Ruth 4
World English Bible

Boaz Redeems Ruth

1Now Boaz went up to the gate, and sat down there. Behold, the near kinsman of whom Boaz spoke came by; to whom he said, "Come over here, friend, and sit down!" He turned aside, and sat down. 2He took ten men of the elders of the city, and said, "Sit down here." They sat down. 3He said to the near kinsman, "Naomi, who has come back out of the country of Moab, is selling the parcel of land, which was our brother Elimelech's. 4I thought to disclose it to you, saying, 'Buy it before those who sit here, and before the elders of my people.' If you will redeem it, redeem it; but if you will not redeem it, then tell me, that I may know. For there is no one to redeem it besides you; and I am after you." He said, "I will redeem it." 5Then Boaz said, "On the day you buy the field from the hand of Naomi, you must buy it also from Ruth the Moabitess, the wife of the dead, to raise up the name of the dead on his inheritance." 6The near kinsman said, "I can't redeem it for myself, lest I mar my own inheritance. Take my right of redemption for yourself; for I can't redeem it."

7Now this was [the custom] in former time in Israel concerning redeeming and concerning exchanging, to confirm all things: a man took off his shoe, and gave it to his neighbor; and this was the [way of] attestation in Israel. 8So the near kinsman said to Boaz, "Buy it for yourself." He took off his shoe. 9Boaz said to the elders, and to all the people, "You are witnesses this day, that I have bought all that was Elimelech's, and all that was Chilion's and Mahlon's, from the hand of Naomi. 10Moreover Ruth the Moabitess, the wife of Mahlon, I have purchased to be my wife, to raise up the name of the dead on his inheritance, that the name of the dead not be cut off from among his brothers, and from the gate of his place. You are witnesses this day." 11All the people who were in the gate, and the elders, said, "We are witnesses. May Yahweh make the woman who has come into your house like Rachel and like Leah, which two built the house of Israel; and treat you worthily in Ephrathah, and be famous in Bethlehem. 12Let your house be like the house of Perez, whom Tamar bore to Judah, of the seed which Yahweh shall give you of this young woman."

Boaz Marries Ruth

13So Boaz took Ruth, and she became his wife; and he went in to her, and Yahweh gave her conception, and she bore a son. 14The women said to Naomi, "Blessed be Yahweh, who has not left you this day without a near kinsman; and let his name be famous in Israel. 15He shall be to you a restorer of life, and sustain you in your old age, for your daughter-in-law, who loves you, who is better to you than seven sons, has borne him."

16Naomi took the child, and laid it in her bosom, and became nurse to it. 17The women, her neighbors, gave him a name, saying, "There is a son born to Naomi;" and they named him Obed. He is the father of Jesse, the father of David.

The Line of David

(Matthew 1:1-17; Luke 3:23-38)

18Now this is the history of the generations of Perez: Perez became the father of Hezron, 19and Hezron became the father of Ram, and Ram became the father of Amminadab, 20and Amminadab became the father of Nahshon, and Nahshon became the father of Salmon, 21and Salmon became the father of Boaz, and Boaz became the father of Obed, 22and Obed became the father of Jesse, and Jesse became the father of David.

The World English Bible is a 1997 revision of the American Standard Version of the Holy Bible, first published in 1901. It is in the Public Domain. Please feel free to copy and distribute it freely. Thank you to Michael Paul Johnson for making this work available. For the latest information, to report corrections, or for other correspondence, visit www.ebible.org.

Section Headings Courtesy BereanBible.com
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