A famine drives Elimelech, Naomi, and their two sons from Bethlehem to Moab. Elimelech dies, the sons marry Moabite women named Ruth and Orpah, and then the sons also die. Naomi is left without her husband and children in a foreign land.

When Naomi hears that food has returned to Judah, she decides to go home. She urges Ruth and Orpah to remain in Moab and rebuild their lives. Orpah eventually turns back. Ruth refuses. She commits herself to Naomi’s people and to Naomi’s God and travels with her to Bethlehem.

The women arrive at the beginning of the barley harvest. Ruth goes out to glean, gathering grain left behind by harvesters. She happens to work in a field belonging to Boaz, a relative of Elimelech. Boaz has heard about Ruth’s loyalty to Naomi. He tells his workers not to harm her, invites her to drink from their water, and orders that extra grain be left for her.

Naomi recognizes Boaz as one of the family’s potential redeemers. Later she instructs Ruth to approach him at the threshing floor. Ruth asks Boaz to spread his garment over her because he is a redeemer. Boaz praises her character but explains that another relative has a prior claim.

At the city gate Boaz presents the matter before elders. The nearer relative declines the responsibility, and Boaz publicly acquires the right to redeem the family property and marry Ruth. Ruth gives birth to a son named Obed. The women of Bethlehem celebrate with Naomi, whose earlier emptiness is answered by a renewed household.

The book ends by widening the lens. Obed becomes the father of Jesse, and Jesse the father of David. Ruth, the Moabite widow who chose loyalty to Naomi, is therefore placed within the ancestry of Israel’s most famous king.