1 Noêmi tinha um parente, por parte de seu marido, homem poderoso e rico da família de Elimelec, chamado Booz.2 Rute, a moabita, disse a Noêmi: Peço-te que me deixes ir respigar nos campos de quem me quiser acolher favoravelmente. Vai, minha filha, respondeu-lhe ela.3 Rute partiu, pois, e entrou num campo, atrás dos segadores. Ora, aconteceu que aquele era justamente o campo de Booz, parente de Elimelec.4 Booz acabava de voltar de Belém, e disse aos segadores: O Senhor esteja convosco! Deus te abençoe, responderam eles.5 Booz dirigiu-se ao servo que tomava conta dos segadores: De quem é esta moça?6 Esta é uma jovem moabita, respondeu ele, que veio com Noêmi da terra de Moab.7 Pediu-nos que a deixássemos respigar entre os feixes de trigo e apanhar as espigas atrás dos segadores. Está, aí, sempre de pé, desde a manhã até agora. Neste momento ela descansa um pouco sob a tenda.8 Booz disse a Rute: Ouve, minha filha: não vás respigar em outro campo; não te afastes daqui, mas junta-te com minhas servas.9 Olha em que campo vão ceifar, e segue-as. Proibi aos meus servos que te molestassem. Se tiveres sede, vai à bilha e bebe da água que eles tiverem buscado.10 Rute, caindo aos seus pés, prostrou-se por terra: De onde me vem a dita, disse ela, de que te interesses por mim, uma estrangeira?11 Contaram-me, replicou Booz, tudo o que fizeste por tua sogra depois que morreu o teu marido, como deixaste teu pai, tua mãe e a tua pátria, e vieste para um povo que antes não conhecias.12 O Senhor te remunere pelo bem que fizeste, e recebas uma plena recompensa do Senhor, Deus de Israel, sob cujas asas te acolheste!13 Ela respondeu: Encontre eu graça diante dos teus olhos, meu senhor, pois me consolaste e encorajaste a tua serva, ainda que eu não seja como uma de tuas escravas.14 À hora de comer, Booz disse-lhe: Vem, come tua parte do pão, e molha o teu bocado no vinagre. Ela assentou-se ao lado dos segadores, e Booz ofereceu-lhe grão torrado; ela comeu até ficar satisfeita e guardou o resto. Levantou-se em seguida e recomeçou a respigar.15 Booz disse aos seus servos: Deixai-a respigar mesmo entre os feixes e não a molesteis.16 Deixai cair de vossos feixes, como por descuido, algumas espigas, e deixai-as para que ela as apanhe; sobretudo, não a censurais de forma alguma.17 Rute esteve, pois, respigando no campo até a tarde; tendo depois batido as espigas que tinha colhido, encontrou quase um efá de cevada.18 Carregando a cevada, entrou na cidade, e sua sogra viu o que ela tinha colhido. Rute tirou então o que lhe sobrou de seu almoço e deu-lho.19 Onde respigaste hoje?, perguntou-lhe Noêmi; onde trabalhaste? Bendito seja quem te acolheu! Ela contou à sua sogra em que propriedade tinha trabalhado. O homem, disse ela, em cuja terra trabalhei hoje, chama-se Booz.20 Bendito seja ele do Senhor, respondeu Noêmi, porque mostrou-se misericordioso tanto para com os vivos como para com os mortos. E acrescentou: Esse homem é nosso próximo parente, um dos que têm direito de resgate sobre nós.21 Ele disse-me também, continuou Rute, a moabita, que ficasse com os seus servos até que se acabasse toda a ceifa.22 Noêmi respondeu-lhe: É melhor, minha filha que sigas as suas servas, e que não te encontrem noutro campo.23 Ela ficou, pois, com as servas de Booz, respigando até ao fim da ceifa da cevada e do trigo. E morava com a sua sogra.

1 And Na’omi had a kinsman of her husband’s, a mighty, valiant man, of the family of Elimelech, whose name was Bo’az.2 And Ruth the Moabitess said unto Na’omi, Let me go, I pray thee, into the field, and glean ears of corn after him in whose eyes I shall find grace. And she said unto her, Go, my daughter.3 And she went, and came, and gleaned in the field after the reapers; and the accident happened to her, that it was a part of the field belonging unto Bo’az, who was of the family of Elimelech.4 And, behold, Bo’az came from Beth–lechem, and he said unto the reapers, The Lord be with you. And they said unto him, May the Lord bless thee.5 Then said Bo’az unto his young man that was appointed over the reapers, Whose maiden is this?6 And the young man that was appointed over the reapers answered and said, It is a Moabitish maiden that is returned with Na’omi out of the fields of Moab;7 And she said, Let me glean, I pray you, and gather among the sheaves after the reapers: so she came, and hath remained ever from the morning even until now; it is but a little while that she hath sat down in the house.8 Then said Bo’az unto Ruth, Hearest thou not, my daughter? Go not to glean in another field, neither go away from this; but keep close company with my own maidens.9 Let thy eyes be on the field which they may reap, and go thou after them; behold, I have charged the young men that they shall not touch thee: and when thou art thirsty, go unto the vessels, and drink of that which the young men may draw.10 Thereupon she fell on her face, and bowed herself to the ground, and said unto him, Why have I found grace in thy eyes, that thou shouldst take cognizance of me, seeing I am but a stranger?11 But Bo’az answered and said unto her, It hath fully been told me, all that thou hast done unto thy mother–in–law after the death of thy husband; and how thou hast forsaken thy father and thy mother, and the land of thy birth, and art come unto a people which thou knewest not yesterday or the day before.12 May the Lord recompense thy work, and may thy reward be complete from the Lord the God of Israel, under whose wings thou art come to seek shelter.13 Then said she, Let me find grace in thy eyes, my lord; for thou hast comforted me, and because thou hast spoken kindly unto the heart of thy handmaid, though I be not like one of thy handmaids.14 And Bo’az said unto her, At mealtime come near hither, and eat of the bread, and dip thy morsel in the vinegar. And she seated herself beside the reapers: and he reached her parched corn, and she ate, and was satisfied, and had some left.15 Then did she arise to glean: and Bo’az commanded his young men, saying, Even between the sheaves let her glean, and do not cause her to feel any shame;16 And ye shall also draw out some for her from the bundles on purpose, and leave it, that she may glean it, and ye shall not rebuke her.17 So she gleaned in the field until the evening; and when she beat out what she had gleaned, it was about an ephah of barley.18 And she took it up, and she went into the city; and her mother–in–law saw what she had gleaned; and she brought forth and gave to her what she had left over after she was satisfied.19 And her mother–in–law said unto her, Where hast thou gleaned today? and where hast thou wrought? may he that took cognizance of thee be blessed. And she told her mother–in–law with whom she had wrought, and said, The name of the man with whom I wrought today is Bo’az.20 Then said Na’omi unto her daughter–in–law, Blessed be he unto the Lord, who hath not withheld his kindness from the living and from the dead. And Na’omi said unto her, The man is nearly related unto us, he is one of our next kinsmen.21 And Ruth the Moabitess said, He hath also said unto me, Thou shalt keep close company with my young men, until they have ended all my harvest.22 Then said Na’omi unto Ruth her daughter–in–law, It is good, my daughter, that thou go out with his maidens, and that men may not meet with thee in any other field.23 So she kept close company with the maidens of Bo’az in gleaning until the end of the barley–harvest and of the wheat–harvest; and she dwelt with her mother–in–law.