|
THE
STORY OF RUTH[1] CHARACTERS NARRATOR 1 NARRATOR 2 NAOMI RUTH BOAZ TOWNSWOMEN REAPERS SERVANT IN CHARGE NEXT OF KIN ELDERS AND WITNESSES NARRATOR 1:
In the days when the judges ruled, there was a famine in the land.
A certain man of Bethlehem in Judah went to live in the land of Moab with
his wife and his two sons. The
man’s name was Elimelech and his wife’s name was Naomi.
The names of his sons were Mahlon and Chilion. NARRATOR 2:
Elimelech died in Moab, and his sons took Moabite wives.
One of the wives was named Orpah; the name of the other was Ruth.
They had lived there together for about ten years when Mahlon and Chilion
died, leaving Naomi without a husband or sons. NARRATOR 1:
She prepared to return with her daughters-in-law to the country from which she
had come, for word was about in Moab that the famine had come to an end.
They began the journey together, and on the way to the land of Judah,
Naomi said to her daughters-in-law: NAOMI:
Go back now to your mother’s house, and may God deal kindly with you, as you
have dealt with my sons and me. May
God grant you security with a husband of your own. NARRATOR 2:
Then she kissed them and they wept, and the women said to her, ORPAH
AND RUTH:
We will go with you to your people. NAOMI:
Turn back, my daughters. Why will
you go with me? Do you think I
still have sons in my womb who might become your husbands?
Turn back, my daughters, and go your way.
I am too old to marry again. Even
if I thought there was such a hope, would you wait until my sons were grown?
Would you then refrain from marrying?
No, my daughters, life has been bitter, for me more than for you, because
God’s hand has turned against me. NARRATOR 1:
The three women wept again. Then
Orpah kissed her mother-in-law and returned to her own people.
Ruth, however, held on to her, committing herself to Naomi. RUTH:
Do not insist that I leave you or cease from following you.
Wherever you go, I will go. Wherever
you live, I will live. Your people
will be my people. Your God will be
my God. Wherever you die, I will
die, and there I too will be buried. Death
shall not part me from you. NARRATOR 2:
When Naomi saw how determined she was, she said no more to her.
Together they traveled to Bethlehem and they set the whole town talking. TOWNSWOMEN:
Is this Naomi? NAOMI:
Call me not Naomi, which means Pleasant, but call me Mara, which means Bitter,
for God has dealt bitterly with me. I
went away full and I return home empty. So
why call me Naomi when God has dealt so harshly with me and brought such
calamity upon me? NARRATOR 1:
So Naomi and Ruth, her daughter-in-law, came back from the country of Moab and
settled down in Bethlehem at barley harvest time. NARRATOR 2:
Naomi had a relative on her husband’s side, a prominent man named Boaz, a man
of considerable wealth. Ruth said
to Naomi… RUTH:
Let me go to the field and glean the grain in the footsteps of one who will
favor me. NAOMI:
Go, my daughter. NARRATOR 1:
So Ruth gleaned behind the reapers, and it just so happened that she came to
that part of the field that belonged to Boaz and Boaz just happened to be there.
He said to his reapers… BOAZ:
God be with you. REAPERS:
May God bless you. BOAZ:
To whom does this woman belong? SERVANT
IN CHARGE:
She is the Moabite who returned here with Naomi. She said to me, “Please let
me glean among the sheaves, let me follow behind the reapers.” And she has
been working tirelessly since very early this morning and has taken no time to
rest. NARRATOR 2:
Then Boaz said to Ruth… BOAZ:
Listen to me, my daughter. Do not
go to glean in another field. Stay
here among my women. Wherever the
reapers are at work in the field, follow close behind them.
I have instructed my men not to bother you.
And if you are thirsty, go to the pitchers and drink what the men have
drawn. NARRATOR 1:
Then Ruth bowed with her face to the ground and said… RUTH:
Who am I, a foreigner, that you should favor me? BOAZ:
All you have done for your mother-in-law since your husband’s death has been
told to me, how you left your mother and father, how you left the land of your
birth to come to a land you do not know. May
God richly reward you, the God of Israel to whom you have come to find shelter
beneath Her wings. RUTH:
May I continue to find favor with you, my lord, for you have comforted me and
you speak kindly to your servant, even though I am not one of yours. NARRATOR 2:
At mealtime Boaz said to Ruth… BOAZ:
Come, eat some bread, have a bit of wine. NARRATOR 1:
So she sat beside the reapers, and he filled her dish with roasted grain and she
ate till she could eat no more. When
she left to glean, Boaz gave this instruction to his men… BOAZ:
Let her glean among the standing sheaves, and do not try to stop her, and drop
some stalks from the bundled sheaves and leave them for her to glean. NARRATOR 2:
Ruth gleaned the field until evening. When
she beat out and gathered what she had gleaned, she had quite a bit of barley.
She shared it with her mother-in-law, who said, on seeing how much she
had… NAOMI:
Where did you glean today? Blessed is the man who took notice of you. NARRATOR 1:
Ruth told her all that had happened and said… RUTH:
The name of the man is Boaz. NAOMI:
Blessed be God, whose kindness has not forsaken the living or the dead.
