Now at that very moment, ¹  Boaz arrived from Bethlehem ²  and greeted ³  the harvesters, “May the Lord be with you!” They replied, ⁴  “May the Lord bless you!”

So Ruth ¹  went and gathered grain in the fields ²  behind the harvesters. Now she just happened to end up ³  in the portion of the field belonging to Boaz, who was from the clan of Elimelech.

She asked, ¹  ‘May I follow the harvesters and gather ²  grain among the bundles?’ ³  Since she arrived she has been working hard ⁴  from this morning until now ⁵  – except for ⁶  sitting ⁷  in the resting hut ⁸  a short time.” ⁹ 

Look, the pay you have held back from the workers who mowed your fields cries out against you, and the cries of the reapers have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts.

Boaz asked ¹  his servant ²  in charge of the harvesters, “To whom does this young woman belong?” ³ 

Let both grow together until the harvest. At ¹  harvest time I will tell the reapers, “First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles to be burned, but then ²  gather ³  the wheat into my barn.”’”

and the enemy who sows them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are angels.

Later during the mealtime Boaz said to her, “Come here and have ¹  some food! Dip your bread ²  in the vinegar!” So she sat down beside the harvesters. Then he handed ³  her some roasted grain. She ate until she was full and saved the rest. ⁴ 

The boy grew and one day he went out to see his father who was with the harvest workers. ¹ 

which cannot fill the reaper’s hand, or the lap of the one who gathers the grain!

The servant in charge of the harvesters replied, “She’s the young Moabite woman who came back with Naomi from the region of Moab.

Ruth the Moabite replied, “He even ¹  told me, ‘You may go along beside my servants ²  until they have finished gathering all my harvest!’” ³ 

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 

The one who reaps receives pay ¹  and gathers fruit for eternal life, so that the one who sows and the one who reaps can rejoice together.

“‘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 ¹  have enlarged the nation; you give them great joy. ²  They rejoice in your presence as harvesters rejoice; as warriors celebrate ³  when they divide up the plunder.

Kill all the farmers who sow the seed in the land of Babylon. Kill all those who wield the sickle at harvest time. ¹  Let all the foreigners return to their own people. Let them hurry back to their own lands to escape destruction by that enemy army. ² 

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 

The cart was coming to the field of Joshua, who was from Beth Shemesh. It paused there near a big stone. Then they cut up the wood of the cart and offered the cows as a burnt offering to the Lord.

“Then, Jeremiah, ¹  make the following prophecy ²  against them: ‘Like a lion about to attack, ³  the Lord will roar from the heights of heaven; from his holy dwelling on high he will roar loudly. He will roar mightily against his land. ⁴  He will shout in triumph like those stomping juice from the grapes ⁵  against all those who live on the earth.