Ruth 4
4
Chapter 4
Boaz marries Ruth
1In the morning, Boaz went to the gate of the town and he sat down there. #4:1 The gate of the town was an important place. The town's leaders met there to decide important things. Later, the family-redeemer that Boaz had talked about to Ruth came there. Boaz said to him, ‘Come here, my friend, and sit down.’ So the man went to sit with Boaz.
2Boaz chose ten of the town's leaders and he said to them, ‘Come and sit here.’ So they sat down. 3Then Boaz said to the family-redeemer, ‘Naomi has returned from Moab. She wants to sell the piece of land that belonged to our relative, Elimelech. 4I thought that I must tell you about this, in front of the leaders of our town. Tell us if you will buy this land from Naomi, so that all the people who sit here know what you decide. If you want to buy it, then you should buy it. If you do not want to buy it, then you must tell me. Then I will know what to do. You are the person who must decide. If you do not choose to buy the land, then I can buy it.’ The relative said, ‘I will buy it.’
5Then Boaz said, ‘You should also know this: When you buy the land from Naomi, you also have to marry the Moabite woman, Ruth. She is the widow of Elimelech's son. She will give birth to your children and Elimelech's land will continue to belong to his family.’
6When Boaz said that, the relative replied, ‘If that is true, I cannot buy the land. It would not belong to my own children when I die. You may buy the land instead of me. I cannot buy it myself.’ #4:6 The family-redeemer might marry Ruth and have a son. If the family-redeemer had no other sons, then Ruth's son would receive all his land. His land would then be in Elimelech's family. This would be the same for Boaz.
7In Israel at this time, when somebody agreed to sell land, he removed his shoe. He gave it to the man who was buying the land. Then everyone could see that they both agreed. They could not change their minds.
8So the relative said to Boaz, ‘You may buy the land.’ When he said that, he removed his shoe.
9Boaz said to the town's leaders and to all the people there, ‘You have all seen today that I have bought the land from Naomi. I have bought all the land that belonged to Elimelech, Kilion and Mahlon. 10I will also marry Ruth, who came here from Moab. She was Mahlon's wife. In that way, the land will still belong to his family. Ruth's descendants will still have his family's name. His family will continue to belong to this town where he lived. Today you have seen that this is what we have agreed together.’
11Then all the leaders and the other people at the gate said, ‘We have seen that this is true. We pray that the Lord will bless the woman who is coming into your home as your wife. We pray that he will bless her as he blessed Rachel and Leah. #4:11 Rachel and Leah were the wives of Jacob. God had promised that Israel would be his people. He promised that the 12 sons of Rachel and Leah would begin large families. These families would be the 12 important families in Israel. They gave birth to many children for the family of Israel. We pray that you will become a rich man in Ephrathah's clan. And we pray that you will become famous in Bethlehem town. 12We pray that this woman will give birth to many children for you. Then the Lord will give you many descendants, so that you have a large family. We pray that your family will be like the family of Perez, who was the son of Judah and his wife, Tamar.’ #4:12 Perez was one of Boaz's ancestors. His father, Judah, had been a family-redeemer for Tamar.
Ruth gives birth to a son
13So Boaz married Ruth. He lived with her as his wife. The Lord blessed her so that she became pregnant. She gave birth to a son. 14The women of Bethlehem said to Naomi, ‘We praise the Lord! Today, he has given to you a relative to take care of you! We pray that the child will become famous everywhere in Israel! 15He will help you to feel young again. He will take care of you when you are old. Your son's wife, Ruth, has given birth to this boy. She loves you and she has helped you more than seven sons could ever do.’
16Naomi took the child and she held him near to her. She took care of him as if he was her own son. 17The women who lived there said, ‘Now Naomi has a son again!’ They called the boy Obed. He became the father of Jesse, who became the father of David.
King David's family
18These are the descendants of Perez:
Perez was the father of Hezron.
19Hezron was the father of Ram.
Ram was the father of Amminadab.
20Amminadab was the father of Nahshon.
Nahshon was the father of Salmon.
21Salmon was the father of Boaz.
Boaz was the father of Obed.
22Obed was the father of Jesse.
Jesse was the father of David.
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Ruth 4: EASY
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