¶ Then Noemi her mother-in-law said unto her: my daughter I will seek rest for thee, that thou mayst be in better case.
For now this Booz our kinsman with whose maidens thou wast, winnoweth his barley tonight in the threshing floor:
wash thyself therefore and anoint thee and put thy raiment upon thee, and get thee to the threshing floor. But let not the man be ware of thee, until he have left eating and drinking.
And when he goeth to sleep, mark the place where he layeth him down, and then go and lift up the clothes that are on his feet, and lay thee down and so he shall tell thee what thou shalt do.
And she answered her: all that thou biddest me I will do.
¶ And so she went unto the floor, and did according to all that her mother-in-law bade her.
And when Booz had eaten and drunken and made him merry, he went and lay down by the side of the heap. And she came softly, and lift up the clothes of his feet, and laid her down.
And at midnight the man was afraid and groped. And behold: a woman lay at his feet.
Then he said what art thou and she answered, I am Ruth thine handmaid, spread thy mantle over thine handmaid, for thou art the next of the kin.
And then he said blessed be thou in the LORD my daughter, for thou hast shewed more goodness in the latter end, than at the beginning, inasmuch as thou followedst not young men, whether they were poor or rich.
And now my daughter fear not, I will do to thee all that thou requirest, for all the gates of my people know that thou art a woman of virtue.
And it is true that I am of thy next kin: howbeit, there is one nyer than I.
Tarry all night. And when morning is come if he will marry thee it is good, so let him do. But if he will not have thee, as sure as the LORD liveth I will have thee, lie still until the morning.
¶ And so she lay at his feet until the morning. And she arose up before one could know another. And he said: let no man be ware, that there came any woman unto the threshing floor.
And he said: bring thy mantle that thou hadst upon thee and hold it up. And she held it up. And he mette in six measures of barley and laid it on her. And she gat her into the city:
and she came in to her mother-in-law which said: what tidings my daughter? And she told her all that the man had done to her.
And said thereto, these six measures of barley gave he me and said: thou shalt not go empty unto thy mother-in-law.
Then said she: my daughter sit still, until thou know how the matter will chance. For the man will not be in rest until he have finished the matter this same day.
Chapter:
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Praise the Everlasting Lord for His Faithful Word.