When Naomi entered the city of Bethlehem everyone was curious. "Is that really you Naomi?" some asked. Naomi answered, "Don't call me Naomi, for that name means 'pleasant.' Call me instead Marah, which means 'bitterly dealt with' for my life has been bitter since leaving Bethlehem. I left the city with a husband and two sons. I return to the city empty."

Naomi had some land that had belonged to her husband. But the land had not been planted or taken care of since they had left. Naomi and Ruth found it hard to earn money to buy food with. As it happened, it was harvest time in that area. Ruth had heard of the civil law of Israel which God had given them to see that the needy and hungry were feed. The law stated that whatever the harvesters left could be clamed by the poor, passing strangers, and widows. In fact, God was so concerned for the welfare of the less fortunate, that He commanded the land owners not to reap the corners of their fields, nor gather the fallen grain. The people who grew grapes were told to leave the grapes that fell on the ground. Produce that grew on trees was only harvested once, and the rest was left on trees to ripen. Thus God saw that the poor and stranger among His people were fed. (Leviticus 19: 9- 10; Deuteronomy 24:19-22) Ruth approached Naomi and pleaded, "Please let me go into the fields and pick up the grain that the reapers leave behind so that we might have something to eat."

Naomi knew that the fields could be a dangerous place for young women. She reluctantly gave her permission as well as some advice, "Don't go far, and don't follow too closely behind the harvesters without permission."

So Ruth took a large cloth-bag and set out early the next morning to look for a field to glean in. Unknown to her, God guided Ruth to a field that belonged to Boaz, a rich relative of Naomi's dead husband.

Boaz went out to see how his workers were doing in the field. "God be with you," he greeted his foreman. "The Lord bless you," was the response. When Boaz saw Ruth working in the field he asked who she was.

"She is the young lady who came back with Naomi from the country of Moab," the man explained. "She asked if she could pick up the stalks of grain the workers accidentally dropped. She came in the morning and has been working hard ever since, with only a few minutes rest."

Boaz had heard of Naomi's return and of her daughter-in-law's devotion to her. He was impressed with the young woman's willingness to work, and her loyalty to her mother-in-law. Wishing to help, Boaz went over to talk to Ruth as a father would to his daughter, "Listen, my child, don't glean in another field, but stay close to my women workers. Watch to see what field they are working in and follow close behind them. I have given my men orders not to bother you. When you're thirsty drink from the water my workers have drawn."

Then Ruth fell on her face, and bowing to the ground, and said, "Why have I found grace in your eyes, that you should take notice of me, seeing I am a stranger?"

Boaz answered, "I've heard all that you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband. How you left your father and mother and the land you were born and raised in and have come to live among a people which you haven't known before. The LORD God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to trust, reward you for your work and loyalty."

Then she said, "Let me find favor in your sight, my lord; for you have comforted me, and spoken friendly unto your handmaid, though I'm not like your female workers."

At mealtime Ruth was invited to join the workers as they ate. Boaz saw that his guest had plenty to eat. There was even enough left over to take home to Naomi.

When Ruth went back to her gleaning, Boaz told his workers, "Allow her to glean even among the sheaves, and don't rebuke her. Let some of your sheaves fall also to the ground on purpose for her, and leave them, that she may glean them."

So Ruth worked in the field until evening. She beat out what she had gleaned, and gathering it up, went into the city. When Ruth showed her mother-in-law what she had gleaned and presented her with the food she had saved from her noon meal, Naomi realized that someone had gone out of their way to show Ruth kindness.

"Where did you glean today?" Naomi asked, "Blessed be the man who took pity upon you."

"I worked in the field of a man named Boaz," Ruth told her.

"Blessed be he of the LORD, who has not left off his kindness to the living and to the dead," Naomi exclaimed. "The man is a near relative. One who has the right to redeem us." When a man died childless, his brother was duty bound to raise an heir to him by his widow. If there was no brother, it fell to the next of kin to see that the man's family line didn't die out. (Leviticus 25:25)

"He told me to stay close to his men until they had harvested his entire crop," Ruth told Naomi.

"That is good news, my daughter," Naomi said, relieved that the danger of her daughter in law being molested while she gleamed was removed.

So Ruth kept near the workers and gathered grain in the fields of Boaz until the end of the barley and wheat harvest.