3:1 Her mother-in-law Naomi said to her, “My daughter, I must find a home for you so you will be secure.¹ 3:2 Now Boaz, with whose female servants you worked, is our close relative.² Look, tonight he is winnowing barley at the threshing floor.³ 3:3 So bathe yourself,⁴ rub on some perfumed oil,⁵ and get dressed up.⁶ Then go down to the threshing floor. But don’t let the man know you’re there until he finishes his meal.⁷ 3:4 When he gets ready to go to sleep,⁸ take careful notice of the place where he lies down. Then go, uncover his legs,⁹ and lie down beside him.¹⁰ He will tell¹¹ you what you should do.” 3:5 Ruth replied,¹² “I will do everything you tell¹³ me to do.”¹⁴

3:6 She went down to the threshing floor and did everything her mother-in-law had instructed her to do.¹⁵ 3:7 When Boaz had finished his meal and was feeling satisfied, he lay down to sleep at the far end of the grain heap.¹⁶ Then Ruth¹⁷ snuck up quietly,¹⁸ uncovered his legs¹⁹ and lay down beside him.²⁰

3:8 In the middle of the night he was startled²¹ and rolled over.²² Then²³ he saw a woman²⁴ lying beside him.²⁵ 3:9 He said, “Who are you?”²⁶ She replied, “I am Ruth, your servant.²⁷ Marry your servant,²⁸ for you are a guardian of the family interests.”²⁹ 3:10 He said, “May you be rewarded³⁰ by the LORD, my daughter! This latter act of devotion is greater than what you did before.³¹ You have not pursued one of the young men, whether poor or rich.³² 3:11 Now, my daughter, don’t worry!³³ I intend to do for you everything you propose,³⁴ for everyone in town³⁵ knows that you are a worthy woman.³⁶ 3:12 Now yes, it is true that³⁷ I am a guardian,³⁸ but there is another guardian³⁹ who is a closer relative than I. 3:13 Remain here tonight. Then in the morning, if he agrees to marry you,⁴⁰ fine,⁴¹ let him do so.⁴² But if he does not want to do so, I promise, as surely as the LORD lives, to marry you.⁴³ Sleep here until morning.”⁴⁴

3:14 So she slept beside him⁴⁵ until morning. She woke up while it was still dark.⁴⁶ Boaz told her,⁴⁷ “No one must know that a woman visited the threshing floor.”⁴⁸ 3:15 Then he said, “Hold out the shawl⁴⁹ you are wearing⁵⁰ and grip it tightly.” As she gripped it tightly, he measured out about eighty pounds of barley into the shawl and put it on her shoulders.⁵¹ Then she went into town.

3:16 When she approached her mother-in-law, Naomi asked,⁵² “How did things turn out for you,⁵³ my daughter?” Ruth⁵⁴ told her about all the man had done for her.⁵⁵ 3:17 She said, “He gave me these eighty pounds of barley, for he said to me, ‘Do not go to your mother-in-law empty handed.’“⁵⁶ 3:18 Then Naomi⁵⁷ said, “Stay put,⁵⁸ my daughter, until you know how the matter turns out. For the man will not rest until he has taken care of the matter today.”