መጽሐፈ ሩት 3 (አማ 54)
አማትዋም ኑኃሚን አለቻት “ልጄ ሆይ! መልካም እንዲሆንልሽ ዕረፍት አልፈልግልሽምን? አሁንም ከገረዶቹ ጋር የነበርሽበት ቦዔዝ ዘመዳችን አይደለምን? እነሆ፥ እርሱ በዛሬ ሌሊት በአውድማው ላይ ገብሱን በመንሽ ትበትናል። እንግዲህ ታጠቢ፤ ተቀቢ፤ ልብስሽን ተላበሺ፤ ወደ አውድማውም ውረጂ፤ ነገር ግን መብሉንና መጠጡን እስኪጨርስ ድረስ ለሰውዮው አትታዪው። በትኛም ጊዜ የሚተኛበትን ስፍራ ተመልከቺ፤ ገብተሽም እግሩን ግለጪ፤ ተጋደሚም፤ የምታደርጊውንም እርሱ ይነግርሻል።” ሩትም “የተናገርሽኝን ሁሉ አደርጋለሁ፤” አለቻት። ወደ አውድማውም ወረደች፤ አማትዋም ያዘዘቻትን ሁሉ አደረገች። ቦዔዝም ከበላና ከጠጣ ሰውነቱንም ደስ ካሰኘ በላ፥ በእህሉ ክምር አጠገብ ሊተኛ ሄደ፤ ሩትም በቀስታ መጣች፤ እግሩንም ገልጣ ተኛች። መንፈቀ ሌሊትም በሆነ ጊዜ ሰውዮው ደነገጠ፤ ዘወርም አለ፤ እነሆም፥ አንዲት ሴት በእግርጌው ተኝታ ነበረች። እርሱም “ማን ነሽ?” አለ። እርስዋም “እኔ ባሪያህ ሩት ነኝ፤ ዋርሳዬ ነህና ልብስህን በባሪያህ ላይ ዘርጋ፤” አለችው። ቦዔዝም አላት “ልጄ ሆይ! በእግዚአብሔር የተባረክሽ ሁኚ፤ ባለጠጋም ድሀም ብለሽ ጐበዛዝትን አልተከተልሽምና ከፊተኛው ይልቅ በመጨረሻው ጊዜ ቸርነት አድርገሻል። አሁንም፥ ልጄ ሆይ! አትፍሪ፤ በአገሬ ያሉ ሕዝብ ሁሉ ምግባረ መልካም ሴት እንደ ሆንሽ ያውቃሉና ያልሽውን ነገር ሁሉ አደርግልሻለሁ። የቅርብ ዘመድ መሆኔ እውነት ነው፤ ነገር ግን ከእኔ የቀረበ ዘመድ አለ። ዛሬ ሌሊት እደሪ፤ ነገም እርሱ ዋርሳ መሆን ቢወድድ መልካም ነው፤ ዋርሳ ይሁን፤ ዋርሳ ሊሆን ባይወድድ ግን፥ ሕያው እግዚአብሔርን! እኔ ዋርሳ እሆንሻለሁ፤ እስኪነጋ ድረስ ተኚ።” እስኪነጋም በእግርጌው ተኛች፤ ቦዔዝም “ሴት ወደ አውድማው እንደ መጣች ማንም እንዳያውቅ፤” ብሎ ነበርና ገና ሰውና ሰው ሳይተያይ ተነሣች። እርሱም “የለበስሽውን ኩታ አምጥተሽ ያዢው፤” አላት፤ በያዘችም ጊዜ ስድስት መስፈሪያ ገብስ ሰፈረላት፤ አሸከማትም። እርሱም ወደ ከተማይቱ ሄደ። ወደ አማትዋም መጣች፤ አማትዋም “ልጄ ሆይ! እንዴት ነሽ?” አለቻት፤ እርስዋም ስውዮው ያደረገላትን ሁሉ ነገረቻት። “‘ወደ አማትሽም ባዶ እጅሽን አትሂጂ፤’ ብሎ ይህን ስድስት መስፈሪያ ገብስ ሰጠኝ፤” አለቻት። እርስዋም “ልጄ ሆይ! ስውዮው ይህን ነገር ዛሬ እስኪጨርስ ድረስ አያርፍምና ፍጻሜው እስኪታወቅ ድረስ ዝም በዪ፤” አለች።
መጽሐፈ ሩት 4 (አማ 54)
ቦዓዝም ወደ ከተማይቱ በር አደባባይ ወጥቶ በዚያ ተቀመጠ። እነሆም፥ ቦዔዝ ስለ እርሱ ይናገር የነበረው የቅርብ ዘመድ ሲያልፍ ቦዔዝ “አንተ ቀርበህ በዚህ ተቀመጥ፤” አለው። እርሱም ቀረብ ብሎ ተቀመጠ። ቦዔዝም ከከተማይቱ ሽማግሌዎች ዐሥር ሰዎች ጠርቶ “በዚህ ተቀመጡ፤” አላቸው። ቦዔዝም የቅርብ ዘመዱን “ከሞዓብ ምድር የተመለሰችው ኑኃሚን የወንድማችንን የአቤሜሌክን መሬት ትሸጣለች። እኔም በዚህ በተቀመጡት በሕዝቤ ሽማግሌዎች ፊት እንድትገዛው አስታውቅህ ዘንድ አሰብሁ። መቤዠት ብትወድድ ተቤዥው፤ መቤዥት ባትወድድ ግን ከአንተ በቀር ሌላ ወራሽ የለምና፥ እኔም ከእንተ በኋላ ነኝና እንዳውቀው ንገረኝ፤” አለው። እርሱም “እቤዠዋለሁ፤” አለው። ቦዔዝም “እርሻውን ከኑኃሚን እጅ በምትገዛበት ቀን፥ ለሞተው በርስቱ ስሙን እንድታስነሣለት ከምዋቹ ሚስት ከሞዓባዊቱ ከሩት ደግሞ ትገዛለህ፤” አለ። የቅርብ ዘመዱም “የራሴን ርስት እንዳላበላሽ መቤዠት አልችልም፤ እኔ መቤዠቱን አልችልምና አንተ ከእኔ መቤዠቱን ውሰደው፤” አለ።
በጥንት ጊዜም፥ ማንም ቢሸጥ ቢለውጥም፥ ነገሩን ለማጽናት ሰው ጫማውን እንዲያወልቅ ለባልንጀራውም እንዲሰጠው በእስራኤል ዘንድ ልማድ ነበረ። ይህም በእስራኤል ምስክር ነበረ። የቅርብ ዘመዱም ቦዔዝን “አንተ ግዛው” አለው፤ ጫማውንም አወለቀ። ቦዔዝም ሽማግሌዎችንና ሕዝቡን ሁሉ “ለአቤሜሌክና ለኬሌዎን ለመሐሎንም የነበረውን ሁሉ ከኑኃሚን እጅ እንደ ገዛሁ እናንተ ዛሬ ምስክሮች ናችሁ። ደግሞም የምዋቹ ስም ከወንድሞቹ መካከል ከአገርም ደጅ እንዳይጠፋ፥ የምዋቹን ስም በርስቱ ላይ እንዳስነሣ የመሐሎንን ሚስት ሞዓባዊቱን ሩትን ሚስት ትሆነኝ ዘንድ ወሰድሁአት፤ እናንተም ዛሬ ምስክሮች ናችሁ፤” አላቸው። በከተማይቱ በር አደባባይም የነበሩ ሕዝብ ሁሉ ሽማግሌዎቹም “እኛ ምስክሮች ነን፤ እግዚአብሔር ይህችን ወደ ቤትህ የምትገባውን ሴት የእስራኤልን ቤት እንደ ሠሩ እንደ ሁለቱ እንደ ራሔልና እንደ ልያ ያድርጋት፤ አንተም በኤፍራታ ባለ ጠጋ ሁን፤ ስምህም በቤተ ልሔም ይጠራ። ቤትህም እግዚአብሔር ከዚህች ቈንጆ ከሚስጥህ ዘር ትዕማር ለይሁዳ እንደ ወለደችው እንደ ፋሬስ ቤት ይሁን፤” አሉት።
ቦዔዝም ሩትን ወሰደ፤ ሚስትም ሆነችው፤ ደረስባትም፤ እግዚአብሔርም ፅንስ ሰጣት፤ ወንድ ልጅም ወለደች። 14ሴቶችም ኑኃሚንን “ዛሬ ዋርሳ ያላሳጣሽ እግዚአብሔር ይባረክ፤ ስሙም በእስራኤል ይጠራ። ከሰባትም ወንዶች ልጆች ይልቅ ለአንቺ ከምትሻል ከምትወድድሽ ምራት ተወልዶአልና ሰውነትሽን ያሳድሰዋል፤ በእርጅናሽም ይመገባሻል፤” አሉአት። ኑኃሚንም ሕፃኑን ወሰደች አቀፈችውም፤ ሞግዚትም ሆነችው። ሴቶችም ጎረቤቶችዋ፥ “ለኑኃሚን ወንድ ልጅ ተወለደላት፤” እያሉ ስም አወጡለት፤ ስሙንም ኢዮቤድ ብለው ጠሩት። እርሱም የዳዊት እባት የሆነው የእሴይ አባት ነው። የፋሬስም ትውልድ ይህ ነው፤ ፋሬስ ኤስሮምን ወለደ፤ ኤስሮምም አራምን ወለደ። አራምም አሚናዳብን ወለደ፤ አሚናዳብም ነአሶንን ወለደ፤ ነአሶንም ሰልሞንን ወለደ፤ ሰልሞንም ቦዔዝን ወለደ፤ ቦዔዝም ኢዮቤድን ወለደ፤ ኢዮቤድም እሴይን ወለደ፤ እሴይም ዳዊትን ወለደ።
