Study Desk

Turn over these good-for-nothings who are in Giv‘ah at once, so that we can execute them and rid Isra'el of such evil." But the people of Binyamin refused to obey the order of their kinsmen the people of Isra'el.

So the army of Isra'el got up in the morning and set up their camp near Giv‘ah.

So the army of Isra'el went out to attack the army of Binyamin the second day.

So the gathering sent 12,000 warriors there and ordered them, "Go, and put the people who live in Yavesh-Gil‘ad to death with the sword, including women and children.

So Binyamin returned at that time, and the people of Isra'el gave them the women they had kept alive of the women from Yavesh-Gil‘ad. But those weren't enough for them.

They said, "There has to be a way to help the survivors preserve Binyamin's inheritance, so that a tribe will not be eliminated from Isra'el.

So the men of Binyamin did this — they took wives for themselves from the girls who were dancing, as many as they needed. They carried them off, went back to the land of their inheritance, rebuilt the cities and lived in them.

So she prepared to return with her daughters-in-law from the plain of Mo'av; for in the plain of Mo'av she had heard how Adonai had paid attention to his people by giving them food.

So the two of them went on until they came to Beit-Lechem. When they arrived in Beit-Lechem, the whole city was stirred with excitement over them. The women asked, "Can this be Na‘omi?"

So she set out, arrived at the field and gleaned behind the reapers. She happened to be in the part of the field that belonged to Bo‘az from Elimelekh's clan,

She said, ‘Please, let me glean and gather what falls from the sheaves behind the reapers.' So she went and has kept at it from morning until now, except for a little rest in the shelter."

So she gleaned in the field until evening. When she beat out what she had gathered, it came to about a bushel of barley.

Na‘omi said to Rut her daughter-in-law, "It's good, my daughter, for you to keep going out with his girls; so that you won't encounter hostility in some other field."

So she stayed close to Bo‘az's girls to glean, until the end of the barley and wheat harvests; and she lived with her mother-in-law.

Na‘omi her mother-in-law said to her, "My daughter, I should be seeking security for you; so that things will go well with you.

So bathe, anoint yourself, put on your good clothes, and go down to the threshing-floor; but don't reveal your presence to the man until he's finished eating and drinking.

Meanwhile, Bo‘az had gone up to the gate and had sat down there, when the redeemer of whom Bo‘az had spoken passed by. "Such-and-such," he said, "come over, and sit down"; so he came over and sat down.

I thought I should tell you about it and say, ‘Buy it in the presence of the people sitting here and in the presence of the leaders of my people. If you want to redeem it, redeem it. But if it is not to be redeemed, then tell me, so that I can know, because there is no one else in line to redeem it, and I'm after you." He said, "I want to redeem it."

So the redeemer said to Bo‘az, "Buy it for yourself," and took off his shoe.

Also I am acquiring as my wife Rut the woman from Mo'av, the wife of Machlon, in order to raise up in the name of the deceased an heir for his property; so that the name of the deceased will not be cut off from his kinsmen and from the gate of his place. You are witnesses today."