4:1 Meanwhile Boaz went up to the town gate and sat there. When the kinsman-redeemer he had mentioned came along, Boaz said, “Come over here, my friend, and sit down.” So he went over and sat down.
4:2 Boaz took ten of the elders of the town and said, “Sit here,” and they did so.
4:3 Then he said to the kinsman-redeemer, “Naomi, who has come back from Moab, is selling the piece of land that belonged to our brother Elimelech.
4:4 I thought I should bring the matter to your attention and suggest that you buy it in the presence of these seated here and in the presence of the elders of my people. If you will redeem it, do so. But if you will not, tell me, so I will know. For no one has the right to do it except you, and I am next in line.” “I will redeem it,” he said.
4:5 Then Boaz said, “On the day you buy the land from Naomi and from Ruth the Moabitess, you acquire the dead man’s widow, in order to maintain the name of the dead with his property.”
4:6 At this, the kinsman-redeemer said, “Then I cannot redeem it because I might endanger my own estate. You redeem it yourself. I cannot do it.”
4:7 (Now in earlier times in Israel, for the redemption and transfer of property to become final, one party took off his sandal and gave it to the other. This was the method of legalizing transactions in Israel.)
4:8 So the kinsman-redeemer said to Boaz, “Buy it yourself.” And he removed his sandal.
4:9 Then Boaz announced to the elders and all the people, “Today you are witnesses that I have bought from Naomi all the property of Elimelech, Kilion and Mahlon.
4:10 I have also acquired Ruth the Moabitess, Mahlon’s widow, as my wife, in order to maintain the name of the dead with his property, so that his name will not disappear from among his family or from the town records. Today you are witnesses!”
4:11 Then the elders and all those at the gate said, “We are witnesses. May the LORD make the woman who is coming into your home like Rachel and Leah, who together built up the house of Israel. May you have standing in Ephrathah and be famous in Bethlehem.
4:12 Through the offspring the LORD gives you by this young woman, may your family be like that of Perez, whom Tamar bore to Judah.”
4:13 So Boaz took Ruth and she became his wife. Then he went to her, and the LORD enabled her to conceive, and she gave birth to a son.
4:14 The women said to Naomi: “Praise be to the LORD, who this day has not left you without a kinsman-redeemer. May he become famous throughout Israel!
4:15 He will renew your life and sustain you in your old age. For your daughter-in-law, who loves you and who is better to you than seven sons, has given him birth.”
4:16 Then Naomi took the child, laid him in her lap and cared for him.
4:17 The women living there said, “Naomi has a son.” And they named him Obed. He was the father of Jesse, the father of David.
4:18 This, then, is the family line of Perez: Perez was the father of Hezron,
4:19 Hezron the father of Ram, Ram the father of Amminadab,
4:20 Amminadab the father of Nahshon, Nahshon the father of Salmon,
4:21 Salmon the father of Boaz, Boaz the father of Obed,
4:22 Obed the father of Jesse, and Jesse the father of David.
4:1 Then Boaz went up to the gate and sat there. And just then the kinsman of whom Boaz had spoken came by. And Boaz said, Turn aside and sit here, friend. And he turned aside and sat down.
4:2 And he took ten men from among the elders of the city and said, Sit here. And they sat down.
4:3 And he said to the kinsman, Naomi, who has returned from the country of Moab, has put up for sale the portion of the field that belonged to our brother Elimelech.
4:4 So I thought that I should disclose this to you and say, Buy it in the presence of those sitting here and in the presence of the elders of my people. If you can redeem it, redeem it; but if you cannot redeem it, tell me so that I will know; for there is no one to redeem it ahead of you, and I am after you. And he said, I will redeem it.
4:5 Then Boaz said, On the day you buy the field from Naomi’s hand, you must also acquire Ruth the Moabitess, the wife of the dead man, in order to raise up the dead man’s name upon his inheritance.
4:6 And the kinsman said, I cannot redeem it for myself, or else I will mar my own inheritance. You redeem for yourself what I should redeem, for I cannot redeem it.
4:7 Now such was the custom formerly in Israel concerning redeeming and exchanging that to establish any matter a man would draw off his sandal and give it to his neighbor; this was the way of attesting it in Israel.
4:8 So when the kinsman said to Boaz, Buy it for yourself, he drew off his sandal.
4:9 And Boaz said to the elders and all the people, You are witnesses today, that I buy from Naomi’s hand all that was Elimelech’s and all that was Chilion’s and Mahlon’s.
4:10 Furthermore Ruth the Moabitess, the wife of Mahlon, I acquire as my own wife so that I may raise up the dead man’s name upon his inheritance and the dead man’s name may not be cut off from among his brothers and from the gate of his place. You are witnesses today.
4:11 And all the people who were in the gate and the elders said, We are witnesses. May Jehovah make the woman who has come into your house like Rachel and like Leah, the two who built the house of Israel. And prosper in Ephrathah, and gain a name in Bethlehem.
4:12 And may your house be like the house of Perez, whom Tamar bore to Judah, through the seed that Jehovah gives you by this young woman.
4:13 So Boaz took Ruth, and she became his wife; and he went in unto her, and Jehovah made her conceive; and she bore a son.
4:14 And the women said to Naomi, Blessed be Jehovah, who has not left you today without a kinsman; and may his name be famous in Israel.
4:15 And he will be to you as a restorer of life and a sustainer in your old age; for your daughter-in-law, who loves you and is better to you than seven sons, has borne him.
4:16 And Naomi took the child and laid him on her bosom, and she became his nurse.
4:17 And the women neighbors gave him a name, saying, A son has been born to Naomi; and they called his name Obed. He is the father of Jesse, the father of David.
4:18 Now these are the generations of Perez: Perez begot Hezron,
4:19 And Hezron begot Ram, and Ram begot Amminadab,
4:20 And Amminadab begot Nahshon, and Nahshon begot Salmon,
4:21 And Salmon begot Boaz, and Boaz begot Obed,
4:22 And Obed begot Jesse, and Jesse begot David.