Ruth 3 (ESV)
Then Naomi her mother-in-law said to her, “My daughter, should I not seek rest for you, that it may be well with you? Is not Boaz our relative, with whose young women you were? See, he is winnowing barley tonight at the threshing floor. Wash therefore and anoint yourself, and put on your cloak and go down to the threshing floor, but do not make yourself known to the man until he has finished eating and drinking. But when he lies down, observe the place where he lies. Then go and uncover his feet and lie down, and he will tell you what to do.” And she replied, “All that you say I will do.” So she went down to the threshing floor and did just as her mother-in-law had commanded her. And when Boaz had eaten and drunk, and his heart was merry, he went to lie down at the end of the heap of grain. Then she came softly and uncovered his feet and lay down. At midnight the man was startled and turned over, and behold, a woman lay at his feet! He said, “Who are you?” And she answered, “I am Ruth, your servant. Spread your wings over your servant, for you are a redeemer.” And he said, “May you be blessed by the Lord, my daughter. You have made this last kindness greater than the first in that you have not gone after young men, whether poor or rich. And now, my daughter, do not fear. I will do for you all that you ask, for all my fellow townsmen know that you are a worthy woman. And now it is true that I am a redeemer. Yet there is a redeemer nearer than I. Remain tonight, and in the morning, if he will redeem you, good; let him do it. But if he is not willing to redeem you, then, as the Lord lives, I will redeem you. Lie down until the morning.” So she lay at his feet until the morning, but arose before one could recognize another. And he said, “Let it not be known that the woman came to the threshing floor.” And he said, “Bring the garment you are wearing and hold it out.” So she held it, and he measured out six measures of barley and put it on her. Then she went into the city. And when she came to her mother-in-law, she said, “How did you fare, my daughter?” Then she told her all that the man had done for her, saying, “These six measures of barley he gave to me, for he said to me, ‘You must not go back empty-handed to your mother-in-law.’” She replied, “Wait, my daughter, until you learn how the matter turns out, for the man will not rest but will settle the matter today.”
Ruth 4 (ESV)
