In the book of Ruth we learn that during a famine in Bethlehem, Elimelech, with his wife Naomi, and two sons journeyed to the Land of Moab, where they resided at the time of his death. Mahlon, one of the sons, married Ruth, a woman of Moab, whom he converted to his religion. A few happy years followed, and then the calamity of widowhood came upon Ruth. Naomi, her mother-in-law, aged and destitute, decided to return to Bethlehem. She urged Ruth to remain in her own country among her friends, and not to follow her into a strange land, where nothing but poverty seemed to await her. Ruth lovingly replied: "Entreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following after thee; for wither thou goest, I will go, and where thou lodgest, I will lodge; thy people shall be my people, and thy God, my God; where thou diest will I die, and there will I be buried; the Lord do so to me, and more also, if aught but death part thee and me. Leaving home and friends, she journeyed in company with her mother-in-law to Bethlehem, where they arrived, way worn ad so poor that Ruth was compelled to seek some means of securing their livelihood. There was nothing, however, that she could do, save to glean in the barley fields --- for it was the time of harvest.

She was unaccustomed to such labor, and just before the hour of noon, with only two handfuls of barley, she sought the shade of a tree to rest before retiring from the field.

Boaz the owner of the field, observed near the gleaners one differing in garb and manner from the others, and said to the overseer: "Who is this?" He learned that she was a woman from Moab, who had asked permission to glean among the sheaves and that evidently she was unaccustomed to such labor, for she had been there since sunrise and had gathered but two handfuls of barley. Boaz went to her and addressed her with words of encouragement which filled the heart of Ruth with thankfulness, and she said to him: "Why have I found grace in thine eyes, that thou shouldest take knowledge of me; seeing I am a stranger?" And Boaz answered: "It hath fully been shown me all that thou hast done unto thy mother-in-law since the death of thine husband; and how thou hast left thy father, and thy mother, and the land of thy nativity and art come unto a people which thou newest not heretofore. The Lord recompense thy work, and a full reward be given thee of the Lord, God of Israel, under whose wings thou art come to trust: He encouraged her to persevere. From the provisions brought for his reapers, he bade her eat and drink. He directed the reapers to drop barley in her way, that she might gather an ample supply. When she returned home, she bore with her enough for their immediate necessities.