We are reading in the Old Testament of the Bible. The Book of Ruth.
On this occasion it will be chapter two of Ruth' s Book.
Ruth collects ears in Voice' s field. Chapter two of Ruth' s
Book. They had in me a relative of her husband, a rich man
of Elimelech' s family, whose name was Voice, and Ruth the Moabite.
He said to Naomi, I pray thee, let me go into the
field, and I will gather ears after him in whose sight I will find
favor, and she answered him, my daughter, and came and besought in
the field after the reapers, and it came to pass, that that part
of the field was of Boz, which was of the family of Elimelech.
And here you came from Bethlehem and told the reapers Yahweh be with you and
they answered Yahweh You Bless and you said to your servant, the steward of
the reapers, whose is this young woman? And the servant steward of the
reapers answered and said, It is the young Moabitess who returned with me from
the fields of Moab, and said to thee, Let me gather and gather
after the reapers among the sheaves. So he entered and is from morning until
now, without rest even for a moment. Then you said to Ruth,
" Hey, my daughter, don' t go gleaning into another field,
don' t come from here" And here you will be next to my
maids. Look carefully at the field that they blind and follow them, for
I have commanded the servants not to disturb you, and when you are thirsty
go to the vessels and drink of the water that the servants bring out,
then, lowering her face, she bowed down to the ground and told her
why I have found grace in your eyes, that you may recognize me as
a foreigner, and you said to her, I have known all that you
have done with your mother- in- law after the death of her husband,
and that, leaving your father and your mother and the land where you
were born, you have come to a people that you have not known before,
Yahweh, to reward your work and your reward be fulfilled by Yahweh,
the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge.
And she said, O my lord, woe I thank in thy sight,
because thou hast comforted me, and because thou hast spoken unto the heart of
thy handmaid, though I am not as one of thy maidservants, and thou
hast said unto her at the time of eating, come here, and eat
of the bread and the nun, the tube laid in the vinegar, and
she sat by the blinders, and he gave her of the pottage, and
ate until she was satisfied, and left him. Then he rose up to
glean, and you sent his servants, saying that you should also gather ears
among the sheaves, and do not shame them, and you will also let
some of the sheaves fall for them, and you will leave them to gather
them, and you will not rebuke them. And he besought in the field
till night, and gave what he had gathered, and it was as an
ephah of barley, and took it, and went into the city, and
his mother- in- law saw what he had gathered, and brought forth
also that which I had left after I had been satisfied, and gave it
to him, and his mother- in- law told him where thou hast
gleanedded today, and where hast thou laboured? Blessed is he that hath recognized
thee, and she hath told her mother- in- law with whom she
hath labored, and hath spoken the name of the man with whom I have
labored to day is thou, and hath said unto her daughter- in-
law, Blessed be he of the LORD: for he hath not denied to
the living the benevolence which he hath for them that have died. Then said
anah to him, our kinsman, is that man and one of those who
can redeem us and Ruth the Moabite said. Besides this, he told me
to join my maids until all my blind and Naomi are finished. She answered
Ruth, her best daughter- in- law, to go out with her
maids and not to be found in another field. And he stood with the
maids of a voice, and gleaned until the fat of barley and wheat was
gone, and lived with his father- in- law.