The city gate was where legal matters were settled. Boaz sat there, called the nearer kinsman, and gathered ten elders. He explained that Naomi was selling Elimelech's land, and the kinsman agreed to redeem it. But Boaz added that the buyer must also marry Ruth, to raise up the name of the dead on his inheritance.

The kinsman declined, fearing he would endanger his own inheritance. Following the custom of Israel, he took off his sandal to confirm the transfer. Boaz announced before everyone that he had bought all that belonged to Elimelech and his sons and would marry Ruth. The people prayed that Ruth would be like Rachel and Leah, who built the house of Israel.

Yahweh enabled Ruth to have a son. The women praised Yahweh for not leaving Naomi without a near kinsman and said the boy would restore her life. Naomi, who had said she came home empty, now held a grandson in her arms. The neighbors said, A son is born to Naomi, and named him Obed. He became the father of Jesse, the father of David.

Boaz acted at once, as Naomi predicted. He went to the gate, the place of public business, and called the nearer kinsman with ten elders as witnesses. Elimelech's land was for sale, and the kinsman was willing to redeem it. Then Boaz explained that the buyer must also take Ruth the Moabitess, the wife of the dead, to raise up the name of the dead on his inheritance.

The kinsman refused, fearing he would endanger his own inheritance, and passed his right to Boaz. As the text explains, in former times a man confirmed such transactions by taking off his sandal and giving it to his neighbor. Boaz declared that he had bought all that was Elimelech's, Chilion's, and Mahlon's, and that he had purchased Ruth to be his wife so that the name of the dead would not be cut off. The people and elders said, We are witnesses. They blessed the marriage, naming Rachel, Leah, and the house of Perez.

Yahweh enabled Ruth to conceive, and she bore a son. The women praised Yahweh, who had not left Naomi without a near kinsman, and said the child would be a restorer of life, born to the daughter-in-law who loved her and was better than seven sons. Naomi became his nurse, and the neighbors named him Obed. The book closes with a genealogy from Perez to David: Obed was the father of Jesse, the father of David. A Moabite woman's loyalty became part of the line of Israel's great king. In the New Testament, Matthew lists Boaz and Ruth in the family line of Jesus Christ, saying Boaz became the father of Obed by Ruth (Matthew 1:5).