¹  how much grain ²  she had gathered. Then Ruth ³  gave her the roasted grain she had saved from mealtime. ⁴ 

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.”

May your family ¹  become like the family of Perez ²  – whom Tamar bore to Judah – through the descendants ³  the Lord gives you by this young woman.”

He will encourage you and provide for you when you are old, ¹  for your daughter-in-law, who loves you, has given him birth. She ²  is better to you than seven sons!”

Ruth replied to Naomi, ¹  “I will do everything you have told ²  me ³  to do.” ⁴ 

So she went down to the threshing floor and did everything her mother-in-law had instructed her to do. ¹ 

So she gathered grain in the field until evening. When she threshed ¹  what she had gathered, it came to about thirty pounds ²  of barley!

At that time, ¹  Naomi, her mother-in-law, said to her, “My daughter, I must find a home for you so you will be secure. ² 

Then Boaz said to the guardian, ¹  “Naomi, who has returned from the region of Moab, is selling ²  the portion of land that belongs to our relative Elimelech.

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.

Take note of ¹  the field where the men ²  are harvesting and follow behind with the female workers. ³  I will tell the men ⁴  to leave you alone. ⁵  When you are thirsty, you may go to ⁶  the water jars ⁷  and drink some of the water ⁸  the servants draw.” ⁹ 

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 

Her mother-in-law asked her, ¹  “Where did you gather grain today? Where did you work? May the one who took notice of you be rewarded!” ²  So Ruth ³  told her mother-in-law with whom she had worked. She said, “The name of the man with whom I worked today is Boaz.”

Ruth the Moabite replied, “He even ¹  told me, ‘You may go along beside my servants ²  until they have finished gathering all my harvest!’” ³ 

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.

All the people who were at the gate and the elders replied, “We are witnesses. May the Lord make the woman who is entering your home like Rachel and Leah, both of whom built up the house of Israel! May ¹  you prosper ²  in Ephrathah and become famous ³  in Bethlehem. ⁴ 

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 

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 

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 Ruth ¹  went and gathered grain in the fields ²  behind the harvesters. Now she just happened to end up ³  in the portion of the field belonging to Boaz, who was from the clan of Elimelech.