enemies as vehicles of punishment, and God’s raising up of judges to deliver his penitent people. The covenant curses in Deuteronomy 28:15–68 include famine, sickness, infertility, and death. Given what we know about the period of the judges, it is possible that the famine in Bethlehem and perhaps even the deaths of Elimelek and his sons and their childless marriages were linked to covenant unfaithfulness. Naomi certainly saw the hand of God behind her afflictions (Ruth 1:21).