1:1 |
Now
there came a time, in the days of the judges, when there was no food in the
land. And a certain man went from Beth-lehem-judah, he and his wife and his
two sons, to make a living-place in the country of Moab. |
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1:2 |
And
the name of the man was Elimelech, and the name of his wife Naomi, and the
name of his two sons Mahlon and Chilion, Ephrathites of Beth-lehem-judah. And
they came into the country of Moab, and were there for some time. |
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1:3 |
And
Elimelech, Naomi's husband, came to his end; and only her two sons were with
her. |
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1:4 |
And
they took two women of Moab as their wives: the name of the one was Orpah,
and the name of the other Ruth; and they went on living there for about ten
years. |
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1:5 |
And
Mahlon and Chilion came to their end; and the woman was without her two sons
and her husband. |
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1:6 |
So
she and her daughters-in-law got ready to go back from the country of Moab,
for news had come to her in the country of Moab that the Lord, in mercy for
his people, had given them food. |
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1:7 |
And
she went out of the place where she was, and her two daughters-in-law with
her; and they went on their way to go back to the land of Judah. |
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1:8 |
And
Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, Go back to your mothers' houses: may
the Lord be good to you as you have been good to the dead and to me: |
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1:9 |
May
the Lord give you rest in the houses of your husbands. Then she gave them a
kiss; and they were weeping bitterly. |
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1:10 |
And
they said to her, No, but we will go back with you to your people. |
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1:11 |
But
Naomi said, Go back, my daughters; why will you come with me? Have I more
sons in my body, to become your husbands? |
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1:12 |
Go
back, my daughters, and go on your way; I am so old now that I may not have
another husband. If I said, I have hopes, if I had a husband tonight, and
might have sons, |
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1:13 |
Would
you keep yourselves till they were old enough? would you keep from having
husbands for them? No, my daughters; but I am very sad for you that the hand
of the Lord is against me. |
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1:14 |
Then
again they were weeping; and Orpah gave her mother-in-law a kiss, but Ruth
would not be parted from her. |
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1:15 |
And
Naomi said, See, your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and to her
gods: go back after your sister-in-law. |
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1:16 |
But
Ruth said, Give up requesting me to go away from you, or to go back without
you: for where you go I will go; and where you take your rest I will take my
rest; your people will be my people, and your God my God. |
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1:17 |
Wherever
death comes to you, death will come to me, and there will be my last
resting-place; the Lord do so to me and more if we are parted by anything but
death. |
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1:18 |
And
when she saw that Ruth was strong in her purpose to go with her she said no
more. |
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1:19 |
So
the two of them went on till they came to Beth-lehem. And when they came to
Beth-lehem all the town was moved about them, and they said, Is this
Naomi? |
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1:20 |
And
she said to them, Do not let my name be Naomi, but Mara, for the Ruler of all
has given me a bitter fate. |
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1:21 |
I
went out full, and the Lord has sent me back again with nothing; why do you
give me the name Naomi, seeing that the Lord has given witness against me,
and the Ruler of all has sent sorrow on me? |
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1:22 |
So
Naomi came back out of the country of Moab, and Ruth the Moabitess, her
daughter-in-law, with her; and they came to Beth-lehem in the first days of
the grain-cutting. |
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2:1 |
And
Naomi had a relation of her husband, a man of wealth, of the family of
Elimelech; and his name was Boaz. |
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2:2 |
And
Ruth the Moabitess said to Naomi, Now let me go into the field and take up
the heads of grain after him in whose eyes I may have grace. And she said to
her, Go, my daughter. |
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2:3 |
And
she went, and came and took up the heads of grain in the field after the
cutters; and by chance she went into that part of the field which was the
property of Boaz, who was of the family of Elimelech. |
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2:4 |
And
Boaz came from Beth-lehem, and said to the grain-cutters, The Lord be with
you. And they made answer, The Lord give you his blessing. |
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2:5 |
Then
Boaz said to his servant who was in authority over the cutters, Whose girl is
this? |
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2:6 |
And
the servant who was in authority over the cutters said, It is a Moabite girl
who came back with Naomi out of the country of Moab; |
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2:7 |
And
she said to me, Let me come into the grain-field and take up the grain after
the cutters. So she came, and has been here from morning till now, without
resting even for a minute. |
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2:8 |
Then
said Boaz to Ruth, Give ear to me, my daughter: do not go to take up the
grain in another field, or go away from here, but keep here by my young