The man you met is a relative, one of our nearest kin. RUTH:
He even said, “Stay with my servants until all my harvest is done.” NAMOMI:
Stay with his women, my daughter. There
is danger of being molested if you move to another field. NARRATOR 2:
So Ruth remained close to the women of Boaz, gleaning beside them daily, until
the barley harvest and wheat harvest finally came to an end.
And she lived with her mother-in-law. NARRATOR 1:
Naomi said to her daughter-in-law… NAOMI:
It is my duty to see that your future is secure.
Now here is our relative Boaz with whose women you have been working.
He will be winnowing barley tonight and will sleep on the threshing
floor. Go now and wash and anoint
yourself and dress in your nicest clothes, but conceal yourself from Boaz until
he finishes eating and drinking. Note
where he lies when he falls asleep, then go, uncover his feet, and lie down.
He will tell you what to do. RUTH:
I will do whatever you tell me. NARRATOR 2:
So Ruth went down to the threshing floor, just as Naomi had instructed.
When Boaz had finished his food and drink and was thoroughly contented,
he fell asleep beside a heap of grain. Quietly,
Ruth uncovered his feet and lay there as instructed. At midnight Boaz awoke, startled to see a woman lying there
at his feet. BOAZ:
Who are you? RUTH:
I am Ruth. Spread your cloak over your servant, for you are next-of-kin. NARRATOR 1:
Then Boaz said to Ruth the Moabite… BOAZ:
May you be blessed by God, my daughter. For
this last act of kindness is even greater than the first.
You have not looked for younger men, whether they were rich or poor.
Do not be afraid, I will do for you everything you ask, for all the
people with me know what a wonderful woman you are.
Although I am a relative, there is one more closely related than I.
Stay tonight, and in the morning, should he come forth to claim you, let
him exercise his right, but if he is unwilling, then as God lives, as next of
kin, I will take you home with me. Lie
down now until morning. NARRATOR 2:
So Ruth lay at his feet until morning, but arose to leave while it was still
dark so that she would not be recognized, and none would know that she, a woman,
had spent the night asleep on the threshing floor.
As she was leaving, Boaz said… BOAZ:
Hold out the cloak you are wearing. NARRATOR 1:
She did and he filled it full of barley, helped her place it on her back, and
watched as she headed home. NARRATOR 2:
Naomi asked her daughter-in-law… NAOMI:
How did it go last night? NARRATOR 1:
Then Ruth told her what Boaz had said and done and showed her the cloak full of
barley. NAOMI:
Be patient, my daughter, he will settle the matter today. NARRATOR 2:
Boaz went down to the city gate, and as soon as he was settled there, the
next-of-kin of whom he had spoken to Ruth came passing by.
Boaz said… BOAZ:
Come here, my friend, sit down with me. NARRATOR 1:
And Boaz summoned ten elders to sit with them. BOAZ:
Naomi has returned from Moab, and she is selling the parcel of land that
belonged to our kinsman Elimelech. You
are the next-of-kin. Buy it in the
presence of those sitting here, these elders of our people.
If you will redeem it, then redeem it.
If not, please let me know, for I am the next one after you to exercise
that right. NEXT-OF-KIN:
I will redeem it. BOAZ:
By the way, when you acquire the field from Naomi, you also acquire the Moabite,
Ruth, who is the dead man’s widowed daughter-in-law, and along with her the
responsibility to continue the dead man’s name, ensuring his line of
inheritance. NEXT-OF-KIN:
I cannot do this without jeopardizing my own inheritance.
Take my right of redemption and exercise it for yourself. NARRATOR 2:
Now the custom then in Israel was for a man to remove a sandal and hand it to
the other to signify that the transaction was confirmed.
The next-of-kin took off his sandal as Boaz said to the elders and to all
the people who were gathered around… BOAZ:
Today you are all witnesses that I have acquired from the hand of Naomi all that
belonged to Elimelech and all that belonged to Chilion and Mahlon.
I have also acquired Ruth the Moabite, wife of Mahlon, to be my wife, in
order to maintain the dead man’s name and continue his inheritance.
To this you are witnesses today. ELDERS
AND WITNESSES:
We are witnesses. May God make the
woman who enters your house like her sisters, Rachel and Leah.
May you have children and through those children bestow a name in
Bethlehem. NARRATOR 1:
So Boaz took Ruth to be his wife, and he made love to her, and she conceived and
gave birth to a son. NARRATOR 2:
Then the women said to Naomi… TOWNSWOMEN:
Blessed be God who has not left you today without any next-of-kin.
May the child be renowned in Israel!
May he be to you restoration of life and nourishment in your old age. For your daughter-in-law who loves you, who is more to you
than seven sons, is the mother of this child. NARRATOR 1:
Then Naomi took the boy and nursed him, and the women of the neighborhood named
him, saying… TOWNSWOMEN:
A son has been born to Naomi. NARRATOR 2:
And they named the baby Obed. He
was the father of Jesse, who was the father of David the king. THE END [1] Adapted from “WomanWitness – A Feminist Lectionary and Psalter – Women of the Hebrew Scriptures: Part Two”, by Miriam Therese Winter, Crossroads Publishing Company, New York, 1992 Deepening Faith: Youth Ministry Resources and Some Miscellaneous Advice Rev. Lizann Bassham, Front Porch Spirit Press Copyright © 2001 |
|
|