Ruth 4

Boaz Redeems Ruth

1 Now Boaz went up to the gate and sat down there; and behold, the close relative of whom Boaz had spoken came by. So Boaz said, Come aside, friend, sit down here. So he came aside and sat down.2 And he took ten men of the elders of the city, and said, Sit down here. So they sat down.3 Then he said to the close relative, Naomi, who has come back from the country of Moab, sold the piece of land which belonged to our brother Elimelech.4 And I thought to inform you, saying, Buy it back in the presence of the inhabitants and the elders of my people. If you will redeem it, redeem it; but if you will not redeem it, then tell me, that I may know; for there is no one but you to redeem it, and I am next after you. And he said, I will redeem it. 5 Then Boaz said, On the day you buy the field from the hand of Naomi, you must also buy it from Ruth the Moabitess, the wife of the dead, to perpetuate the name of the dead through his inheritance.6 And the close relative said, I cannot redeem it for myself, lest I ruin my own inheritance. You redeem my right of redemption for yourself, for I cannot redeem it. 7 Now this was the custom in former times in Israel concerning redeeming and exchanging, to confirm anything: one man took off his sandal and gave it to the other, and this was a confirmation in Israel.8 Therefore the close relative said to Boaz, Buy it for yourself. So he took off his sandal.9 And Boaz said to the elders and all the people, You are witnesses this day that I have bought all that was Elimelechs, and all that was Chilions and Mahlons, from the hand of Naomi.10 Moreover, Ruth the Moabitess, the widow of Mahlon, I have acquired as my wife, to perpetuate the name of the dead through his inheritance, that the name of the dead may not be cut off from among his brethren and from his position at the gate. You are witnesses this day.11 And all the people who were at the gate, and the elders, said, We are witnesses. The Lord make the woman who is coming to your house like Rachel and Leah, the two who built the house of Israel; and may you prosper in Ephrathah and be famous in Bethlehem.12 May your house be like the house of Perez, whom Tamar bore to Judah, because of the offspring which the Lord will give you from this young woman.

Descendants of Boaz and Ruth

13 So Boaz took Ruth and she became his wife; and when he went in to her, the Lord gave her conception, and she bore a son.14 Then the women said to Naomi, Blessed be the Lord, who has not left you this day without a close relative; and may his name be famous in Israel!15 And may he be to you a restorer of life and a nourisher of your old age; for your daughter-in-law, who loves you, who is better to you than seven sons, has borne him.16 Then Naomi took the child and laid him on her bosom, and became a nurse to him.17 Also the neighbor women gave him a name, saying, There is a son born to Naomi. And they called his name Obed. He is the father of Jesse, the father of David.18 Now this is the genealogy of Perez: Perez begot Hezron;19 Hezron begot Ram, and Ram begot Amminadab;20 Amminadab begot Nahshon, and Nahshon begot Salmon;21 Salmon begot Boaz, and Boaz begot Obed;22 Obed begot Jesse, and Jesse begot David.

RUTH 4

Ruth and Boaz //Get Married

1 In the meanwhile, Boaz had gone to the meeting place at the town gate and was sitting there when the other close relative came by. So Boaz invited him to come over and sit down, and he did. 2 Then Boaz got ten of the town leaders and also asked them to sit down. After they had sat down,

3 he said to the man:
Naomi has come back from Moab and is selling the land that belonged to her husband Elimelech.

4 I'm telling you about this, since you are his closest relative and have the right to buy the property. If you want it, you can buy it now. These ten men and the others standing here can be witnesses. But if you don't want the property, let me know, because I am next in line.
The man replied, “I'll buy it!”

5 “If you do buy it from Naomi,” Boaz told him, “you must also marry Ruth. Then if you have a son by her, the property will stay in the family of Ruth's first husband.”

6 The man answered, “If that's the case, I don't want to buy it! That would make problems with the property I already own.t You may buy it yourself, because I cannot.”
7  t To make a sale legal in those days, one person would take off a sandal and give it to the other.

8 So after the man had agreed to let Boaz buy the property, he took off one of his sandals and handed it to Boaz.

9 Boaz told the town leaders and everyone else:
All of you are witnesses that today I have bought from Naomi the property that belonged to Elimelech and his two sons, Chilion and Mahlon.

10 t You are also witnesses that I have agreed to marry Mahlon's widow Ruth, the Moabite woman. This will keep the property in his family's name, and he will be remembered in this town.

11  t The town leaders and the others standing there said:
We are witnesses to this. And we pray that the [Lord] will give your wife many children, just as he did Leah and Rachel, the wives of Jacob. May you be a rich man in the tribe of Ephrath and an important man in Bethlehem.

12 t May the children you have by this young woman make your family as famous as the family of Perez, t the son of Tamar and Judah.
13 Boaz married Ruth, and the [Lord] blessed her with a son.

14 After his birth, the women said to Naomi:
Praise the [Lord]! Today he has given you a grandson to take care of you. We pray that the boy will grow up to be famous everywhere in Israel.

15 He willt make you happy and take care of you in your old age, because he is the son of your daughter-in-law. And she loves you more than seven sons of your own would love you.
16 Naomi loved the boy and took good care of him.

17 The neighborhood women named him Obed, but they called him “Naomi's Boy.”
When Obed grew up he had a son named Jesse, who later became the father of King David. 18-22 Here is a list of the ancestors of David: Jesse, Obed, Boaz, Salmon, Nahshon, Amminadab, Ram, Hezron, and Perez.