Old Testament · History

Ruth chapter 3

One day Naomi, her mother-in-law, said to her, “My daughter, shouldn’t I find you ?”“Now listen — isn’t Boaz, whose women workers you’ve been with, our relative? Tonight he’ll be barley on the .”“Wash up, put on perfume, get dressed in your best clothes, and go down to the threshing floor. But don’t let him know you’re there until he’s finished eating and drinking.”“When he lies down, pay attention to where he settles. Then go over, , and lie down. He’ll tell you what to do from there.”Ruth said to her, “I’ll do everything you’ve told me.”So she went down to the threshing floor and did everything her mother-in-law had told her to do.After Boaz had eaten and drunk and was , he went to lie down at the far end of the grain pile. Then Ruth came in quietly, uncovered his feet, and lay down.In the middle of the night, something startled him. He rolled over — and there was a woman lying at his feet!“Who are you?” he asked. She answered, “I’m Ruth, your servant. , because you are a .”He said, “May Yahweh show you favor, my daughter. This act of is even greater than what you showed before — you haven’t gone after the younger men, whether rich or poor.”“Now don’t worry, my daughter. I’ll do everything you ask. Everyone in town knows you’re .”“Now, it’s true that I am a family redeemer. But there’s another redeemer who’s more closely related than I am.”“Stay here tonight. In the morning, if he wants to redeem you, good — let him do it. But if he doesn’t want to, then , I will. Now lie down until morning.”She lay at his feet until morning, then got up before anyone could recognize each other. Boaz said, “No one should know that a woman came to the threshing floor.”He also said, “Hold out the shawl you’re wearing.” When she did, he measured out and placed it on her. Then he headed into town.When Ruth got home, her mother-in-law asked, “How did it go, my daughter?” Ruth told her everything the man had done for her.She said, “He gave me these six measures of barley. He told me, ‘Don’t go back to your mother-in-law .’”Naomi said, “Sit tight, my daughter, until you find out how this plays out. That man won’t rest until he settles this today.”