World English Bible · The judges
Ruth 2
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had a relative of her husband's, a mighty man of wealth, of the family of , and his name was . the Moabitess said to , "Let me now go to the field, and among the ears of grain after him in whose sight I find ." She said to her, "Go, my daughter." She went, and came and in the field after the reapers; and she happened to come to the of the field belonging to , who was of the family of . Behold, came from , and said to the reapers, "May be with you." They answered him, "May you." Then said to his servant who was set over the reapers, "Whose young lady is this?" The servant who was set over the reapers answered, "It is the lady who came back with out of the country of . She said, 'Please let me and gather after the reapers among the sheaves.' So she came, and has continued even from the morning until now, except that she rested a little in the house." Then said to , "Listen, my daughter. Don't go to in another field, and don't go from here, but stay here close to my maidens. Let your eyes be on the field that they reap, and go after them. Haven't I commanded the young men not to touch you? When you are thirsty, go to the vessels, and drink from that which the young men have drawn." Then she fell on her and bowed herself to the ground, and said to him, "Why have I in your sight, that you should take knowledge of me, since I am a ?" answered her, "I have been told all about what you have done for your mother-in-law since the of your husband, and how you have left your , your mother, and the land of your birth, and have come to a people that you didn't know before. May repay your work, and a full reward be given to you from , the of Israel, under whose you have come to take refuge." Then she said, "Let me find in your sight, my , because you have comforted me, and because you have spoken kindly to , though I am not as one of your servants." At meal time said to her, "Come here, and eat some bread, and dip your morsel in the vinegar." She sat beside the reapers, and they passed her parched grain. She ate, was satisfied, and left some of it. When she had up to , commanded his young men, saying, "Let her even among the sheaves, and don't her. Also pull out some for her from the bundles, and leave it. Let her , and don't rebuke her." So she in the field until evening; and she beat out that which she had , and it was about an ephah of barley. She took it up, and went into the city. Then her mother-in-law saw what she had ; and she brought out and gave to her that which she had left after she had enough. Her mother-in-law said to her, "Where have you today? Where have you worked? be he who noticed you." She told her mother-in-law with whom she had worked, "The man's name with whom I worked today is ." said to her daughter-in-law, "May he be by , who has not abandoned his kindness to the living and to ." said to her, "The man is a close relative to us, one of our near kinsmen." the Moabitess said, "Yes, he said to me, 'You shall stay close to my young men until they have finished all my harvest.'" said to her daughter-in-law, "It is good, my daughter, that you go out with his maidens, and that they not harm you in any other field." So she stayed close to the maidens of , to to the end of barley harvest and of wheat harvest; and she lived with her mother-in-law.
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The world at this moment · The judges, 1200 BC to 1050 BC ›
No central government and no standing army. The great empires are weak, which is precisely why Israel's troubles come from close neighbors: Moab, Ammon, Midian, and the newly arrived Philistines on the coast.
- Egypt
- Broken into competing power centres and no longer able to project force into Canaan. Its withdrawal is the single biggest reason this period has no imperial overlord.
- Mesopotamia
- Assyria exists but is dormant, hemmed in and looking east. The century that would have crushed a stateless Israel simply has not arrived yet.
- The coast
- The Philistines settle their five cities after arriving from the Aegean world, bringing Mycenaean-style pottery, a taste for pork, and an early advantage in ironworking. Further north the Phoenician ports of Tyre and Sidon start the trading expansion that will eventually give the alphabet to Greece.
- Further afield
- Greece has entered its dark age: the palaces are gone, Linear B is forgotten, and writing disappears from the Aegean for three centuries. In China the Zhou dynasty replaces the Shang in 1046 BC and issues the doctrine that heaven withdraws its mandate from unjust kings, an idea with an interesting resemblance to the book of Judges.