God

Again the army of Binyamin went out against the people. Lured away from the city, they began attacking and killing some of the people, as they had the other times - they killed about thirty men of Isra'el in the countryside and on the roads, one of which goes up to Beit-El and the other to Giv'ah.

For ADONAI routed Binyamin in Isra'el's presence; that day the army of Isra'el destroyed 25,100 men of Binyamin, all of whom carried swords;

The people came to Beit-El and stayed there before God till evening crying out and weeping.

They said: "ADONAI, why has this come about in Isra'el? Why should there be today in Isra'el one tribe missing?"

The people of Isra'el asked, "Who among the tribes of Isra'el did not come up to assemble before ADONAI? For they had made a great oath to put to death whoever didn't come up to ADONAI at Mitzpah.

How are we going to obtain wives for those who remain alive, since we've sworn by ADONAI that we won't let our daughters marry them?"

Then they asked who from the tribes of Isra'el had not come up to ADONAI at Mitzpah and found that none had come from Yavesh-Gil'ad to the camp where the assembly was;

The people were still sorry for Binyamin because ADONAI had made a division among the tribes of Isra'el.

Then they said, "Look, each year there's a festival in honor of ADONAI in Shiloh, north of Beit-El, on the east side of the road that goes up from Beit-El to Sh'khem, and south of Levonah."

So she prepared to return with her daughters-in-law from the plain of Mo'av; for in the plain of Mo'av she had heard how ADONAI had paid attention to his people by giving them food.

Na'omi said to her two daughters-in-law, "Each of you, go back to your mother's house. May ADONAI show grace to you, as you did to those who died and to me.

May ADONAI grant you security in the home of a new husband."Then she kissed them, but they began weeping aloud.

would you wait for them until they grew up? Would you refuse to marry, just for them? No, my daughters. On your behalf I feel very bitter that the hand of ADONAI has gone out against me."

But Rut said, "Don't press me to leave you and stop following you; for wherever you go, I will go; and wherever you stay, I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God will be my God.

Where you die, I will die; and there I will be buried. May ADONAI bring terrible curses on me, and worse ones as well, if anything but death separates you and me."

"Don't call me Na'omi [pleasant]," she answered them; "call me Marah [bitter], because Shaddai has made my life very bitter.

I went out full, and ADONAI has brought me back empty. Why call me Na'omi? ADONAI has testified against me, Shaddai has afflicted me."

when Bo'az arrived from Beit-Lechem. He said to the reapers, "ADONAI be with you"; and they answered him, "ADONAI bless you."

May ADONAI reward you for what you've done; may you be rewarded in full by ADONAI the God of Isra'el, under whose wings you have come for refuge."

Na'omi said to her daughter-in-law, "May he be blessed by ADONAI, who has never stopped showing grace, neither to the living nor to the dead." Na'omi also told her, "The man is closely related to us; he's one of our redeeming kinsmen."

He said, "May ADONAI bless you, my daughter. Your latest kindness is even greater than your first, in that you didn't go after the young men, neither the rich ones nor the poor.

Stay tonight. If, in the morning, he will redeem you, fine! - let him redeem you. But if he doesn't want to redeem you, then, as ADONAI lives, I will redeem you. Now, lie down until morning."

All the people at the gate and the leaders said, "We are witnesses. May ADONAI make the woman who has come into your house like Rachel and like Le'ah, who between them built up the house of Isra'el. Do worthy deeds in Efrat; become renowned in Beit-Lechem.

May your house, because of the seed ADONAI will give you from this young woman, become like the house of Peretz, whom Tamar bore to Y'hudah."

So Bo'az took Rut, and she became his wife. He had sexual relations with her, ADONAI enabled her to conceive, and she gave birth to a son.