women: |
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2:9 |
Keep
your eyes on the field they are cutting, and go after them; have I not given
orders to the young men not to put a hand on you? And when you are in need of
drink go to the vessels and take of what the young men have put there. |
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2:10 |
Then
she went down on her face to the earth, and said to him, Why have I grace in
your eyes, that you give attention to me, seeing I am from a strange
people? |
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2:11 |
And
Boaz answering said to her, I have had news of everything you have done for
your mother-in-law after the death of your husband; how you went away from
your father and mother and the land of your birth, and came to a people who
are strange to you. |
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2:12 |
The
Lord give you a reward for what you have done, and may a full reward be given
to you by the Lord, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to
take cover. |
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2:13 |
Then
she said, May I have grace in your eyes, my lord, for you have given me
comfort, and you have said kind words to your servant, though I am not like
one of your servants. |
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2:14 |
And
at meal-time Boaz said to her, Come here, and take some of the bread, and put
your bit into the wine. And she took her seat among the grain-cutters: and he
gave her dry grain, and she took it, and there was more than enough for her
meal. |
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2:15 |
And
when she got ready to take up the grain, Boaz gave his young men orders,
saying, Let her take it even from among the cut grain, and say nothing to
her. |
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2:16 |
And
let some heads of grain be pulled out of what has been corded up, and dropped
for her to take, and let no sharp word be said to her. |
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2:17 |
So
she went on getting together the heads of grain till evening; and after
crushing out the seed it came to about an ephah of grain. |
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2:18 |
And
she took it up and went into the town; and she let her mother-in-law see what
she had got, and after taking enough for herself she gave her the rest. |
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2:19 |
And
her mother-in-law said to her, Where did you take up the grain today, and
where were you working? May a blessing be on him who gave such attention to
you. And she gave her mother-in-law an account of where she had been working,
and said, The name of the man with whom I was working today is Boaz. |
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2:20 |
And
Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, May the blessing of the Lord, who has at
all times been kind to the living and to the dead, be on him. And Naomi said
to her, The man is of our family, one of our near relations. |
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2:21 |
And
Ruth the Moabitess said, Truly, he said to me, Keep near my young men till
all my grain is cut. |
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2:22 |
And
Naomi said to Ruth, her daughter-in-law, It is better, my daughter, for you
to go out with his servant-girls, so that no danger may come to you in
another field. |
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2:23 |
So
she kept near the servant-girls of Boaz to take up the grain till the cutting
of the early grain and the cutting of the late grain were ended; and she went
on living with her mother-in-law. |
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3:1 |
And
Naomi, her mother-in-law, said to her, My daughter, am I not to get you a
resting-place where you may be in comfort? |
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3:2 |
And
now, is there not Boaz, our relation, with whose young women you were? See,
tonight he is separating the grain from the waste in his grain-floor. |
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3:3 |
So
take a bath, and, after rubbing your body with sweet oil, put on your best
robe, and go down to the grain-floor; but do not let him see you till he has
come to the end of his meal. |
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3:4 |
But
see to it, when he goes to rest, that you take note of the place where he is
sleeping, and go in there, and, uncovering his feet, take your place by him;
and he will say what you are to do. |
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3:5 |
And she
said, I will do all you say. |
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3:6 |
So
she went down to the grain-floor and did all her mother-in-law had said to
her. |
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3:7 |
Now
when Boaz had taken meat and drink, and his heart was glad, he went to take
his rest at the end of the mass of grain; then she came softly and,
uncovering his feet, went to rest. |
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3:8 |
Now
in the middle of the night, the man awaking from his sleep in fear, and
lifting himself up, saw a woman stretched at his feet. |
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3:9 |
And
he said, Who are you? And she answering said, I am your servant Ruth: take
your servant as wife, for you are a near relation. |
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3:10 |
And
he said, May the Lord give you his blessing, my daughter: even better than
what you did at the first is this last kind act you have done, in not going
after young men, with or without wealth. |
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3:11 |
And
now, my daughter, have no fear; I will do for you whatever you say: for it is
clear to all my townspeople that you are a woman of virtue. |
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3:12 |
Now
it is True that I am a near relation: but there is a relation nearer than
I. |
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3:13 |
Take
