Ruth 1:6–22

⁶While Naomi was in Moab, she heard that the Lord had helped his people. He had begun to provide food for them again. So Naomi and her daughters-in-law prepared to go from Moab back to her home. ⁷She left the place where she had been living. Her two daughters-in-law went with her. They started out on the road that would take them back to the land of Judah.

⁸Naomi spoke to her two daughters-in-law. “Both of you go back,” she said. “Each of you go to your own mother’s home. You were kind to your husbands, who have died. You have also been kind to me. So may the Lord be just as kind to you. ⁹May he help each of you find a secure place in the home of another husband. May he give you peace and rest.”

Then she kissed them good-by. They broke down and sobbed loudly. ¹⁰They said to her, “We’ll go back to your people with you.”

¹¹But Naomi said, “Go home, my daughters. Why would you want to come with me? Am I going to have any more sons who could become your husbands?

¹²“Go home, my daughters. I’m too old to have another husband. Suppose I thought there was still some hope for me. Suppose I got married to a man tonight. And later I had sons by him. ¹³Would you wait until they grew up? Would you stay single until you could get married to them? No, my daughters. My life is more bitter than yours. The Lord’s powerful hand has been against me!”

¹⁴When they heard that, they broke down and sobbed again. Then Orpah kissed her mother-in-law good-by. But Ruth held on to her.

¹⁵“Look,” said Naomi. “Your sister-in-law is going back to her people and her gods. Go back with her.”

¹⁶But Ruth replied, “Don’t try to make me leave you and go back. Where you go I’ll go. Where you stay I’ll stay. Your people will be my people. Your God will be my God. ¹⁷Where you die I’ll die. And there my body will be buried. I won’t let anything except death separate you from me. If I do, may the Lord punish me greatly.”

¹⁸Naomi realized that Ruth had made up her mind to go with her. So she stopped trying to make her go back.

¹⁹The two women continued on their way. At last they arrived in Bethlehem. The whole town was stirred up because of them. The women asked, “Can this possibly be Naomi?”

²⁰“Don’t call me Naomi,” she told them. “Call me Mara. The Mighty One has made my life very bitter. ²¹I was full when I went away. But the Lord has brought me back empty. So why are you calling me Naomi? The Lord has made me suffer. The Mighty One has brought trouble on me.”

²²So Naomi returned from Moab. Ruth, her daughter-in-law from Moab, came with her. They arrived in Bethlehem just when people were beginning to harvest the barley.