Ruth 4:1–22

¹As for Bo′az, he went up to the gate and began to sit there. And, look! the repurchaser was passing by, whom Bo′az had mentioned. Then he said: “Do turn aside, do sit down here, So‐and‐so.” Hence he turned aside and sat down.²After that he took ten men of the older men of the city and said: “Sit down here.” So they sat down.

³He now said to the repurchaser: “The tract of the field that belonged to our brother E‧lim′e‧lech, Na′o‧mi, who has returned from the field of Mo′ab, must sell.⁴As for me, I thought that I should disclose it to you, saying, ‘Buy it in front of the inhabitants and the older men of my people. If you will repurchase it, repurchase it; but if you will not repurchase it, do tell me, that I may know, for there is no one else but you to do the repurchasing, and I am next to you.’” At that he said: “I shall be the one to repurchase it.”⁵Then Bo′az said: “On the day that you buy the field from Na′o‧mi’s hand, it is also from Ruth the Mo′ab‧i‧tess, the wife of the dead man, that you must buy it so as to cause the name of the dead man to rise upon his inheritance.”⁶To this the repurchaser said: “I am unable to repurchase it for myself, for fear I may ruin my own inheritance. You repurchase it for yourself with my right of repurchase, because I am not able to do the repurchasing.”

⁷Now this was the custom of former times in Israel concerning the right of repurchase and concerning the exchange, to establish every sort of thing: A man had to draw his sandal off and give it to his fellow, and this was the attestation in Israel.⁸So when the repurchaser said to Bo′az: “Buy it for yourself,” he proceeded to draw his sandal off.⁹Then Bo′az said to the older men and all the people: “YOU​ are witnesses today that I do buy all that belonged to E‧lim′e‧lech and all that belonged to Chil′i‧on and Mah′lon from the hand of Na′o‧mi.¹⁰And also Ruth the Mo′ab‧i‧tess, the wife of Mah′lon, I do buy for myself as a wife to cause the name of the dead man to rise upon his inheritance and that the name of the dead man may not be cut off from among his brothers and from the gate of his place. YOU​ are witnesses today.”

¹¹At this all the people that were in the gate and the older men said: “Witnesses! May Jehovah grant the wife who is coming into your house to be like Rachel and like Le′ah, both of whom built the house of Israel; and you prove your worth in Eph′ra‧thah and make a notable name in Beth′le‧hem.¹²And may your house become like the house of Pe′rez, whom Ta′mar bore to Judah, from the offspring that Jehovah will give you out of this young woman.”

¹³Accordingly Bo′az took Ruth and she became his wife and he had relations with her. So Jehovah granted her conception and she bore a son.¹⁴And the women began to say to Na′o‧mi: “Blessed be Jehovah, who has not let a repurchaser fail for you today; that his name may be proclaimed in Israel.¹⁵And he has become a restorer of your soul and one to nourish your old age, because your daughter‐in‐law who does love you, who is better to you than seven sons, has given birth to him.”¹⁶And Na′o‧mi proceeded to take the child and to put it in her bosom, and she came to be its nurse.¹⁷Then the neighbor ladies gave it a name, saying: “A son has been born to Na′o‧mi.” And they began to call his name O′bed. He is the father of Jes′se, David’s father.

¹⁸Now these are the generations of Pe′rez: Pe′rez became father to Hez′ron;¹⁹and Hez′ron became father to Ram; and Ram became father to Am‧min′a‧dab;²⁰and Am‧min′a‧dab became father to Nah′shon; and Nah′shon became father to Sal′mon;²¹and Sal′mon became father to Bo′az; and Bo′az became father to O′bed;²²and O′bed became father to Jes′se; and Jes′se became father to David.