your rest here tonight; and in the morning, if he will do for you what it is
right for a relation to do, very well, let him do so: but if he will not,
then by the living Lord I myself will do so. |
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3:14 |
And
she took her rest at his feet till the morning: and she got up before it was
light enough for one to see another. And he said, Let it not come to anyone's
knowledge that the woman came to the grain-floor. |
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3:15 |
And
he said, Take your robe, stretching it out in your hands: and she did so, and
he took six measures of grain and put them into it, and gave it her to take:
and she went back to the town. |
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3:16 |
And
when she came back her mother-in-law said to her, How did it go with you, my
daughter? And she gave her an account of all the man had done to her. |
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3:17 |
And
she said, He gave me these six measures of grain, saying, Do not go back to
your mother-in-law with nothing in your hands. |
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3:18 |
Then
she said, Do nothing now, my daughter, till you see what will come of this;
for the man will take no rest till he has put this thing through. |
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4:1 |
And
Boaz went up to the public place of the town, and took his seat there: and
the near relation of whom he had been talking came by; and Boaz, crying out
to him by name, said, Come and be seated here. And he came and was seated. |
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4:2 |
Then
he got ten of the responsible men of the town, and said, Be seated here. And
they took their seats. |
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4:3 |
Then
he said to the near relation, Naomi, who has come back from the country of
Moab, is offering for a price that bit of land which was our brother
Elimelech's: |
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4:4 |
And
it was in my mind to give you the chance of taking it, with the approval of
those seated here and of the responsible men of my people. If you are ready
to do what it is right for a relation to do, then do it: but if you will not
do it, say so to me now; for there is no one who has the right to do it but
you, and after you myself. And he said, I will do it. |
4:5 |
Then
Boaz said, On the day when you take this field, you will have to take with it
Ruth, the Moabitess, the wife of the dead, so that you may keep the name of
the dead living in his heritage. |
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4:6 |
And
the near relation said, I am not able to do the relation's part, for fear of
damaging the heritage I have: you may do it in my place, for I am not able to
do it myself. |
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4:7 |
Now,
in earlier times this was the way in Israel when property was taken over by a
near relation, or when there was a change of owner. To make the exchange
certain one man took off his shoe and gave it to the other; and this was a
witness in Israel. |
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4:8 |
So
the near relation said to Boaz, Take it for yourself. And he took off his
shoe. |
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4:9 |
Then
Boaz said to the responsible men and to all the people, You are witnesses
today that I have taken at a price from Naomi all the property which was
Elimelech's, and everything which was Chilion's and Mahlon's. |
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4:10 |
And,
further, I have taken Ruth, the Moabitess, who was the wife of Mahlon, to be
my wife, to keep the name of the dead man living in his heritage, so that his
name may not be cut off from among his countrymen, and from the memory of his
town: you are witnesses this day. |
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4:11 |
And
all the people who were in the public place, and the responsible men, said,
We are witnesses. May the Lord make this woman, who is about to come into
your house, like Rachel and Leah, which two were the builders of the house of
Israel: and may you have wealth in Ephrathah, and be great in
Beth-lehem; |
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4:12 |
May
your family be like the family of Perez, the son whom Tamar gave to Judah,
from the offspring which the Lord may give you by this young woman. |
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4:13 |
So
Boaz took Ruth and she became his wife; and he went in to her, and the Lord
made her with child and she gave birth to a son. |
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4:14 |
And
the women said to Naomi, A blessing on the Lord, who has not let you be this
day without a near relation, and may his name be great in Israel. |
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4:15 |
He
will be a giver of new life to you, and your comforter when you are old, for
your daughter-in-law, who, in her love for you, is better than seven sons,
has given birth to him. |
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4:16 |
And
Naomi took the child and put her arms round it, and she took care of it. |
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4:17 |
And
the women who were her neighbours gave it a name, saying, Naomi has a child;
and they gave him the name of Obed: he is the father of Jesse, the father of
David. |
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4:18 |
Now
these are the generations of Perez: Perez became the father of Hezron; |
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4:19 |
And
Hezron became the father of Ram, and Ram became the father of Amminadab; |
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4:20 |
And
Amminadab became the father of Nahshon, and Nahshon became the father of
Salmon; |
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4:21 |
And
Salmon became the father of Boaz, and Boaz became the father of Obed; |
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4:22 |
And
Obed became the father of Jesse, and Jesse became the father of David. |
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