The .iii. Chapter.
1 Naomi geueth Ruth councel. 8 She sleepeth at Booz feete. 12 He acknowledgeth him selfe to be her kinseman.
[unspec A] 1 THen Naomi her mo∣ther in lawe sayde vn∣to her: My daughter, shal I not seke (a) 1.1 rest for thee, yt thou mayest prosper?
2 And is not Booz our kinsman, with whose maydens thou wast? Beholde, he winnoweth barlie to night in the thresshing “ 1.2 floore.
3 Wasshe thy selfe therfore, and annoynt thee, and put thy rayment vpon thee, & get thee downe to the floore: but let not the man knowe of thee, vntill he haue left eating and drincking.
4 And when he goeth to sleepe, marke the place where he layeth him downe, and then go and lyft vp the clothes that are on his feete, & lay thee downe there: and he shall tel thee what thou shalt do.
5 And she aunswered her: All that thou biddest me, I will do.
6 And she went downe vnto the floore, and dyd according to al that her mother in lawe bad her.
[unspec B] 7 And when Booz had eaten and drun∣ken, & cheared his heart, he went to lye downe at the ende of the heape of corne: and she came softly, and lift vp the clo∣thes of his feete, and layed her downe.
8 And at midnight, the man was afraide, and caught holde: and beholde, a wo∣man lay at his feete.
9 And he sayde: What art thou? She aunswered, I am Ruth thyne hand∣mayde: Spreade the wing of thy [gar∣ment] ouer thyne handmayde, for thou art the kinsman.
10 He sayde: Blessed be thou in the Lord my daughter, for thou hast shewed more goodnesse in the latter ende, then at the beginning, inasmuche as thou folow∣edst not young men, whether they were poore or riche.
11 And nowe my daughter feare not, I [unspec C] will do to the all that thou requirest: for all the citie of my people doth know, that thou art a woman of vertue.
12 And it is true that I am of thy next kinne, howbeit there is one nier then I.
13 Tary this night, and when morning is come, if he wil (b) 1.3 perfourme the part of a kinsman vnto thee, it is good, let him do the kinsmans part: but if he wyl not do the kinsmans part, then wyl I do the duetie of a kinsman, as the Lorde liueth: sleepe vntil the morning.
14 And she lay at his feete vntill the mor∣ning: and she arose vp before one coulde knowe another. And he sayde: Let no man knowe that there came any wo∣man into the floore.
15 And he sayde againe: Bring the man∣tel [unspec D] that thou hast vpon thee, & holde it. And when she held it, he mette in sixe measures of barlye, and layde it on her: And she gat her into the citie.
16 And when she came in, to her mother in lawe, she sayde: Who art thou, my daughter? And she tolde her all that the man had done to her,
17 And sayde: These sixe measures of bar∣lye gaue he me, and sayde: Thou shalt not come emptie vnto thy mother in lawe.
18 Then sayde she: My daughter, sit still vntil thou knowe howe the matter will fall: for the man will not be in rest, vn∣till he haue finished the thing this same day.