1. Naomi had a relative. He was from Elimelech’s side of the family. He was a man of outstanding character named Boaz.
2. Ruth, who was from Moab, said to Naomi, “Please let me go to the field of anyone who will be kind to me. There I will gather the grain left behind by the reapers.”Naomi told her, “Go, my daughter.”
3. So Ruth went. She entered a field and gathered the grain left behind by the reapers. Now it happened that she ended up in the part of the field that belonged to Boaz, who was from Elimelech’s family.
4. Just then, Boaz was coming from Bethlehem, and he said to his reapers, “May the Lord be with all of you!”They answered him, “May the Lord bless you!”
5. Boaz asked the young man in charge of his reapers, “Who is this young woman?”
6. The young man answered, “She’s a young Moabite woman who came back with Naomi from the country of Moab.
7. She said, ‘Please let me gather grain. I will only gather among the bundles behind the reapers.’ So she came here and has been on her feet from daybreak until now. She just sat down this minute in the shelter.”
8. Boaz said to Ruth, “Listen, my daughter. Don’t go in any other field to gather grain, and don’t even leave this one. Stay here with my young women.
9. Watch where my men are reaping, and follow the young women in that field. I have ordered my young men not to touch you. When you’re thirsty, go to the jars and drink some of the water that the young men have drawn.”
10. Ruth immediately bowed down to the ground and said to him, “Why are you so helpful? Why are you paying attention to me? I’m only a foreigner.”
11. Boaz answered her, “People have told me about everything you have done for your mother-in-law after your husband died. They told me how you left your father and mother and the country where you were born. They also told me how you came to people that you didn’t know before.
12. May the Lord reward you for what you have done! May you receive a rich reward from the Lord God of Israel, under whose protection you have come for shelter.”