Ruth 1

Elimelech’s Family Goes to Moab

1Now it came to pass, in the days when ^athe judges ¹ruled, that there was ^ba famine in the land. And a certain man of ^cBethlehem, Judah, went to ²dwell in the country of ^dMoab, he and his wife and his two sons. ²The name of the man was Elimelech, the name of his wife was Naomi, and the names of his two sons were Mahlon and Chilion—^eEphrathites of Bethlehem, Judah. And they went ^fto the country of Moab and remained there. ³Then Elimelech, Naomi’s husband, died; and she was left, and her two sons. ⁴Now they took wives of the women of Moab: the name of the one was Orpah, and the name of the other Ruth. And they ³dwelt there about ten years. ⁵Then both Mahlon and Chilion also died; so the woman survived her two sons and her husband.

Naomi Returns with Ruth

⁶Then she arose with her daughters-in-law that she might return from the country of Moab, for she had heard in the country of Moab that the Lord had ^gvisited ⁴His people by ^hgiving them bread. ⁷Therefore she went out 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, ⁱ“Go, return each to her mother’s house. ^jThe Lord deal kindly with you, as you have dealt ^kwith the dead and with me. ⁹The Lord grant that you may find ^lrest, each in the house of her husband.”

So she kissed them, and they lifted up their voices and wept. ¹⁰And they said to her, “Surely we will return with you to your people.”

¹¹But Naomi said, “Turn back, my daughters; why will you go with me? Are there still sons in my womb, ^mthat they may be your husbands? ¹²Turn back, my daughters, go—for I am too old to have a husband. If I should say I have hope, if I should have a husband tonight and should also bear sons, ¹³would you wait for them till they were grown? Would you restrain yourselves from having husbands? No, my daughters; for it grieves me very much for your sakes that ⁿthe hand of the Lord has gone out against me!”

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

¹⁵And she said, “Look, your sister-in-law has gone back to ^pher people and to her gods; ^qreturn after your sister-in-law.”

¹⁶But Ruth said:

^r“Entreat ⁵me not to leave you,

Or to turn back from following after you;

For wherever you go, I will go;

And wherever you lodge, I will lodge;

^sYour people shall be my people,

And your God, my God.

¹⁷Where you die, I will die,

And there will I be buried.

^tThe Lord do so to me, and more also,

If anything but death parts you and me.”

^18uWhen she saw that she ⁶was determined to go with her, she stopped speaking to her.

¹⁹Now the two of them went until they came to Bethlehem. And it happened, when they had come to Bethlehem, that ^vall the city was excited because of them; and the women said, ^w“Is this Naomi?”

²⁰But she said to them, “Do not call me ⁷Naomi; call me ⁸Mara, for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me. ²¹I went out full, ^xand the Lord has brought me home again empty. Why do you call me Naomi, since the Lord has testified against me, and ⁹the Almighty has afflicted me?”

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