Ruth 4:1

NET Bible® (New English Translation)

Boaz Settles the Matter Now Boaz went up to the village gate and sat there. Then along came the guardian whom Boaz had mentioned to Ruth! Boaz said,“Come here, what’s-your-name, and sit down.” So he came and sat down.

Additional Resources

Referenced Verses

  • Ruth 3:12 : 12 Now yes, it is true that I am a guardian, but there is another guardian who is a closer relative than I am.
  • Deut 25:7 : 7 But if the man does not want to marry his brother’s widow, then she must go to the elders at the town gate and say,“My husband’s brother refuses to preserve his brother’s name in Israel; he is unwilling to perform the duty of a brother-in-law to me!”
  • Deut 21:19 : 19 his father and mother must seize him and bring him to the elders at the gate of his city.
  • Deut 16:18 : 18 Provision for Justice You must appoint judges and civil servants for each tribe in all your villages that the LORD your God is giving you, and they must judge the people fairly.
  • Job 29:7 : 7 When I went out to the city gate and secured my seat in the public square,
  • Job 31:21 : 21 if I have raised my hand to vote against the orphan, when I saw my support in the court,
  • Isa 55:1 : 1 The Lord Gives an Invitation“Hey, all who are thirsty, come to the water! You who have no money, come! Buy and eat! Come! Buy wine and milk without money and without cost!
  • Amos 5:10-12 : 10 The Israelites hate anyone who arbitrates at the city gate; they despise anyone who speaks honestly. 11 Therefore, because you make the poor pay taxes on their crops and exact a grain tax from them, you will not live in the houses you built with chiseled stone, nor will you drink the wine from the fine vineyards you planted. 12 Certainly I am aware of your many rebellious acts and your numerous sins. You torment the innocent, you take bribes, and you deny justice to the needy at the city gate.
  • Amos 5:15 : 15 Hate what is wrong, love what is right! Promote justice at the city gate! Maybe the LORD God of Heaven’s Armies, will have mercy on those who are left from Joseph.
  • Zech 2:6 : 6 “You there! Flee from the northland!” says the LORD,“for like the four winds of heaven I have scattered you,” says the LORD.
  • Deut 17:5 : 5 you must bring to your city gates that man or woman who has done this wicked thing– that very man or woman– and you must stone that person to death.

Similar Verses (AI)

These verses are found using AI-powered semantic similarity based on meaning and context. Results may occasionally include unexpected connections.

  • Ruth 4:2-11
    10 verses
    86%

    2Boaz chose ten of the village leaders and said,“Sit down here!” So they sat down.

    3Then Boaz said to the guardian,“Naomi, who has returned from the region of Moab, is selling the portion of land that belongs to our relative Elimelech.

    4So I am legally informing you: Acquire it before those sitting here and before the leaders of my people! If you want to exercise your right to redeem it, then do so. But if not, then tell me so I will know. For you possess the first option to redeem it; I am next in line after you.” He replied,“I will redeem it.”

    5Then Boaz said,“When you acquire the field from Naomi, you must also acquire Ruth the Moabite, the wife of our deceased relative, in order to preserve his family name by raising up a descendant who will inherit his property.”

    6The guardian said,“Then I am unable to redeem it, for I would ruin my own inheritance in that case. You may exercise my redemption option, for I am unable to redeem it.”

    7(Now this used to be the customary way to finalize a transaction involving redemption in Israel: A man would remove his sandal and give it to the other party. This was a legally binding act in Israel.)

    8So the guardian said to Boaz,“You may acquire it,” and he removed his sandal.

    9Then Boaz said to the leaders and all the people,“You are witnesses today that I have acquired from Naomi all that belonged to Elimelech, Kilion, and Mahlon.

    10I have also acquired Ruth the Moabite, the wife of Mahlon, as my wife to raise up a descendant who will inherit his property so the name of the deceased might not disappear from among his relatives and from his village. You are witnesses today.”

    11All the people who were at the gate and the elders replied,“We are witnesses. May the LORD make the woman who is entering your home like Rachel and Leah, both of whom built up the house of Israel! May you prosper in Ephrathah and become famous in Bethlehem.

  • Ruth 2:1-11
    11 verses
    79%

    1Ruth Works in the Field of Boaz Now Naomi had a relative on her husband’s side of the family named Boaz. He was a wealthy, prominent man from the clan of Elimelech.

    2One day Ruth the Moabite said to Naomi,“Let me go to the fields so I can gather grain behind whoever permits me to do so.” Naomi replied,“You may go, my daughter.”

    3So Ruth went and gathered grain in the fields behind the harvesters. Now she just happened to end up in the portion of the field belonging to Boaz, who was from the clan of Elimelech.

    4Boaz and Ruth Meet Now at that very moment, Boaz arrived from Bethlehem and greeted the harvesters,“May the LORD be with you!” They replied,“May the LORD bless you!”

    5Boaz asked his servant in charge of the harvesters,“To whom does this young woman belong?”

    6The servant in charge of the harvesters replied,“She’s the young Moabite woman who came back with Naomi from the region of Moab.

    7She asked,‘May I follow the harvesters and gather grain among the bundles?’ Since she arrived she has been working hard from this morning until now– except for sitting in the resting hut a short time.”

    8So Boaz said to Ruth,“Listen carefully, my dear! Do not leave to gather grain in another field. You need not go beyond the limits of this field. You may go along beside my female workers.

