Then Booz went up to the gate, and sat there. And when he had seen the kinsman going by, of whom he had spoken before, he said to him, calling him by his name: Turn aside for a little while, and sit down here. He turned aside, and sat down.

Ascendit ergo Booz ad portam, et sedit ibi. Cumque vidisset propinquum præterire, de quo prius sermo habitus est, dixit ad eum: Declina paulisper, et sede hic: vocans eum nomine suo. Qui divertit, et sedit.

So Booz went up to the city gate, and sat waiting there. When the man he was looking for passed by, the kinsman of whom he had spoken, he called him by name, bidding him stay his journey and sit there for a little; and so he did.

And Booz taking ten men of the ancients of the city, said to them: Sit ye down here.

Tollens autem Booz decem viros de senioribus civitatis, dixit ad eos: Sedete hic.

Then Booz chose out ten of the city elders, and would have these, too, sit beside him.

They sat down, and he spoke to the kinsman: Noemi, who is returned from the country of Moab, will sell a parcel of land that belonged to our brother Elimelech.

Quibus sedentibus, locutus est ad propinquum: Partem agri fratris nostri Elimelech vendet Noëmi, quæ reversa est de regione Moabitide:

When they were seated, he told the rival claimant, Here is Noemi, that lately came back out of Moab, offering to sell part of the land which belonged to our kinsman Elimelech.

I would have thee to understand this, and would tell thee before all that sit here, and before the ancients of my people. If thou wilt take possession of it by the right of kindred: buy it and possess it: but if it please thee not, tell me so, that I may know what I have to do. For there is no near kinsman besides thee, who art first, and me, who am second. But he answered: I will buy the field.

quod audire te volui, et tibi dicere coram cunctis sedentibus, et majoribus natu de populo meo. Si vis possidere jure propinquitatis, eme, et posside: sin autem displicet tibi, hoc ipsum indica mihi, ut sciam quid facere debeam: nullus enim est propinquus, excepto te, qui prior es, et me, qui secundus sum. At ille respondit: Ego agrum emam.

Of this, I thought it well to give thee notice, and challenge thee before the neighbours who are sitting by, and these, the elders of my people. Hast thou a mind to play a kinsman’s part, and claim it for thy own? Then thou must buy it, and so enter into possession. If not, tell me, so that I may know what to do; thy right comes first, and mine second; there is no other kinsman. Yes, said he, I will buy it.

And Booz said to him: When thou shalt buy the field at the woman’s hand, thou must take also Ruth the Moabitess, who was the wife of the deceased: to raise up the name of thy kinsman in his inheritance.

Cui dixit Booz: Quando emeris agrum de manu mulieris, Ruth quoque Moabitidem, quæ uxor defuncti fuit, debes accipere: ut suscites nomen propinqui tui in hæreditate sua.

Why then, said Booz, if thou dost buy the land from Noemi, thou must needs take with it a dead man’s widow, Ruth the Moabitess, to perpetuate the name of the kinsman whose lands thou dost enjoy.

He answered: I yield up my right of next akin: for I must not cut off the posterity of my own family. Do thou make use of my privilege, which I profess I do willingly forego.

Qui respondit: Cedo juri propinquitatis: neque enim posteritatem familiæ meæ delere debeo: tu meo utere privilegio, quo me libenter carere profiteor.

Nay, then, said the other, I forgo my right of kinship; I would not disinherit the heirs of my own body. I yield thee my rights, willing enough to forgo them.

Now this in former times was the manner in Israel between kinsmen, that if at any time one yielded his right to another: that the grant might be sure, the man put off his shoe, and gave it to his neighbour; this was a testimony of cession of right in Israel.

Hic autem erat mos antiquitus in Israël inter propinquos, ut siquando alter alteri suo juri cedebat, ut esset firma concessio, solvebat homo calceamentum suum, et dabat proximo suo: hoc erat testimonium cessionis in Israël.

It was the custom of Israel in old times that if one kinsman yielded his right to another, he must untie his shoe and hand it over to this kinsman of his, or else the gift was not valid; thus did the Israelites put the grant on record.

So Booz said to his kinsman: Put off thy shoe. And immediately he took it off from his foot.

Dixit ergo propinquo suo Booz: Tolle calceamentum tuum. Quod statim solvit de pede suo.

