Ruth 4
1 Boaz went up to the town gate and sat down there. Just then, the redeemer he had spoken about came by. Boaz said, “Come over and sit here, so-and-so.” He came over and sat down.
2 Boaz took ten men from among the town elders and said, “Sit down here.” And they sat down.
3 He said to the redeemer, “Naomi, who has returned from the fields of Moab, is selling the piece of land that belonged to our brother Elimelech.
4 I thought I should tell you, saying, ‘Buy it in the presence of those sitting here and in the presence of the elders of my people.’ If you are willing to redeem it, redeem it; but if you will not, tell me so I may know, because no one besides you has the right to redeem it, and I come after you.” He replied, “I will redeem it.”
5 Boaz said, “On the day you buy the field from Naomi and from Ruth the Moabite, the wife of the deceased, you also acquire her, to preserve the name of the deceased on his inheritance.”
6 The redeemer replied, “I cannot redeem it for myself, or I might damage my own inheritance. You redeem my right of redemption, because I cannot redeem it.”
7 In former times in Israel, to confirm any transaction involving redemption or exchange, a man would take off his sandal and give it to the other. This was the way of making things official in Israel.
8 The redeemer said to Boaz, “You buy it.” And he took off his sandal.
9 Boaz said to the elders and all the people, “You are witnesses today that I have bought from Naomi everything that belonged to Elimelech and everything that belonged to Chilion and Mahlon.
10 I have also acquired Ruth the Moabite, Mahlon’s wife, to be my wife, in order to preserve the name of the deceased on his inheritance. The name of the deceased will not disappear from among his brothers or from the gate of his town. You are witnesses today.”
11 All the people who were at the gate, along with the elders, said, “We are witnesses. May the LORD make the woman who is coming into your house like Rachel and Leah, who together built up the house of Israel. May you prosper in Ephrathah and become famous in Bethlehem.
12 “May your house be like the house of Perez, whom Tamar bore to Judah, through the offspring the LORD gives you by this young woman.”
13 Boaz took Ruth, and she became his wife. He slept with her, and the LORD enabled her to conceive, and she gave birth to a son.
14 The women said to Naomi, “Blessed be the LORD, who today has not left you without a redeemer! May his name become famous in Israel.
15 He will restore your life and care for you in your old age. For your daughter-in-law, who loves you and is better to you than seven sons, has given birth to him.”
16 Naomi took the child, held him in her lap, and cared for him as his nurse.
17 The neighbor women gave him a name, saying, “A son has been born to Naomi.” They named him Obed. He was the father of Jesse, the father of David.
18 This is the family line of Perez: Perez fathered Hezron.
19 Hezron fathered Ram, and Ram fathered Amminadab.
20 Amminadab fathered Nahshon, and Nahshon fathered Salmon.
21 Salmon fathered Boaz, and Boaz fathered Obed.
22 Obed fathered Jesse, and Jesse fathered David.
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