Bhoazi unolobola Ruti
1 Ipapo Bhoazi kayenda ku lubazhe pa nkoba we nzi kagala pasi. N'galithaka upejo wakalingisana ngogalathaka, tjinyolotjo kapinda, iye Bhoazi waakabe aleba, ngono kan'dana kati, “Zha ngeno nkwinya ugale pasi.” Ngono kazha kagala pasi. 2 Bhoazi katola balume bali gumi bali bamwe be bakulu be nzi kabadwa kati, “Galani pasi ipapa.” Bakagala pasi. 3 Ngono kabe edwa n'galithaka iwoyo eti, “Naomi hwoyu wabuya edwa ku shango ye Moabu unotengesa nnda iwoyu wakabe uli wa Elimeleki, mwana wa tate bedu. 4 Ndakumbula kuti ndikubudze nge kwako, ngono nditi uutenge mbeli kwa ibaba bagele ipapa nenge mbeli kwe bakulu be lutshinga gwangu. Ha ili kuti unoutengunula uutengunule. Koga ha usingautengunule, undibudze kuti ndizibe, ngoti akuna mmwe wakalingisana umbeli kuko ungautengunula. Imi ndimi ndinokutobela.” Iye kabe eti, “Ndoutengunula.”
5 Ipapo Bhoazi kabe eti, “Zhuba launotengunula nnda iwoyo kuna Naomi unotengunulilanya na Ruti we N'moabu we tjilikadzi, kudwilidza zina le wakafa mu thaka iye.”
6 N'galithaka iwoyo kati ehwa ikoku kati, “Andingautengunule, ngoti ndingadwa nditjinya thaka yangu. Tola fanilo dzangu uuzwitengunuligwe.”
7 Mu misi ya zhulo mu Iziraela tjilenje tje kutengunula ne tje kuteetshanya thundu tjakabe tjithamwa sahwoku: nlume wakabe embula shangu iye ing'ompela eipa ikamu tjitje. Ikoku ndiko kwakabe kulakidza kuti tjidumano tjawila nge Tjiiziraela.
8 N'galithaka upejo kadwa Bhoazi kati, “Uuzwitengunuligwe,” kambula shangu iye. 9 Ipapo Bhoazi kati ku bakulu ne ku bathu bose bakabe bali ipapo, “Nasi mu batendeki bekuti ndatenga kuna Naomi kose kwakabe kuli kwa Elimeleki ne kwakabe kuli kwa Kilioni na Mahiloni. 10 Na Ruti we N'moabu, nkadzi wa Mahiloni, ndantengelanyabo kube nkadzi wangu kudwilidza zina le nfi kuti lisife mu ludzi gugwe mu lubazhe gwa kanyi kukwe. Nasi mu batendeki.” 11 Ipapo bathu bose bakabe bali pa nkoba ne bakulu bakati, “Ti batendeki. Yahwe ngabathame iwoyu nkadzi unozha ku ng'umba iyo ange Rahele na Liya bakabaka ng'umba ya Iziraela. Iwe uthame bana mu Efurata ube ne zina mu Bhetelehema. 12 Bana baunowopiwa ndi Yahwe nge ndwana iwoyu utjintjetjana, bathame nsha uwo unge wa Perezi wakazwagwa ndi Juda na Tama.”
Bhoazi ne ludzi gugwe
13 Ndizo Bhoazi katola Ruti kanlobola. Bakashangana ngono Yahwe bakankombolela kazwisenga kawana mwana we tjilisana. 14 Ipapo bakadzi bakati ngekwa Naomi, “Ngakukudziwe Yahwe nasi, basakusiya, usina ntjengeti. Zina lile ngalizibgwe mu Iziraela! 15 Unowothama butjilo gugo gukabe butshwa, kabe n'yengi uwo mu kukula kuko. Nlongo uwo unokuda, unopinda bakololo bali kutendeka ku kuli, ngobe wanzwala.” 16 Naomi ipapo katola mwana kanfukatila kabe nledzi uwe.
17 Bakadzi be babakidzani bakampa zina beti, “Nkololo wazwaligwa Naomi.” Bakantumila beti Obedi. Ndiye wakabe ali tate ba Jesi, Jesi tate ba Dafite.
18 Ogu ndigo ludzi gwa Perezi: Perezi wakazwala Hezironi, 19 Hezironi kazwala Ramu, Ramu tate ba Aminadabhu, 20 Aminadabhu kazwala Nashoni, Nashoni tate ba Salimoni, 21 Salimoni kazwala Bhoazi, Bhoazi tate ba Obedi, 22 Obedi kazwala Jesi, Jesi tate ba Dafite.
Ruth and Boaz Get Married
1 In the meanwhile, Boaz had gone to the meeting place at the town gate and was sitting there when the other close relative came by. So Boaz invited him to come over and sit down, and he did. 2 Then Boaz got ten of the town leaders and also asked them to sit down. After they had sat down, 3 he said to the man:
Naomi has come back from Moab and is selling the land that belonged to her husband Elimelech. 4 I'm telling you about this, since you are his closest relative and have the right to buy the property. If you want it, you can buy it now. These ten men and the others standing here can be witnesses. But if you don't want the property, let me know, because I am next in line.
The man replied, “I'll buy it!”
5 “If you do buy it from Naomi,” Boaz told him, “you must also marry Ruth. Then if you have a son by her, the property will stay in the family of Ruth's first husband.”
6 The man answered, “If that's the case, I don't want to buy it! That would make problems with the property I already own. You may buy it yourself, because I cannot.”
7 To make a sale legal in those days, one person would take off a sandal and give it to the other. 8 So after the man had agreed to let Boaz buy the property, he took off one of his sandals and handed it to Boaz.
9 Boaz told the town leaders and everyone else:
All of you are witnesses that today I have bought from Naomi the property that belonged to Elimelech and his two sons, Chilion and Mahlon. 10 You are also witnesses that I have agreed to marry Mahlon's widow Ruth, the Moabite woman. This will keep the property in his family's name, and he will be remembered in this town.
11 The town leaders and the others standing there said:
We are witnesses to this. And we pray that the Lord will give your wife many children, just as he did Leah and Rachel, the wives of Jacob. May you be a rich man in the tribe of Ephrath and an important man in Bethlehem. 12 May the children you have by this young woman make your family as famous as the family of Perez, the son of Tamar and Judah.
13 Boaz married Ruth, and the Lord blessed her with a son. 14 After his birth, the women said to Naomi:
Praise the Lord! Today he has given you a grandson to take care of you. We pray that the boy will grow up to be famous everywhere in Israel. 15 He will make you happy and take care of you in your old age, because he is the son of your daughter-in-law. And she loves you more than seven sons of your own would love you.
16 Naomi loved the boy and took good care of him. 17 The neighborhood women named him Obed, but they called him “Naomi's Boy.”
When Obed grew up he had a son named Jesse, who later became the father of King David. 18-22 Here is a list of the ancestors of David: Jesse, Obed, Boaz, Salmon, Nahshon, Amminadab, Ram, Hezron, and Perez.