So now Booz said to the rival claimant, Untie thy shoe; and as soon as he had done so,

And he said to the ancients and to all the people: You are witnesses this day, that I have bought all that was Elimelech’s, and Chelion’s, and Mahalon’s, of the hand of Noemi:

At ille majoribus natu, et universo populo: Testes vos, inquit, estis hodie, quod possederim omnis quæ fuerunt Elimelech, et Chelion, et Mahalon, tradente Noëmi;

made appeal to the elders and to all that were present. You are witnesses, he said, this day, that I have reclaimed all the possessions of Elimelech, Chelion and Mahalon by purchase from Noemi:

And have taken to wife Ruth the Moabitess, the wife of Mahalon, to raise up the name of the deceased in his inheritance lest his name be cut off, from among his family and his brethren and his people. You, I say, are witnesses of this thing.

et Ruth Moabitidem, uxorem Mahalon, in conjugium sumpserim, ut suscitem nomen defuncti in hæreditate sua, ne vocabulum ejus de familia sua ac fratribus et populo deleatur. Vos, inquam, hujus rei testes estis.

and moreover, that I have taken Mahalon’s widow, Ruth the Moabitess, to wife. I mean to hand on the dead man’s property to heirs of his own, so that his name may never be lost to his family, his kindred and his people. Of all this, you are witnesses.

Then all the people that were in the gate, and the ancients answered: We are witnesses: The Lord make this woman who cometh into thy house, like Rachel, and Lia, who built up the house of Israel: that she may be an example of virtue in Ephrata, and may have a famous name in Bethlehem:

Respondit omnis populus, qui erat in porta, et majores natu: Nos testes sumus: faciat Dominus hanc mulierem, quæ ingreditur domum tuam, sicut Rachel et Liam, quæ ædificaverunt domum Israël: ut sit exemplum virtutis in Ephratha, et habeat celebre nomen in Bethlehem:

So the elders made answer, and all that were present made answer, We bear witness of it. Take thy bride home, and may the Lord make her as fruitful as Rachel and Lia, that gave a posterity to Israel. May Ephrata know her worth, and Bethlehem tell her praises;

And that the house may be, as the house of Phares, whom Thamar bore unto Juda, of the seed which the Lord shall give thee of this young woman.

fiatque domus tua sicut domus Phares, quem Thamar peperit Judæ, de semine quod tibi dederit Dominus ex hac puella.

may thy house be famous as the house of Phares, that Thamar bore to Juda, through the sons the Lord will give thee by this wife of thine.

Booz therefore took Ruth, and married her: and went in unto her, and the Lord gave her to conceive and to bear a son.

Tulit itaque Booz Ruth, et accepit uxorem: ingressusque est ad eam, et dedit illi Dominus ut conciperet, et pareret filium.

So Booz claimed Ruth, and wedded and bedded her, and the Lord made her conceive and give birth to a son.

And the women said to Noemi: Blessed be the Lord, who hath not suffered thy family to want a successor, that his name should be preserved in Israel.

Dixeruntque mulieres ad Noëmi: Benedictus Dominus, qui non est passus ut deficeret successor familiæ tuæ, et vocaretur nomen ejus in Israël:

Blessed be the Lord, all the women said to Noemi, for not leaving thy family without an heir, to perpetuate its name in Israel.

And thou shouldst have one to comfort thy soul, and cherish thy old age. For he is born of thy daughter in law: who loveth thee: and is much better to thee, than if thou hadst seven sons.

et habeas qui consoletur animam tuam, et enutriat senectutem: de nuru enim tua natus est, quæ te diligit, et multo tibi melior est, quam si septem haberes filios.

Here is one that shall bring comfort to thy heart, and support to thy old age; such a mother is his, such a daughter-in-law is thine, whose love is worth more to thee than seven sons of thy own.

And Noemi taking the child laid it in her bosom, and she carried it, and was a nurse unto it.

Susceptumque Noëmi puerum posuit in sinu suo, et nutricis ac gerulæ fungebatur officio.

And so Noemi took the child to her bosom, and still it must be she that nursed him, she that carried him,

And the women her neighbours, congratulating with her and saying: There is a son born to Noemi: called his name Obed: he is the father of Isai, the father of David.

Vicinæ autem mulieris congratulantes ei, et dicentes: Natus est filius Noëmi: vocaverunt nomen ejus Obed: hic est pater Isai, patris David.

till the neighbours, congratulating her, said It is Noemi that has a son. And they called him Obed.This Obed had a son called Jesse, that was father to David.

These are the generations of Phares: Phares begot Esron,

Hæ sunt generationes Phares: Phares genuit Esron,

Thus, then, runs the pedigree of Phares; Phares was the father of Esron,

Esron begot Aram, Aram begot Aminadab,

Esron genuit Aram, Aram genuit Aminadab,

Esron of Aram, Aram of Aminadab,

Aminadab begot Nahasson, Nahasson begot Salmon,

Aminadab genuit Nahasson, Nahasson genuit Salmon,

Aminadab of Nahasson, Nahasson of Salmon,

Salmon begot Booz, Booz begot Obed,

Salmon genuit Booz, Booz genuit Obed,

Salmon of Booz, Booz of Obed,

Obed begot Isai, Isai begot David.

Obed genuit Isai, Isai genuit David.

Obed of Jesse, and Jesse of David.