Fluent Translation · Read & Reflect
Ruth 4
Boaz Redeems Ruth
Boaz went up to the town gate and sat down there. Just then, the redeemer Boaz had spoken about came by. Boaz said, “Come over here, so-and-so, and sit down.” So the man came over and sat down. Boaz gathered ten of the town elders and said, “Sit down here.” So they sat down. Then Boaz said to the redeemer, “Naomi, who has returned from the country of Moab, is selling the parcel of land that belonged to our relative Elimelech. I thought I should inform you 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 so I will know, because no one has the right to redeem it before you, and I come after you.” The man said, “I will redeem it.”
Then Boaz said, “On the day you buy the field from Naomi, you also acquire Ruth the Moabite, the widow of the dead man, in order to preserve the dead man’s name with his inheritance.” The redeemer said, “I cannot redeem it for myself, because I might damage my own inheritance. Take my right of redemption for yourself, because I cannot redeem it.”
The Redemption Confirmed
In former times in Israel, this was the custom concerning redemption and exchange: to confirm a matter, one man removed his sandal and gave it to the other. This was how an agreement was formally confirmed in Israel. So the redeemer said to Boaz, “Buy it for yourself,” and he removed his sandal. Then Boaz said to the elders and all the people, “You are witnesses today that I have acquired from Naomi everything that belonged to Elimelech and everything that belonged to Chilion and Mahlon. I have also acquired Ruth the Moabite, Mahlon’s widow, as my wife, in order to preserve the dead man’s name with his inheritance, so that his name will not be cut off from among his relatives or from the gate of his hometown. You are witnesses today.”
All the people 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 make a name for yourself in Bethlehem. And may your house become like the house of Perez, whom Tamar bore to Judah, through the offspring the LORD gives you by this young woman.”
The Birth of Obed
So Boaz took Ruth, and she became his wife. He slept with her, and the LORD enabled her to conceive, and she gave birth to a son. Then the women said to Naomi, “Blessed be the LORD, who has not left you today without a redeemer. May his name become renowned in Israel. He will restore your life and sustain you in your old age, because your daughter-in-law who loves you has given birth to him—she who is better to you than seven sons.”
Naomi took the child, held him close, and cared for him. The neighborhood 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 Line of David
Now these are the generations of Perez: Perez fathered Hezron, Hezron fathered Ram, Ram fathered Amminadab, Amminadab fathered Nahshon, Nahshon fathered Salmon, Salmon fathered Boaz, Boaz fathered Obed, Obed fathered Jesse, and Jesse fathered David.