Ruth 3 | King James Version :: ERF Bibleserver

King James Version

1 Then Naomi her mother in law said unto her, My daughter, shall I not seek rest for thee, that it may be well with thee? 2 And now is not Boaz of our kindred, with whose maidens thou wast? Behold, he winnoweth barley to night in the threshingfloor. 3 Wash thyself therefore, and anoint thee, and put thy raiment upon thee, and get thee down to the floor: but make not thyself known unto the man, until he shall have done eating and drinking. 4 And it shall be, when he lieth down, that thou shalt mark the place where he shall lie, and thou shalt go in, and uncover his feet, and lay thee down; and he will tell thee what thou shalt do. 5 And she said unto her, All that thou sayest unto me I will do. 6 And she went down unto the floor, and did according to all that her mother in law bade her. 7 And when Boaz had eaten and drunk, and his heart was merry, he went to lie down at the end of the heap of corn: and she came softly, and uncovered his feet, and laid her down. 8 And it came to pass at midnight, that the man was afraid, and turned himself: and, behold, a woman lay at his feet. 9 And he said, Who art thou? And she answered, I am Ruth thine handmaid: spread therefore thy skirt over thine handmaid; for thou art a near kinsman. 10 And he said, Blessed be thou of the LORD, my daughter: for thou hast shewed more kindness in the latter end than at the beginning, inasmuch as thou followedst not young men, whether poor or rich. 11 And now, my daughter, fear not; I will do to thee all that thou requirest: for all the city of my people doth know that thou art a virtuous woman. 12 And now it is true that I am thy near kinsman: howbeit there is a kinsman nearer than I. 13 Tarry this night, and it shall be in the morning, that if he will perform unto thee the part of a kinsman, well; let him do the kinsman' part: but if he will not do the part of a kinsman to thee, then will I do the part of a kinsman to thee, as the LORD liveth: lie down until the morning. 14 And she lay at his feet until the morning: and she rose up before one could know another. And he said, Let it not be known that a woman came into the floor. 15 Also he said, Bring the vail that thou hast upon thee, and hold it. And when she held it, he measured six measures of barley, and laid it on her: and she went into the city. 16 And when she came to her mother in law, she said, Who art thou, my daughter? And she told her all that the man had done to her. 17 And she said, These six measures of barley gave he me; for he said to me, Go not empty unto thy mother in law. 18 Then said she, Sit still, my daughter, until thou know how the matter will fall: for the man will not be in rest, until he have finished the thing this day.

New International Reader’s Version

Ruth and Boaz at the threshing-floor

1 One day Ruth’s mother-in-law Naomi spoke to her. She said, ‘My daughter, I must find a home for you. It should be a place where you will be provided for. 2 You have been working with the women who work for Boaz. He’s a relative of ours. Tonight he’ll be separating the straw from his barley on the threshing-floor. 3 So wash yourself. Put on some perfume. And put on your best clothes. Then go down to the threshing-floor. But don’t let Boaz know you are there. Wait until he has finished eating and drinking. 4 Notice where he lies down. Then go over and uncover his feet. Lie down there. He’ll tell you what to do.’ 5 ‘I’ll do everything you say,’ Ruth answered. 6 So she went down to the threshing-floor. She did everything her mother-in-law had told her to do. 7 When Boaz had finished eating and drinking, he was in a good mood. He went over to lie down at the far end of the corn pile. Then Ruth approached quietly. She uncovered his feet and lay down there. 8 In the middle of the night, something surprised Boaz and woke him up. He turned and found a woman lying there at his feet! 9 ‘Who are you?’ he asked. ‘I’m Ruth,’ she said. ‘You are my family protector. So take good care of me by making me your wife.’ 10 ‘Dear woman, may the LORD bless you,’ he replied. ‘You are showing even more kindness now than you did earlier. You didn’t run after the younger men, whether they were rich or poor. 11 Dear woman, don’t be afraid. I’ll do for you everything you ask. All the people of my town know that you are an excellent woman. 12 It’s true that I’m a relative of yours. But there’s a family protector who is more closely related to you than I am. 13 So stay here for the night. In the morning if he wants to help you, good. Let him help you. But if he doesn’t want to, then I’ll do it. You can be sure that the LORD lives. And you can be just as sure that I’ll help you. Lie down here until morning.’ 14 So she stayed at his feet until morning. But she got up before anyone could be recognised. Boaz thought, ‘No one must know that a woman came to the threshing-floor.’ 15 He said to Ruth, ‘Bring me the coat you have around you. Hold it out.’ So she did. He poured more than 70 kilograms of barley into it and helped her pick it up. Then he went back to town. 16 Ruth came to her mother-in-law. Naomi asked, ‘How did it go, my daughter?’ Then Ruth told her everything Boaz had done for her. 17 She said, ‘He gave me all this barley. He said, “Don’t go back to your mother-in-law with your hands empty.” ’ 18 Naomi said, ‘My daughter, sit down until you find out what happens. The man won’t rest until he settles the whole matter today.’