New Living Translation NLT
Common English Bible CEB
1 One day Naomi said to Ruth, “My daughter, it’s time that I found a permanent home for you, so that you will be provided for.
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Naomi her mother-in-law said to her, "My daughter, shouldn't I seek security for you, so that things might go well for you?
2 Boaz is a close relative of ours, and he’s been very kind by letting you gather grain with his young women. Tonight he will be winnowing barley at the threshing floor.
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Now isn't Boaz, whose young women you were with, our relative? Tonight he will be winnowing barley at the threshing floor.
3 Now do as I tell you—take a bath and put on perfume and dress in your nicest clothes. Then go to the threshing floor, but don’t let Boaz see you until he has finished eating and drinking.
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You should bathe, put on some perfume, wear nice clothes, and then go down to the threshing floor. Don't make yourself known to the man until he has finished eating and drinking.
4 Be sure to notice where he lies down; then go and uncover his feet and lie down there. He will tell you what to do.”
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When he lies down, notice the place where he is lying. Then go, uncover his feet, and lie down. And he will tell you what to do."
5 “I will do everything you say,” Ruth replied.
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Ruth replied to her, "I'll do everything you are telling me."
6 So she went down to the threshing floor that night and followed the instructions of her mother-in-law.
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So she went down to the threshing floor, and she did everything just as her mother-in-law had ordered.
7 After Boaz had finished eating and drinking and was in good spirits, he lay down at the far end of the pile of grain and went to sleep. Then Ruth came quietly, uncovered his feet, and lay down.
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Boaz ate and drank, and he was in a good mood. He went over to lie down by the edge of the grain pile. Then she quietly approached, uncovered his legs, and lay down.
8 Around midnight Boaz suddenly woke up and turned over. He was surprised to find a woman lying at his feet!
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During the middle of the night, the man shuddered and turned over—and there was a woman lying at his feet.
9 “Who are you?” he asked. “I am your servant Ruth,” she replied. “Spread the corner of your covering over me, for you are my family redeemer.”
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"Who are you?" he asked. She replied, "I'm Ruth your servant. Spread out your robe over your servant, because you are a redeemer."
10 “The LORD bless you, my daughter!” Boaz exclaimed. “You are showing even more family loyalty now than you did before, for you have not gone after a younger man, whether rich or poor.
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He said, "May you be blessed by the LORD, my daughter! You have acted even more faithfully than you did at first. You haven't gone after rich or poor young men.
11 Now don’t worry about a thing, my daughter. I will do what is necessary, for everyone in town knows you are a virtuous woman.
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And now, my daughter, don't be afraid. I'll do for you everything you are asking. Indeed, my people—all who are at the gate—know that you are a woman of worth.
12 But while it’s true that I am one of your family redeemers, there is another man who is more closely related to you than I am.
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Now, although it's certainly true that I'm a redeemer, there's a redeemer who is a closer relative than I am.
13 Stay here tonight, and in the morning I will talk to him. If he is willing to redeem you, very well. Let him marry you. But if he is not willing, then as surely as the LORD lives, I will redeem you myself! Now lie down here until morning.”
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Stay the night. And in the morning, if he'll redeem you—good, let him redeem. But if he doesn't want to redeem you, then—as the LORD lives—I myself will redeem you. Lie down until the morning."
14 So Ruth lay at Boaz’s feet until the morning, but she got up before it was light enough for people to recognize each other. For Boaz had said, “No one must know that a woman was here at the threshing floor.”
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So she lay at his feet until morning. Then she got up before one person could recognize another, for he had said, "No one should know that the woman came to the threshing floor."
15 Then Boaz said to her, “Bring your cloak and spread it out.” He measured six scoops of barley into the cloak and placed it on her back. Then he returned to the town.
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He said, "Bring the cloak that you have on and hold it out." She held it out, and he measured out six measures of barley and placed it upon her. Then she went into town.
16 When Ruth went back to her mother-in-law, Naomi asked, “What happened, my daughter?” Ruth told Naomi everything Boaz had done for her,
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She came to her mother-in-law, who said, "How are you, my daughter?" So Ruth told her everything the man had done for her.
17 and she added, “He gave me these six scoops of barley and said, ‘Don’t go back to your mother-in-law empty-handed.’”
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She said, "He gave me these six measures of barley, for he said to me, ‘Don't go away empty-handed to your mother-in-law.'"
18 Then Naomi said to her, “Just be patient, my daughter, until we hear what happens. The man won’t rest until he has settled things today.”
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"Sit tight, my daughter," Naomi replied, "until you know how it turns out. The man won't rest until he resolves the matter today."
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Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Copyright © 2011 Common English Bible