1 And Naomi had a relation of her husband, a man of wealth, of the family of Elimelech; and his name was Boaz.

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.

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.

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.

5 Then Boaz said to his servant who was in authority over the cutters, Whose girl is this?

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;

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.

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:

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.

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?

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

21 And Ruth the Moabitess said, Truly, he said to me, Keep near my young men till all my grain is cut.

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.

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.

1 Noemi tinha em Belém um parente do marido, um homem muito rico chamado Boaz.

2 Em certa ocasião Rute disse a Noemi: Olha, vou aí aos campos de algum homem rico a ver se apanho os grãos que vão caindo atrás dos ceifeiros.Pois sim, minha filha, vai lá então.

3 E ela foi. Aconteceu precisamente que o campo onde foi calhar era o do tal Boaz, o parente de Noemi por afinidade.

4 Boaz por sinal apareceu ali, vindo da cidade enquanto Rute lá estava. Depois de saudar os ceifeiros, disse para o capataz: Escuta, quem é aquela rapariga que ali está?

6 É a moabita que veio com Noemi. Pediu-me esta manhã se podia apanhar as espigas caídas atrás dos ceifeiros e cá tem estado sempre, excepto para descansar um pouco à sombra.

8 Boaz foi ter com ela para lhe falar: Minha filha, fica aqui neste campo connosco para apanhares as espigas. Não precisas de ir a outros campos. Junta-te às moças que aí estão a trabalhar. Já avisei os rapazes para não te incomodarem; quando tiveres sede vai beber à tua vontade.

10 Ela agradeceu-lhe muito: Não há razão para seres assim tão amável para comigo. Sabes bem que não passo duma estrangeira.

11 Sim, eu sei. Mas sei também de toda a afeição e carinho que tens mostrado para com a tua sogra, desde a morte do teu marido, e como preferiste deixar o teu pai e a tua mãe para vires viver entre estranhos.

12 Que o Senhor Deus de Israel, sob cujas asas vieste refugiar-te, te abençoe por isso tudo.

13 Agradeço-te muito. Foste muito bom para mim, não sendo eu sequer uma empregada tua!

14 À hora do almoço, Boaz chamou-a: Vem comer connosco. Rute veio sentar-se junto dos ceifeiros e ele serviu-a abundantemente, muito mais do que ela podia comer.

15 Quando a jovem voltou para o trabalho, Boaz disse para o capataz que a deixasse apanhar mesmo entre os feixes sem lhe dizer nada, e que fizesse mesmo de propósito para deixar cair espigas, sem que ela se sentisse incomodada em as apanhar.

17 E assim ficou ali o dia todo. Ao fim da tarde, quando foi juntar o que debulhara, contou uns trinta e cinco litros! Trouxe o grão para a povoação e entregou-o à sogra, mais o que lhe sobejara do almoço.

19 Mas tanto!, exclamou Noemi. Onde é que andaste tu hoje a apanhar? Que Deus abençoe quem foi tão bom para contigo.E Rute contou-lhe tudo o que se passara, dizendo que o dono do campo se chamava Boaz.

20 Que o Senhor seja louvado porque continua a abençoar-nos a nós,os vivos, tanto quanto aos que já morreram!, exclamou Noemi comovida. Porque esse homem é um dos nossos parentes mais chegados!

21 E ele disse-me mesmo para lá ficar, atrás dos ceifeiros, até que todo o campo estivesse ceifado.

22 Isso é maravilhoso! Ouve bem; faz tudo conforme ele te disse. Fica lá com as outras moças até ao fim da ceifa. Estarás lá muito mais segura do que em qualquer outro campo!

23 Rute assim fez, ficando lá apanhar espigas até ao fim das ceifas, tanto da cevada como do trigo.