15. When Ruth got up to start picking up grain, Boaz told his men, “Don't stop her, even if she picks up grain from where it is stacked.
16. Be sure to pull out some stalks of grain from the bundles and leave them on the ground for her. And don't speak harshly to her!”
17. Ruth worked in the field until evening. Then after she had pounded the grain off the stalks, she had a large basket full of grain.
18. She took the grain to town and showed Naomi how much she had picked up. Ruth also gave her the food left over from her lunch.
19. Naomi said, “Where did you work today? Whose field was it? God bless the man who treated you so well!” Then Ruth told her that she had worked in the field of a man named Boaz.
20. “The Lord bless Boaz!” Naomi replied. “He has shown that he is still loyal to the living and to the dead. Boaz is a close relative, one of those who is supposed to look after us.”
21. Ruth told her, “Boaz even said I could stay in the field with his workers until they had finished gathering all his grain.”
22. Naomi replied, “My daughter, it's good that you can pick up grain beside the women who work in his field. Who knows what might happen to you in someone else's field!”
23. And so, Ruth stayed close to the women, while picking up grain in his field.Ruth worked in the fields until the barley and wheat were harvested. And all this time she lived with Naomi.