'May' in the Bible

Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, "Listen to me! Each of you should return to your mother's home! May the Lord show you the same kind of devotion that you have shown to your deceased husbands and to me!

May the Lord enable each of you to find security in the home of a new husband!" Then she kissed them goodbye and they wept loudly.

Wherever you die, I will die -- and there I will be buried. May the Lord punish me severely if I do not keep my promise! Only death will be able to separate me from you!"

One day Ruth the Moabite said to Naomi, "Let me go to the fields so I can gather grain behind whoever permits me to do so." Naomi replied, "You may go, my daughter."

Now at that very moment, Boaz arrived from Bethlehem and greeted the harvesters, "May the Lord be with you!" They replied, "May the Lord bless you!"

She asked, 'May I follow the harvesters and gather grain among the bundles?' Since she arrived she has been working hard from this morning until now -- except for sitting in the resting hut a short time."

So Boaz said to Ruth, "Listen carefully, my dear! Do not leave to gather grain in another field. You need not go beyond the limits of this field. You may go along beside my female workers.

Take note of the field where the men are harvesting and follow behind with the female workers. I will tell the men to leave you alone. When you are thirsty, you may go to the water jars and drink some of the water the servants draw."

May the Lord reward your efforts! May your acts of kindness be repaid fully by the Lord God of Israel, from whom you have sought protection!"

Her mother-in-law asked her, "Where did you gather grain today? Where did you work? May the one who took notice of you be rewarded!" So Ruth told her mother-in-law with whom she had worked. She said, "The name of the man with whom I worked today is Boaz."

Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, "May he be rewarded by the Lord because he has shown loyalty to the living on behalf of the dead!" Then Naomi said to her, "This man is a close relative of ours; he is our guardian."

Ruth the Moabite replied, "He even told me, 'You may go along beside my servants until they have finished gathering all my harvest!'"

He said, "May you be rewarded by the Lord, my dear! This act of devotion is greater than what you did before. For you have not sought to marry one of the young men, whether rich or poor.

The guardian said, "Then I am unable to redeem it, for I would ruin my own inheritance in that case. You may exercise my redemption option, for I am unable to redeem it."

So the guardian said to Boaz, "You may acquire it," and he removed his sandal.

All the people who were at the gate and the elders replied, "We are witnesses. May the Lord make the woman who is entering your home like Rachel and Leah, both of whom built up the house of Israel! May you prosper in Ephrathah and become famous in Bethlehem.

May your family become like the family of Perez -- whom Tamar bore to Judah -- through the descendants the Lord gives you by this young woman."

The village women said to Naomi, "May the Lord be praised because he has not left you without a guardian today! May he become famous in Israel!