Marriage Duty of the Surviving Brother

^5 (A)“If brothers dwell together, and one of them dies and has no son, the widow of the dead man shall not be married to a stranger outside the family; her husband’s brother shall go in to her, take her as his wife, and perform the duty of a husband’s brother to her. ⁶ And it shall be that the firstborn son which she bears ^(B)will succeed to the name of his dead brother, that ^(C)his name may not be blotted out of Israel. ⁷ But if the man does not want to take his brother’s wife, then let his brother’s wife go up to the ^(D)gate to the elders, and say, ‘My husband’s brother refuses to raise up a name to his brother in Israel; he will not perform the duty of my husband’s brother.’ ⁸ Then the elders of his city shall call him and speak to him. But if he stands firm and says, ^(E)‘I do not want to take her,’ ⁹ then his brother’s wife shall come to him in the presence of the elders, ^(F)remove his sandal from his foot, spit in his face, and answer and say, ‘So shall it be done to the man who will not ^(G)build up his brother’s house.’ ¹⁰ And his name shall be called in Israel, ‘The house of him who had his sandal removed.’

⁵ Then Boaz said, “On the day you buy the field from the hand of Naomi, you must also buy it from Ruth the Moabitess, the wife of the dead, ^(A)to ^[a]perpetuate the name of the dead through his inheritance.”

¹⁰ Moreover, Ruth the Moabitess, the widow of Mahlon, I have acquired as my wife, to perpetuate the name of the dead through his inheritance, ^(A)that the name of the dead may not be cut off from among his brethren and from ^[a]his position at the gate. You are witnesses this day.”

²⁴ saying: “Teacher, ^(A)Moses said that if a man dies, having no children, his brother shall marry his wife and raise up offspring for his brother.