Now Naomi had a kinsman of her husband's, a strong man, mighty in the Law, of the family of Elimelech, whose name was Boaz.

And Ruth, the Moabitess, said to Naomi: "Let me go now into the field and gather among the ears of grain after him in whose eyes I may find favor." She said to her, "Go, my daughter."

So she departed and went up and gleaned in the field after the reapers: and she chanced upon the part of the field that belonged to Boaz, who was of the family of Elimelech.

And behold! Boaz came from Beth Lehem, and he said to the reapers: "The Word of the Lord be at your assistance!" They replied, "The Lord bless you!"

Then said Boaz to his servant whom he had appointed overseer of the reapers: "Of what nation is this young woman?"

The servant who was appointed overseer of the reapers answered thus: "She is a young woman of the people of Moab who returned with Naomi from the field of Moab, and has become a proselyte.

"She said, 'Please let me gather and glean the ears of grain among the sheaves, that which is left by the reapers.' So she came and has remained since early morning even until now. It is but a short while that she is sitting in the house a little."

Then said Boaz to Ruth: "Will you not listen to me, my daughter? Do not go to gather grain in any other field, nor leave this place to go to another nation, but continue here with my young women.

"Mark the field that they will reap, and follow them. Have I not charged the servants not to touch you? And when you are thirsty, go to the vessels and drink the water which the servants have drawn."

Then she fell on her face and bowed to the ground, saying to him: "Why have I found favor in your eyes that you should befriend me, seeing that I am of a strange people, of the daughters of Moab; of a people which has not the merit to intermarry with the congregation of the Lord?"

Boaz replied thus: "It has been told to me on the authority of the sages, that when the Lord decreed [against intermarriage with Moab], He did not decree against the women, but against the men. Through prophecy I have been informed that kings and prophets are destined to descend from you, because of the kindness which you have shown your mother-in-law, in that you supported her after your husband died, and you left your gods and your people, your father and your mother and the land of your birth, and have gone to become a proselyte and to dwell in the midst of a people with whom you were unacquainted before.

"May the Lord reward you well in this world for your good work, and may you receive full recompense from the Lord, the God of Israel, in the world to come, because you have come to be a proselyte and to seek shelter under the shadow of His Glorious Presence. Through that merit you will be saved from the punishment of Gehinom, so that your portion will be with Sarah and Rebecca and Rachel and Leah."

Then she said: "May I find favor with you, my lord. Verily, you have comforted me by declaring me eligible to join the congregation of the Lord and you have spoken comfortingly to your maidservant by assuring me of possessing the world to come, like a righteous woman, although I have not the merit of having a portion in the world to come even with the least of your maidservants."

At mealtime Boaz said to her: "Come here and eat of the bread, and dip your food in the broth cooked in vinegar." So she sat down beside the reapers, and he handed her some roasted meal. She ate and was satisfied and left some over.

When she arose to gather ears of grain, Boaz commanded his servants: "Let her gather even among the sheaves, and do not put her to shame.

"Indeed, drop some of the bunches, and leave them for her to glean, and do not reprimand her."

So she gathered ears of grain in the field until evening, then she threshed the ears of grain that she had gathered, and the amount was about three seah of barley.

She carried it and went up to the city, where her mother-in-law saw what she had gleaned. Then she took out of the bag the food which she had left over after being satisfied, and gave it to her.

And her mother-in-law said to her: "Where did you glean today? Where did you win favor to work? May the man who showed himself friendly to you be blessed." And she told her mother-in-law with whom she had won the favor to work. "The name of the man with whom I won favor today is Boaz," she said.

Then Naomi said to her daughter-in-law: "Blessed be he by the holy mouth of the Lord, who has not withheld his kindness from the living or the dead. The man is a relative of ours," she continued. "He is of our redeemers."

"Verily!" said Ruth the Moabitess, "he also said to me, 'Continue with my servants as long as it takes them to finish all my harvests.'"

Then said Naomi to Ruth her daughter-in-law: "It is well, my daughter, that you should go out with his young women, so that they might not meet you in any other field."

So she joined up with the maidservants of Boaz, reaping until the completion of the harvest of barley and the harvest of wheat. And she dwelt with her mother-in-law.