¹⁶But Ruth said, “Don’t beg me to leave you or to stop following you. Where you go, I will go. Where you live, I will live. Your people will be my people, and your God will be my God. ¹⁷And where you die, I will die, and there I will be buried. I ask the Lord to punish me terribly if I do not keep this promise: Not even death will separate us.”

¹⁸When Naomi saw that Ruth had firmly made up her mind to go with her, she stopped arguing with her. ¹⁹So Naomi and Ruth went on until they came to the town of Bethlehem. When they entered Bethlehem, all the people became very excited. The women of the town said, “Is this really Naomi?”

²⁰Naomi answered the people, “Don’t call me Naomi. ⁿ Call me Mara, ⁿ because the Almighty has made my life very sad. ²¹When I left, I had all I wanted, but now, the Lord has brought me home with nothing. Why should you call me Naomi when the Lord has spoken against me and the Almighty has given me so much trouble?”

²²So Naomi and her daughter-in-law Ruth, the Moabite, returned from Moab and arrived at Bethlehem at the beginning of the barley harvest.

Read in Logos

Ruth 1:16: But Ruth said, “Do not urge me to leave you or to return 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.

Footnotes

nNaomi This name means “happy” or “pleasant.”
nMara This name means “bitter” or “sad.”