Ruth Chapter 4

Upon the refusal of the nearer kinsman, Boaz marries Ruth, who brings forth Obed, the grandfather of David.

English (Douay-Rheims)

1 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. 2 And Booz, taking ten men of the ancients of the city, said to them: Sit ye down here. 3 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. 4 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. 5 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. 6 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. 7 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. 8 So Booz said to his kinsman: Put off thy shoe. And immediately he took it off from his foot. 9 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: 10 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. 11 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: Ephrata... Another name of Bethlehem. 12 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.

13 Booz therefore took Ruth, and married her: and went in unto her, and the Lord gave her to conceive, and to bear a son. 14 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. 15 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. 16 And Noemi taking the child, laid it in her bosom, and she carried it, and was a nurse unto it. 17 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. 18 These are the generations of Phares: Phares begot Esron, 19 Esron begot Aram, Aram begot Aminadab, 20 Aminadab begot Nahasson, Nahasson begot Salmon, 21 Salmon begot Booz, Booz begot Obed, 22 Obed begot Isai, Isai begot David.

Old Testament first published 1609 by the English College at Douay
New Testament first published 1582 by the English College at Rheims
Revised and Annotated 1749 by Bishop Richard Challoner
Imprimatur. +James Cardinal Gibbons, Archbishop of Baltimore, September 1, 1899

Latin (Clementine Vulgate)

1 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. 2 Tollens autem Booz decem viros de senioribus civitatis, dixit ad eos: Sedete hic. 3 Quibus sedentibus, locutus est ad propinquum: Partem agri fratris nostri Elimelech vendet Noëmi, quæ reversa est de regione Moabitide: 4 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. 5 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. 6 Qui respondit: Cedo juri propinquitatis: neque enim posteritatem familiæ meæ delere debeo: tu meo utere privilegio, quo me libenter carere profiteor. 7 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. 8 Dixit ergo propinquo suo Booz: Tolle calceamentum tuum. Quod statim solvit de pede suo. 9 At ille majoribus natu, et universo populo: Testes vos, inquit, estis hodie, quod possederim omnis quæ fuerunt Elimelech, et Chelion, et Mahalon, tradente Noëmi; 10 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. 11 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: 12 fiatque domus tua sicut domus Phares, quem Thamar peperit Judæ, de semine quod tibi dederit Dominus ex hac puella.

13 Tulit itaque Booz Ruth, et accepit uxorem: ingressusque est ad eam, et dedit illi Dominus ut conciperet, et pareret filium. 14 Dixeruntque mulieres ad Noëmi: Benedictus Dominus, qui non est passus ut deficeret successor familiæ tuæ, et vocaretur nomen ejus in Israël: 15 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. 16 Susceptumque Noëmi puerum posuit in sinu suo, et nutricis ac gerulæ fungebatur officio. 17 Vicinæ autem mulieris congratulantes ei, et dicentes: Natus est filius Noëmi: vocaverunt nomen ejus Obed: hic est pater Isai, patris David. 18 Hæ sunt generationes Phares: Phares genuit Esron, 19 Esron genuit Aram, Aram genuit Aminadab, 20 Aminadab genuit Nahasson, Nahasson genuit Salmon, 21 Salmon genuit Booz, Booz genuit Obed, 22 Obed genuit Isai, Isai genuit David.

Transcribed as part of the Clementine Vulgate Project
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