Now Boaz had gone up to the gate and sat down there. And behold, the redeemer, of whom Boaz had spoken, came by. So Boaz said, “Turn aside, friend; sit down here.” And he turned aside and sat down. And he took ten men of the elders of the city and said, “Sit down here.” So they sat down. Then he said to the redeemer, “Naomi, who has come back from the country of Moab, is selling the parcel of land that belonged to our relative Elimelech. So I thought I would tell you of it and say, ‘Buy it in the presence of those sitting here and in the presence of the elders of my people.’ If you will redeem it, redeem it. But if you will not, tell me, that I may know, for there is no one besides you to redeem it, and I come after you.” And he said, “I will redeem it.” Then Boaz said, “The day you buy the field from the hand of Naomi, you also acquire Ruth the Moabite, the widow of the dead, in order to perpetuate the name of the dead in his inheritance.” Then the redeemer said, “I cannot redeem it for myself, lest I impair my own inheritance. Take my right of redemption yourself, for I cannot redeem it.” Now this was the custom in former times in Israel concerning redeeming and exchanging: to confirm a transaction, the one drew off his sandal and gave it to the other, and this was the manner of attesting in Israel. So when the redeemer said to Boaz, “Buy it for yourself,” he drew off his sandal. Then Boaz said to the elders and all the people, “You are witnesses this day that I have bought from the hand of Naomi all that belonged to Elimelech and all that belonged to Chilion and to Mahlon. Also Ruth the Moabite, the widow of Mahlon, I have bought to be my wife, to perpetuate the name of the dead in his inheritance, that the name of the dead may not be cut off from among his brothers and from the gate of his native place. You are witnesses this day.” Then all the people who were at the gate and the elders 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 act worthily in Ephrathah and be renowned in Bethlehem, and may your house be like the house of Perez, whom Tamar bore to Judah, because of the offspring that the Lord will give you by this young woman.” So Boaz took Ruth, and she became his wife. And he went in to her, and the Lord gave her conception, and she bore a son. Then the women said to Naomi, “Blessed be the Lord, who has not left you this day without a redeemer, and may his name be renowned in Israel! He shall be to you a restorer of life and a nourisher of your old age, for your daughter-in-law who loves you, who is more to you than seven sons, has given birth to him.” Then Naomi took the child and laid him on her lap and became his nurse. And the women of the neighborhood gave him a name, saying, “A son has been born to Naomi.” They named him Obed. He was the father of Jesse, the father of David. Now these are the generations of Perez: Perez fathered Hezron, Hezron fathered Ram, Ram fathered Amminadab, Amminadab fathered Nahshon, Nahshon fathered Salmon, 21Salmon fathered Boaz, Boaz fathered Obed, Obed fathered Jesse, and Jesse fathered David.
