Ruth 4

Boaz Redeems Ruth

1Now Boaz had gone up to the gate and sat down there. And behold, the redeemer of whom Boaz had spoken passed by. So Boaz said, “Turn aside, friend. Sit down here.” And he turned aside and sat down. 2Then he took ten men of the elders of the city and said, “Sit down here.” So they sat down. 3And he said to the redeemer, “Naomi, who has returned from the country of Moab, is selling the parcel of land that belonged to our brother Elimelech. 4So I thought I would tell you of it and say, ‘Buy it in the presence of those sitting here and in the presence of the elders of my people.’ If you will redeem it, redeem it. But if you will not, tell me, that I may know, for there is no one besides you to redeem it, and I come after you.” And he said, “I will redeem it.”

5Then Boaz said, “The day you buy the field from the hand of Naomi, you also acquire Ruth the Moabite, the widow of the dead, in order to raise up the name of the dead upon his inheritance.” 6Then the redeemer said, “I cannot redeem it for myself, lest I impair my own inheritance. Take my right of redemption for yourself, for I cannot redeem it.”

The Redemption Confirmed

7Now this was the custom in former times in Israel concerning redemption and exchange: to confirm a matter, one man removed his sandal and gave it to another. And this was the manner of attestation in Israel. 8So when the redeemer said to Boaz, “Buy it for yourself,” he removed his sandal. 9Then Boaz said to the elders and all the people, “You are witnesses this day that I have bought from the hand of Naomi all that belonged to Elimelech and all that belonged to Chilion and Mahlon. 10Also Ruth the Moabite, the widow of Mahlon, I have acquired as my wife, to raise up the name of the dead upon his inheritance, that the name of the dead may not be cut off from among his brothers and from the gate of his native place. You are witnesses this day.”

11Then all the people who were at the gate and the elders said, “We are witnesses. May the LORD make the woman who is coming into your house like Rachel and Leah, who together built the house of Israel. May you prosper in Ephrathah and be renowned in Bethlehem. 12And may your house be like the house of Perez, whom Tamar bore to Judah, because of the offspring that the LORD will give you by this young woman.”

The Birth of Obed

13So Boaz took Ruth, and she became his wife. And he went in to her, and the LORD gave her conception, and she bore a son. 14Then the women said to Naomi, “Blessed be the LORD, who has not left you this day without a redeemer. And may his name be renowned in Israel. 15He shall be to you a restorer of life and a sustainer of your old age, for your daughter-in-law who loves you, who is better to you than seven sons, has borne him.”

16Then Naomi took the child and laid him on her lap and became his nurse. 17And the women of the neighborhood gave him a name, saying, “A son has been born to Naomi.” And they called his name Obed. He was the father of Jesse, the father of David.

The Line of David

18Now these are the generations 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.