Boaz Redeems Ruth at the City Gate
1Boaz went up to the gate and sat down there. Just then the guardian-redeemer he had spoken of came by. Boaz called out, “Come over here and sit down, friend.” So he came over and sat down. 2Boaz gathered ten men from the elders of the town and said, “Sit down here.” And they sat down. 3Then he said to the guardian-redeemer, “Naomi, who has come back from the country of Moab, is selling the piece of land that belonged to our brother Elimelech. 4I thought I should tell you, and say: buy it in the presence of those sitting here and of the elders of my people. If you will redeem it, redeem it. But if you will not, tell me, so I will know, for you are the first in line to redeem it, and I come after you.” The man said, “I will redeem it.” 5Boaz said, “On the day you buy the field from Naomi, you also acquire Ruth the Moabite, the widow of the dead man, to raise up his name on his inheritance.” 6The guardian-redeemer said, “Then I cannot redeem it for myself, or I would endanger my own inheritance. You redeem it — take my right of redemption yourself, for I cannot exercise it.” 7Now in earlier times in Israel, this was the custom for redeeming property and settling transactions: to make anything binding, a man would take off his sandal and hand it to the other. This was how such matters were confirmed in Israel. 8So when the guardian-redeemer said to Boaz, “Buy it yourself,” he took off his sandal. 9Then Boaz said to the elders and all the people, “You are witnesses today that I have bought from Naomi everything that belonged to Elimelech, and everything that belonged to Chilion and Mahlon. 10And I have also acquired Ruth the Moabite, Mahlon’s widow, to be my wife, to raise up the name of the dead man on his inheritance, so that his name will not disappear from among his brothers or from the gate of his hometown. You are witnesses today.” 11All the people at the gate, and the elders, said, “We are witnesses. May Yahweh make this woman, who is coming into your house, like Rachel and Leah, who together built up the house of Israel. May you prosper in Ephrathah and make a name for yourself in Bethlehem. 12And may your house be like the house of Perez, whom Tamar bore to Judah, through the offspring Yahweh gives you by this young woman.” 13So Boaz took Ruth, and she became his wife. He went in to her, and Yahweh enabled her to conceive, and she bore a son. 14The women said to Naomi, “Blessed be Yahweh, who has not left you today without a guardian-redeemer. May his name become famous in Israel. 15He will renew your life and sustain you in your old age, for your daughter-in-law loves you. She is better to you than seven sons, and she has given birth to him.” 16Naomi took the child, held him to her chest, and became his nurse. 17The neighboring women gave him a name, saying, “A son has been born to Naomi.” They named him Obed. He became the father of Jesse, the father of David.
The Genealogy from Perez to David
18This is the genealogy of Perez: Perez fathered Hezron, 19Hezron fathered Ram, Ram fathered Amminadab, 20Amminadab fathered Nahshon, Nahshon fathered Salmon, 21Salmon fathered Boaz, Boaz fathered Obed, 22Obed fathered Jesse, and Jesse fathered David.