    9Take note of the field where the men are harvesting and follow behind with the female workers. I will tell the men to leave you alone. When you are thirsty, you may go to the water jars and drink some of the water the servants draw.”

    10Ruth knelt before him with her forehead to the ground and said to him,“Why are you so kind and so attentive to me, even though I am a foreigner?”

    11Boaz replied to her,“I have been given a full report of all that you have done for your mother-in-law following the death of your husband– how you left your father and your mother, as well as your homeland, and came to live among people you did not know previously.

  • Ruth 3:1-3
    3 verses
    75%

    1Naomi Instructs Ruth At that time, Naomi, her mother-in-law, said to her,“My daughter, I must find a home for you so you will be secure.

    2Now Boaz, with whose female servants you worked, is our close relative. Look, tonight he is winnowing barley at the threshing floor.

    3So bathe yourself, rub on some perfumed oil, and get dressed up. Then go down to the threshing floor. But don’t let the man know you’re there until he finishes his meal.

  • Ruth 3:6-9
    4 verses
    74%

    6Ruth Visits Boaz So she went down to the threshing floor and did everything her mother-in-law had instructed her to do.

    7When Boaz had finished his meal and was feeling satisfied, he lay down to sleep at the far end of the grain heap. Then Ruth crept up quietly, uncovered his legs, and lay down beside him.

    8In the middle of the night he was startled and turned over. Now he saw a woman lying beside him!

    9He said,“Who are you?” She replied,“I am Ruth, your servant. Marry your servant, for you are a guardian of the family interests.”

  • Ruth 2:18-23
    6 verses
    74%

    18Ruth Returns to Naomi She carried it back to town, and her mother-in-law saw how much grain she had gathered. Then Ruth gave her the roasted grain she had saved from mealtime.

    19Her mother-in-law asked her,“Where did you gather grain today? Where did you work? May the one who took notice of you be rewarded!” So Ruth told her mother-in-law with whom she had worked. She said,“The name of the man with whom I worked today is Boaz.”

    20Naomi said to her daughter-in-law,“May he be rewarded by the LORD because he has shown loyalty to the living on behalf of the dead!” Then Naomi said to her,“This man is a close relative of ours; he is our guardian.”

    21Ruth the Moabite replied,“He even told me,‘You may go along beside my servants until they have finished gathering all my harvest!’”

    22Naomi then said to her daughter-in-law Ruth,“It is good, my daughter, that you should go out to work with his female servants. That way you will not be harmed, which could happen in another field.”

    23So Ruth worked beside Boaz’s female servants, gathering grain until the end of the barley harvest as well as the wheat harvest. After that she stayed home with her mother-in-law.

  • Ruth 2:13-16
    4 verses
    73%

    13She said,“You really are being kind to me, sir, for you have reassured and encouraged me, your servant, even though I will never be like one of your servants!”

    14Later during the mealtime Boaz said to her,“Come here and have some food! Dip your bread in the vinegar!” So she sat down beside the harvesters. Then he handed her some roasted grain. She ate until she was full and saved the rest.

    15When she got up to gather grain, Boaz told his male servants,“Let her gather grain even among the bundles! Don’t chase her off!

    16Make sure you pull out ears of grain for her and drop them so she can gather them up. Don’t tell her not to!”

  • Ruth 3:12-14
    3 verses
    71%

    12Now yes, it is true that I am a guardian, but there is another guardian who is a closer relative than I am.

    13Remain here tonight. Then in the morning, if he agrees to marry you, fine, let him do so. But if he does not want to do so, I promise, as surely as the LORD lives, to marry you. Sleep here until morning.”

    14So she slept beside him until morning. She woke up while it was still dark. Boaz thought,“No one must know that a woman visited the threshing floor.”

  • Ruth 1:1-2
    2 verses
    70%

    1¶ A Family Tragedy: Famine and Death During the time of the judges there was a famine in the land of Judah. So a man from Bethlehem in Judah went to live as a resident foreigner in the region of Moab, along with his wife and two sons.

    2(Now the man’s name was Elimelech, his wife was Naomi, and his two sons were Mahlon and Kilion. They were of the clan of Ephrath from Bethlehem in Judah.) They entered the region of Moab and settled there.

  • Ruth 4:13-14
    2 verses
    69%

    13A Grandson is Born to Naomi So Boaz married Ruth and slept with her. The LORD enabled her to conceive and she gave birth to a son.

    14The village women said to Naomi,“May the LORD be praised because he has not left you without a guardian today! May he become famous in Israel!

  • 22So Naomi returned, accompanied by her Moabite daughter-in-law Ruth, who came back with her from the region of Moab.(Now they arrived in Bethlehem at the beginning of the barley harvest.)

  • Ruth 1:6-7
    2 verses
    69%

    6So she decided to return home from the region of Moab, accompanied by her daughters-in-law, because while she was living in Moab she had heard that the LORD had shown concern for his people, reversing the famine by providing abundant crops.

    7Ruth Returns with Naomi Now as she and her two daughters-in-law began to leave the place where she had been living to return to the land of Judah,

  • 16and she returned to her mother-in-law. Ruth Returns to NaomiWhen Ruth returned to her mother-in-law, Naomi asked,“How did things turn out for you, my daughter?” Ruth told her about all the man had done for her.

  • 6So Hathach went to Mordecai at the plaza of the city in front of the king’s gate.