Ruth 4

¹Therfor Booz stiede to the yate, and sat there; and whanne he hadde seyn the kynesman passe forth, of whom the word was had, Booz seide to hym, Bowe thou a litil, and sitte here; and he clepide hym bi his name. And he turnede, and sat.

²Forsothe Booz took ten `men of the eldere men of the citee, and seide to hem, Sitte ye here.

³And while thei saten, Booz spak to the kynesman, Noemy, that turnede ayen fro the cuntrey of Moab, seelde the part of the feeld of oure brother Elymelech,

⁴which thing Y wolde that thou here; and Y wolde seie to thee bifor alle `men syttynge and grettere in birthe of my puple. If thou wolt haue in possessioun the feeld bi riyt of nyy kyn, bye thou, and `haue thou in possessioun; sotheli if it displesith thee, schewe thou this same thing to me, that Y wyte what Y `owe to do; for noon is niy in kyn, outakun thee which art the formere, and outakun me which am the secunde. And he answeride, Y schal bie the feeld.

⁵To whom Booz seide, Whanne thou hast bouyte the feeld of the `hond of the womman, thou owist `to take also Ruth of Moab, that was the wijf of the deed man, that thou reise the name of thi kynesman in his eritage.

⁶Which answeride, Y forsake the ryyt of nyy kyn; for Y owe not to do awei the eritage of my meynee; vse thou my priuelegie, which priuelegie Y knowleche me to wante gladli.

⁷Forsothe this was the custom bi eld tyme in Israel among kynesmen, that if a man yaf his riyt to anothir man, that the grauntyng were stidefast, the man vnlaase his scho, and yaf to his kynesman; this was the witnessyng of the yift in Israel.

⁸Therfor Booz seide to his kynesman, Take the scho fro thee; `which scho he vnlaside anoon fro his foot.

⁹And Booz seide to the grettere men in birthe and to al the puple, Ye ben witnessis to dai, that Y haue take in possessioun alle thingis that weren of Elymelech, and of Chelion, and of Maalon, bi the yifte of Noemy;

¹⁰and that Y haue take in to wedlok Ruth of Moab, the wijf of Maalon, that Y reise the name of the deed man in his erytage; lest his name be doon awey fro his meynee and britheren and puple. Ye, he seide, ben witnessis of this thing.

¹¹Al the puple, that was in the yate, answeride, and the grettere men in birthe answeriden, We ben witnessis; the Lord make this womman, that entrith in to thin hows, as Rachel and Lia, that bildiden the hows of Israel, that sche be ensaumple of vertu in Effrata, and haue a solempne name in Bethleem;

¹²and thin hows be maad as the hows of Fares, whom Thamar childide to Judas, of the seed which the Lord schal yyue to thee of this damesel.

¹³Therfor Booz took Ruth, and took hir to wijf; and he entride to hir, and the Lord yaf to hir, that sche conseyuede, `and childide a sone.

¹⁴And wymmen seiden to Noemy, Blessid be the Lord, which `suffride not, that an eir failide to thi meynee, and his name were clepid in Israel;

¹⁵and that thou haue `a man, that schal coumforte thi soule, and nursche elde age. For a child is borun of thi douytir in lawe, `which child schal loue thee, and he is myche betere to thee, than if thou haddist seuene sones.

¹⁶And Noemy puttide the child resseyued in hir bosum; and sche dide the office of a nurische, and of a berere.

¹⁷Forsothe wymmen neiyboris thankiden hir, and seiden, A sone is borun to Noemy, and clepide his name Obeth. This is the fadir of Ysay, fadir of Dauid.

¹⁸These ben the generaciouns of Fares; Fares gendride Esrom;

¹⁹Esrom gendride Aram; Aram gendride Amynadab;

²⁰Amynadab gendride Naason; Naason gendride Salmon; Salmon gendride Booz;

²¹Booz gendride Obeth;

²²Obeth gendride Isay; Isay gendride Dauid the kyng.

Ruth 4

¹Then went Boaz up to the gate, and sat him down there: and, behold, the kinsman of whom Boaz spake came by; unto whom he said, Ho, such a one! turn aside, sit down here. And he turned aside, and sat down.

²And he took ten men of the elders of the city, and said, Sit ye down here. And they sat down.

³And he said unto the kinsman, Naomi, that is come again out of the country of Moab, selleth a parcel of land, which was our brother Elimelech’s:

⁴And I thought to advertise thee, saying, Buy it before the inhabitants, and before the elders of my people. If thou wilt redeem it, redeem it: but if thou wilt not redeem it, then tell me, that I may know: for there is none to redeem it beside thee; and I am after thee. And he said, I will redeem it.

⁵Then said Boaz, What day thou buyest the field of the hand of Naomi, thou must buy it also of Ruth the Moabitess, the wife of the dead, to raise up the name of the dead upon his inheritance.

⁶And the kinsman said, I cannot redeem it for myself, lest I mar mine own inheritance: redeem thou my right to thyself; for I cannot redeem it.

⁷Now this was the manner in former time in Israel concerning redeeming and concerning changing, for to confirm all things; a man plucked off his shoe, and gave it to his neighbour: and this was a testimony in Israel.

⁸Therefore the kinsman said unto Boaz, Buy it for thee. So he drew off his shoe.

⁹And Boaz said unto the elders, and unto all the people, Ye are witnesses this day, that I have bought all that was Elimelech’s, and all that was Chilion’s and Mahlon’s, of the hand of Naomi.

¹⁰Moreover Ruth the Moabitess, the wife of Mahlon, have I purchased to be my wife, to raise up the name of the dead upon his inheritance, that the name of the dead be not cut off from among his brethren, and from the gate of his place: ye are witnesses this day.

¹¹And all the people that were in the gate, and the elders, said, We are witnesses. The Lord make the woman that is come into thine house like Rachel and like Leah, which two did build the house of Israel: and do thou worthily in Ephratah, and be famous in Beth–lehem:

¹²And let thy house be like the house of Pharez, whom Tamar bare unto Judah, of the seed which the Lord shall give thee of this young woman.

¹³So Boaz took Ruth, and she was his wife: and when he went in unto her, the Lord gave her conception, and she bare a son.

¹⁴And the women said unto Naomi, Blessed be the Lord, which hath not left thee this day without a kinsman, that his name may be famous in Israel.

¹⁵And he shall be unto thee a restorer of thy life, and a nourisher of thine old age: for thy daughter in law, which loveth thee, which is better to thee than seven sons, hath born him.

¹⁶And Naomi took the child, and laid it in her bosom, and became nurse unto it.

¹⁷And the women her neighbours gave it a name, saying, There is a son born to Naomi; and they called his name Obed: he is the father of Jesse, the father of David.

¹⁸Now these are the generations of Pharez: Pharez begat Hezron,

¹⁹And Hezron begat Ram, and Ram begat Amminadab,

²⁰And Amminadab begat Nahshon, and Nahshon begat Salmon,

²¹And Salmon begat Boaz, and Boaz begat Obed,

²²And Obed begat Jesse, and Jesse begat David.