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Boaz went to the gate of the town and sat down there. There he saw the kinsman-redeemer, of whom he had spoken, passing by. Boaz said to him, “Come over here, my friend, and sit down.” So he turned aside and sat down.
2 Then Boaz took ten men from the elders of the city, and said, “Sit down here.” And they sat down. 3 Then he said to the kinsman-redeemer, “Naomi, who has come back from the land of Moab, is selling the piece of land that belonged to our brother Elimelech. 4 I thought I would inform you of it, and say, ‘Buy it back in the presence of those seated here, and in the presence of the elders of my people. If you will redeem it, then do so. But if you will not redeem it, then tell me so, so I will know. For there is no one elso other than you to redeem it, and I am next after you’.”
“I will redeem it,” he said.
5 Then Boaz said, “On the day you buy the field from Naomi, you will also acquire Ruth the Moabitess, the widow of the dead man, to perpetuate the deceased man’s name on his property.”
6 At this the kinsman-redeemer replied, “I cannot redeem it for myself, for I might endanger my own inheritance. You take my right of redemption, because I cannot redeem it.”
7 Now in earlier times in Israel, the redemption and exchange of property was settled by the act of one man removing his sandal and giving it to the other. This was the method for legally binding such transactions in Israel.
8 So the kinsman-redeemer said to Boaz, “Buy it for yourself.” So he took off his sandal.
9 Boaz said to the elders and all the people, “You are witnesses this day that I am buying from Naomi all the property of Elimelech, Chilion, and Mahlon. 10 I have also acquired Ruth the Moabitess, Mahlon’s widow, to be my wife, to perpetuate the deceased man’s name on his property, so that his name will not disappear from among his family, or from the gate of his home. You are my witnesses today.”
11 Then the elders and all the people who were at the gate 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 be famous in Bethlehem. 12 May your house become like the house of Perez, whom Tamar bore to Judah, because of the offspring that the Lord will give you by this young woman.”
13 So Boaz took Ruth and she became his wife. When they were intimate together, the Lord enabled her to conceive, and she gave birth to a son. 14 Then Ruth said to Naomi, “Blessed be the Lord, who has not left you without a kinsman-redeemer this day. May his name become famous in Israel! 15 He will renew your life, and sustain 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 Then Naomi took the child, laid him on her lap, and took care of him. 17 The neighbouring women said, “A son has been born to Naomi.” And they named him Obed. He was the father of Jesse, the father of David.
18 Now this is the geneology of Perez:
Perez was the father of Hezron,
19 Hezron was the father of Ram,
Ram was the father of Amminadab,
20 Amminadab was the father of Nahshon,
Nahshon was the father of Salmon,
21 Salmon was the father of Boaz,
Boaz was the father of Obed,
22 Obed was the father of Jesse,
and Jesse was the father of David.