2. Boaz gathered ten of the old men who were leaders of the city. He told them, “Sit down here!” So they sat down.
3. Then Boaz spoke to the close relative. He said, “Naomi has come back from the country of Moab. She wants to sell the piece of land that belonged to our relative Elimelech.
4. So I decided to say this to you: If you want to buy back the land, then buy it! Buy it in front of the people who live here and in front of the elders of my people. If you don’t want to buy it, tell me. I am the only person after you who can buy back the land. If you don’t buy it back, I will.”And the close relative said, “I will buy back the land.”
5. Then Boaz said, “When you buy the land from Naomi, you must marry Ruth, the dead man’s wife. She is the woman from Moab. That way, the land will stay in her dead husband’s family.”
6. The close relative answered, “Then I can’t buy back the land. If I did, I might lose what I can pass on to my own sons. I cannot buy the land back. So you buy it yourself.”
7. Long ago in Israel when people traded or bought back something, one person took off his sandal and gave it to the other person. This was their proof of purchase.