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¹ THEN Boaz went up to the city gate and sat down there; and behold, the near kinsman of whom Boaz had spoken was passing by; and Boaz said to him, Come, sit down here. And the man said to him, What do you wish? And he sat down by him.² And Boaz selected ten men of the elders of the city, and seated them by him.³ And he said to the near kinsman, Naomi is selling to me the parcel of land which belonged to our brother Elimeleck;⁴ And I thought to let you know, and say to you, Buy it in the presence of those who are seated, for I am ready to speak and to purchase it in the presence of the elders of my people who are seated. And now, if you will redeem it, redeem it; but if you will not redeem it, then tell me, that I may know that you will not redeem it; then I will redeem it. And he said, I will redeem it.⁵ Then Boaz said, On the day you buy the field from Naomi and from Ruth, the Moabitess, the widow of the dead, you must buy it with the intention of raising the name of the dead upon his inheritance.⁶ And the near kinsman said, I cannot redeem it for myself, lest I damage my own inheritance; you can redeem it yourself; because of my lack of confidence in this transaction I cannot redeem it.⁷ Now this was the custom in former time in Israel concerning redeeming and the exchanging of rights to redeem which confirmed transactions: a man pulled off his shoe and gave it to another; and this was the testimonial ceremony in Israel.⁸ Therefore the near kinsman said to Boaz, Buy it for yourself. And he took off his shoe.

⁹ And Boaz said to the elders and to all the people, You are witnesses this day, that I have bought all that belonged to Elimeleck, and all that belonged to Malion and Calion, from the hand of Naomi.¹⁰ Moreover, Ruth the Moabitess, the wife of Malion, have I taken to be my wife, to raise up the name of the dead upon his inheritance, so that the name of the dead may not be cut off and his remembrance may not be forgotten among his brethren and his family; you are witnesses this day.¹¹ And all the people and the elders that were at the city gate, answered, saying, We are witnesses. And they blessed him, and said to him. May the LORD make this woman who is in your presence like Rachel and like Leah, for both of them built up the house of Israel; and may you do worthily in Ephratah, and call its name Beth-lehem.¹² And let your house be like the house of Pharez, whom Tamar bore to Judah, and may the LORD give you an offspring from this woman.

¹³ So Boaz took Ruth, and she became his wife; and when he went in unto her, the LORD gave her conception, and she bore a son.¹⁴ And the women said to Naomi, Blessed be the LORD, who has not left you this day without a kinsman, that his name may be famous in Israel.¹⁵ And he shall be to you a comforter of your soul and a nourisher to your city; for your daughter-in-law, who loves you and is better to you than seven sons, has borne him.¹⁶ And Naomi took the child, and laid him in her bosom, and became nurse to him.¹⁷ And the women who were her neighbors said, A son has been born to Naomi; and they called his name Obed; he is the father of Jesse, the father of David.¹⁸ Now these are the generations of Pharez: Pharez begat Hezron,¹⁹ And Hezron begat Aram, and Aram begat Amminadab,²⁰ And Amminadab begat Nahshon, and Nahshon begat Shelah,²¹ And Shelah begat Boaz, and Boaz begat Obed,²² And Obed begat Jesse, and Jesse begat King David.