Ruth 2

NEW AMERICAN BIBLE	CATHOLIC PUBLIC DOMAIN
1 Naomi had a prominent kinsman named Boaz, of the clan of her husband Elimelech.	1 But there was a man related to Elimelech, a powerful man, and very wealthy, named Boaz.
2 Ruth the Moabite said to Naomi, "Let me go and glean ears of grain in the field of anyone who will allow me that favor." Naomi said to her, "Go, my daughter,"	2 And Ruth, the Moabite, said to her mother-in-law, “If you order, I will go into the field and gather the ears of grain which escape the reaping hand, wherever I will find favor with the father of a family, who will be compassionate to me.” She answered her, “Go, my daughter.”
3 and she went. The field she entered to glean after the harvesters happened to be the section belonging to Boaz of the clan of Elimelech.	3 And so she went and gathered the ears of grain after the completion of the reaping. But it happened that this field was owned by Boaz, who was of the kindred of Elimelech.
4 Boaz himself came from Bethlehem and said to the harvesters, "The LORD be with you!" and they replied, "The LORD bless you!"	4 And behold, he came out of Bethlehem and said to the reapers, “The Lord be with you.” They answered him, “May the Lord bless you.”
5 Boaz asked the overseer of his harvesters, "Whose girl is this?"	5 And Boaz said to the young man who was in charge of the reapers, “Whose young woman is this?”
6 The overseer of the harvesters answered, "She is the Moabite girl who returned from the plateau of Moab with Naomi.	6 He answered him, “This is the Moabite woman, who came with Naomi, from the land of the Moabites,
7 She asked leave to gather the gleanings into sheaves after the harvesters; and ever since she came this morning she has remained here until now, with scarcely a moment's rest."	7 and she asked to gather the remnants of the ears of grain, following the steps of the reapers, and from morning until now she has remained in the field, and, indeed, not for one moment has she returned home.”
8 Boaz said to Ruth, "Listen, my daughter! Do not go to glean in anyone else's field; you are not to leave here. Stay here with my women servants.	8 And Boaz said to Ruth, “Listen to me, daughter. Do not go to gather in any other field, nor depart from this place, but join with my young women,
9 Watch to see which field is to be harvested, and follow them; I have commanded the young men to do you no harm. When you are thirsty, you may go and drink from the vessels the young men have filled."	9 and follow where they reap. For I given orders to my young men, so that no one is to harass you. And so, whenever you are thirsty, go to the vessels, and drink from the waters that the young men also drink.”
10 Casting herself prostrate upon the ground, she said to him, "Why should I, a foreigner, be favored with your notice?"	10 She, falling on her face and paying homage on the ground, said to him: “How did this happen to me, that I should find favor before your eyes, and that you would condescend to accept me, a foreign woman?”
11 Boaz answered her: "I have had a complete account of what you have done for your mother-in-law after your husband's death; you have left your father and your mother and the land of your birth, and have come to a people whom you did not know previously.	11 He answered her, “Everything has been reported to me, what things you have done for your mother-in-law after the death of your husband, and how you left your parents, and the land in which you were born, and came to a people you did not know before.
12 May the LORD reward what you have done! May you receive a full reward from the LORD, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come for refuge."	12 May the Lord repay you for your work, and may you receive a full reward from the Lord, the God of Israel, to whom you have come, and under whose wings you have taken refuge.”
13 She said, "May I prove worthy of your kindness, my lord: you have comforted me, your servant, with your consoling words; would indeed that I were a servant of yours!"	13 She said, “I have found favor before your eyes, my lord, who has consoled me, and you have spoken to the heart of your handmaid, who is unlike one of your young women.”
14 At mealtime Boaz said to her, "Come here and have some food; dip your bread in the sauce." Then as she sat near the reapers, he handed her some roasted grain and she ate her fill and had some left over.	14 And Boaz said to her, “When mealtime begins, come here, and eat bread, and dip your morsel in the vinegar.” And so she sat beside the reapers, and she piled up parched grain for herself, and she ate and was satisfied, and carried off the leftovers.
15 She rose to glean, and Boaz instructed his servants to let her glean among the sheaves themselves without scolding her,	15 And then she arose from there, so as to gather the ears of grain, according to the custom. But Boaz commanded his servants, saying, “If she is even willing to reap with you, do not prevent her,
16 and even to let drop some handfuls and leave them for her to glean without being rebuked.	16 and purposely let fall some from your bundles, and allow them to remain, so that she may gather without blushing, and let no one rebuke her gathering.”
17 She gleaned in the field until evening, and when she beat out what she had gleaned it came to about an ephah of barley,	17 And so she gathered in the field until evening. And striking and threshing with a staff what she had gathered, she found about the measure of an ephah of barley, that is, three measures.
18 which she took into the city and showed to her mother-in-law. Next she brought out and gave her what she had left over from lunch.	18 Carrying this, she returned into the city and showed it to her mother-in-law. Moreover, she offered it to her and even gave her the leftovers of her food, with which she had been satisfied.
19 So her mother-in-law said to her, "Where did you glean today? Where did you go to work? May he who took notice of you be blessed!" Then she told her mother-in-law with whom she had worked. "The man at whose place I worked today is named Boaz," she said.	19 And her mother-in-law said to her, “Where have you gathered today, and where have you found work? Blessed is he who took pity on you!” And she informed her with whom she had been working, and she said the man’s name, that he was called Boaz.
20 "May he be blessed by the LORD, who is ever merciful to the living and to the dead," Naomi exclaimed to her daughter-in-law; and she continued, "He is a relative of ours, one of our next of kin."	20 Naomi answered her, “May he be blessed by the Lord, because the same kindness which he provided for the living, he also kept for the dead.” And again she said: “This man is our near relative.”
21 "He even told me," added Ruth the Moabite, "that I should stay with his servants until they complete his entire harvest."	21 And Ruth said, “He charged me with this also, that from now on I should join with his reapers until all the crop has been reaped.”
22 "You would do well, my dear," Naomi rejoined, "to go out with his servants; for in someone else's field you might be insulted."	22 And her mother-in-law said to her, “It is better, my daughter, to go out reaping with his young women, lest in a stranger’s field someone may confront you.”
23 So she stayed gleaning with the servants of Boaz until the end of the barley and wheat harvests.	23 And so, she joined with the young women of Boaz, and from then on reaped with them, until the barley and the wheat were stored in the barns.