Read the Modern Pastor’s Version

Naomi her mother-in-law said to Ruth, "My daughter, I want to find a way to bring peace and security into your life. Shall I not seek rest for you that it may be well with you?"

Naomi told Ruth, "There's our relative Boaz, who is close to us. He'll be threshing barley tonight on the threshing floor. Why don't you get ready, wash yourself, anoint yourself, put on your best clothes, and go down to the floor? But be sure not to reveal yourself to him until he has finished eating and drinking."

Ruth said, "I'll do everything you say." So she went down to the floor and did everything her mother-in-law had instructed her to do. And when Boaz had eaten and drunk with great joy, he lay down at the end of the grain heap.

At midnight, Ruth quietly came and uncovered his feet, then lay down beside him. When the man woke up in fear and turned around, there she was at his feet. "Who are you?" he asked, and she replied, "I am Ruth, your servant. Spread your cloak over me, for you are a near kinsman."

Boaz blessed her, saying, "The Lord bless you, my daughter! You've shown greater kindness now than when we first met. You didn't go after the younger men, whether they were rich or poor." He reassured her, "Don't be afraid; I'll do everything you ask of me because everyone in town knows you're a virtuous woman."

Then Boaz told Ruth that he was her relative but there was one closer to them. He said, "Wait here tonight and see what happens tomorrow. If the closer relative will take responsibility as our family's guardian-redeemer, great; let him do it. But if not, I'll do it myself as the Lord lives."

Ruth lay at his feet all night and rose before anyone else was awake. Boaz said to her, "Don't tell anyone that a woman came to the threshing floor." He then told her to hold out the cloak she wore, which he filled with six measures of barley from the grain heap.

When Ruth returned home, she explained to Naomi how Boaz had given her those six measures of barley. She said, "He gave me this because he instructed me not to come back empty-handed." Naomi cautioned Ruth to sit still and wait for the outcome, saying, "The man won't rest until he completes what he has planned to do today."