“‘When you gather in the harvest ¹  of your land, you must not completely harvest the corner of your field, ²  and you must not gather up the gleanings of your harvest.

If grape pickers came to pick your grapes, would they not leave a few grapes behind? ¹  If robbers came at night, would they not pillage only what they needed? ² 

“If thieves came to rob you ¹  during the night, ²  they would steal only as much as they wanted! ³  If grape pickers came to harvest your vineyards, ⁴  they would leave some behind for the poor! ⁵  But you will be totally destroyed! ⁶ 

When you gather in the harvest ¹  of your land, you must not completely harvest the corner of your field, ²  and you must not gather up the gleanings of your harvest. You must leave them for the poor and the foreigner. I am the Lord your God.’” ³ 

There will be some left behind, like when an olive tree is beaten – two or three ripe olives remain toward the very top, four or five on its fruitful branches,” says the Lord God of Israel.

He said to them, “Now what have I accomplished compared to you? Even Ephraim’s leftover grapes ¹  are better quality than Abiezer’s harvest! ² 

This is what will happen throughout ¹  the earth, among the nations. It will be like when they beat an olive tree, and just a few olives are left at the end of the harvest. ² 

She carried it back to town, and her mother-in-law saw ¹  how much grain ²  she had gathered. Then Ruth ³  gave her the roasted grain she had saved from mealtime. ⁴ 

¹ This will be your confirmation that I have spoken the truth: ²  This year you will eat what grows wild, ³  and next year ⁴  what grows on its own from that. But in the third year you will plant seed and harvest crops; you will plant vines and consume their produce. ⁵