Ruth 4

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1. 1Boaz went up to the town gate and sat down there. Sure enough, the closer relative he had mentioned came walking by. Boaz called out, "Friend, come sit down here!" So the man came over and sat down.
2. 2Then Boaz gathered 10 of the town's elders and said, "Please, sit down here." They sat down.
3. 3Boaz said to the closer relative, "Naomi, who has come back from Moab, is selling the piece of land that belonged to our brother Elimelech."
4. 4I wanted to bring this to your attention and say: buy it here in front of these witnesses and the elders of our people. If you're willing to redeem it, go ahead. But if not, tell me now, because you have the first right to buy it, and I'm next in line." The man said, "I'll redeem it."
5. 5Then Boaz said, "The day you buy the field from Naomi, you must also buy it from Ruth the Moabitess, the wife of the deceased, to raise up the name of the dead upon his inheritance."
6. 6The closer relative said, "Then I can't redeem it — that would put my own inheritance at risk. You take my right of redemption. I can't do it."
7. 7Now in those days, it was the custom in Israel that when a deal involving redemption or exchange was finalized, one man would take off his sandal and hand it to the other. This was how transactions were made official in Israel.
8. 8So the closer relative told Boaz, "Buy it yourself," and he pulled off his sandal.
9. 9Boaz said to the elders and to all the people, "You are witnesses today that I have bought all that was Elimelech's, and all that was Chilion's and Mahlon's, from the hand of Naomi.
10. 10I have also taken Ruth the Moabitess, Mahlon's widow, as my wife, so that the dead man's name will be carried on through his inheritance and will not disappear from among his family or from this town. You are all witnesses today."
11. 11All the people at the gate and the elders said, "We are witnesses! May the LORD make this woman coming into your home like Rachel and Leah, the two who built up the house of Israel. May you prosper in Ephrathah and become famous in Bethlehem.
12. 12May your family be like the family of Perez, whom Tamar bore to Judah, through the children the LORD gives you by this young woman."
13. 13So Boaz married Ruth, and when he went in to her, the LORD enabled her to become pregnant, and she gave birth to a son.
14. 14The women said to Naomi, "Blessed be the LORD, who has not left you without a kinsman today. May his name become famous in Israel."
15. 15He shall restore your life and nourish 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. 16Naomi took the baby, held him close to her chest, and cared for him.
17. 17The neighborhood women gave him a name, saying, "Naomi has a son!" They named him Obed. He became the father of Jesse, who became the father of David.
18. 18Here is the family line of Perez: Perez was the father of Hezron.
19. 19Hezron was the father of Ram, and Ram was the father of Amminadab.
20. 20Amminadab was the father of Nahshon, and Nahshon was the father of Salmon.
21. 21Salmon was the father of Boaz, and Boaz was the father of Obed.
22. 22Obed was the father of Jesse, and Jesse was the father of David.