Ruth 1

Chapter 1

Naomi Widowed

¹Now it came about in the days ^awhen the judges ¹governed, that there was ^ba famine in the land. And a certain man ^cof Bethlehem in Judah went to sojourn in the land of Moab ²with his wife and his two sons.

²The name of the man was Elimelech, and the name of his wife, Naomi; and the names of his two sons were Mahlon and Chilion, Ephrathites of Bethlehem in Judah. Now they ^aentered the land of Moab and remained there.

³Then Elimelech, Naomi’s husband, died; and she was left with her two sons.

⁴They took for themselves Moabite women as wives; the name of the one was Orpah and the name of the other Ruth. And they lived there about ten years.

⁵Then ¹both Mahlon and Chilion also died, and the woman was bereft of her two children and her husband.

⁶Then she arose with her daughters-in-law that she might return from the land of Moab, for she had heard in the land of Moab that the Lord had ^avisited His people in ^bgiving them food.

⁷So she departed from the place where she was, and her two daughters-in-law with her; and they went on the way to return to the land of Judah.

⁸And Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, “Go, return each of you to her mother’s house. ^aMay the Lord deal kindly with you as you have dealt with the dead and with me.

⁹“May the Lord grant that you may find rest, each in the house of her husband.” Then she kissed them, and they lifted up their voices and wept.

¹⁰And they said to her, “No, but we will surely return with you to your people.”

¹¹But Naomi said, “Return, my daughters. Why should you go with me? Have I yet sons in my womb, that ^athey may be your husbands?

¹²“Return, my daughters! Go, for I am too old to have a husband. If I said I have hope, if I should even have a husband tonight and also bear sons,

¹³would you therefore wait until they were grown? Would you therefore refrain from marrying? No, my daughters; for it is ¹harder for me than for you, for ^athe hand of the Lord has gone forth against me.”

Ruth’s Loyalty

¹⁴And they lifted up their voices and wept again; and Orpah kissed her mother-in-law, but Ruth clung to her.

¹⁵Then she said, “Behold, your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and her ^agods; return after your sister-in-law.”

¹⁶But Ruth said, “Do not urge me to leave you or turn back from following you; for where you go, I will go, and where you lodge, I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God, my God.

¹⁷“Where you die, I will die, and there I will be buried. Thus may ^athe Lord do to me, and worse, if anything but death parts you and me.”

¹⁸When ^ashe saw that she was determined to go with her, she ¹said no more to her.

¹⁹So they both went until they came to Bethlehem. And when they had come to Bethlehem, ^aall the city was stirred because of them, and ¹the women said, “Is this Naomi?”

²⁰She said to them, “Do not call me ¹Naomi; call me ²Mara, for ^3athe Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me.

²¹“I went out full, but ^athe Lord has brought me back empty. Why do you call me Naomi, since the Lord has witnessed against me and ¹the Almighty has afflicted me?”

²²So Naomi returned, and with her Ruth the Moabitess, her daughter-in-law, who returned from the land of Moab. And they came to Bethlehem at ^athe beginning of barley harvest.