Naomi’s Plan at the Threshing Floor
1Naomi, her mother-in-law, said to her, “My daughter, should I not seek a home for you, where you will be provided for? 2Now, is not Boaz, with whose young women you have been, a relative of ours? Tonight he is winnowing barley at the threshing floor. 3Wash and perfume yourself, put on your best clothes, and go down to the threshing floor. But do not let him know you are there until he has finished eating and drinking. 4When he lies down, note the place where he is lying. Then go, uncover his feet, and lie down there. He will tell you what to do.” 5Ruth answered, “I will do everything you say.” 6So she went down to the threshing floor and did just as her mother-in-law had told her. 7When Boaz had finished eating and drinking and was in good spirits, he went to lie down at the far end of the grain pile. She came quietly, uncovered his feet, and lay down. 8In the middle of the night, the man was startled and turned over — and there was a woman lying at his feet! 9“Who are you?” he asked. “I am Ruth, your servant,” she answered. “Spread the corner of your garment over your servant, for you are a guardian-redeemer.” 10He said, “May you be blessed by Yahweh, my daughter. This kindness of yours is greater than the first: you have not run after the young men, whether poor or rich. 11Now, my daughter, do not be afraid. I will do for you whatever you ask, for everyone in town knows that you are a woman of noble character. 12It is true that I am a guardian-redeemer, but there is a redeemer closer than I am. 13Stay here tonight, and in the morning, if he wants to redeem you, good — let him redeem you. But if he is not willing, then as surely as Yahweh lives, I will redeem you myself. Lie down until morning.” 14So she lay at his feet until morning, and rose while it was still too dark for one to recognize another. For Boaz had said, “No one must know that a woman came to the threshing floor.” 15Then he said, “Bring the shawl you are wearing and hold it out.” She held it out, and he measured six measures of barley into it and helped her lift it onto her shoulder. Then he went into town. 16When Ruth came to her mother-in-law, Naomi asked, “How did it go, my daughter?” And Ruth told her everything the man had done for her. 17She said, “He gave me these six measures of barley, saying, ‘Do not go back to your mother-in-law empty-handed.’” 18Naomi said, “Wait, my daughter, until you know how things will turn out. That man will not rest until he settles this today.”
