Ruth

Ruth

¹In the days when the judges ruled, a famine came on the land. A man from Bethlehem in Judah went to live in the country of Moab, he and his wife and his sons. ²The man's name was Elimelech, his wife's name was Naomi, and the names of his two sons were Mahlon and Chilion. They were Ephrathites from Bethlehem in Judah. They came into the country of Moab and settled there. ³Then Elimelech, Naomi's husband, died, and she was left with her two sons. ⁴They took Moabite wives for themselves. The name of one was Orpah and the name of the other was Ruth. They lived there about ten years. ⁵Then both of them, Mahlon and Chilion, died too, and the woman was left without her husband and without her two sons. ⁶So she got up with her two daughters-in-law to return from the country of Moab, because she had heard that the LORD had shown mercy to his people and given them food. ⁷She left the place where they had been living, and her two daughters-in-law went with her. They set out on the road to return to the land of Judah. ⁸Naomi said to her daughters-in-law, "Go, return each of you to your mother's house. May the LORD show you his kindness, as you have shown kindness to the dead and to me. ⁹May the LORD grant that you find rest, each in the home of a husband." Then she kissed them, and they cried out and wept. ¹⁰They said to her, "We will go back with you to your people." ¹¹But Naomi said, "Go back, my daughters. Why would you come with me? Do I still have sons in my womb who could become your husbands? ¹²Go back, my daughters, because I am too old to marry and have children. ¹³Would you wait for them until they grew up? Would you hold yourselves back and not marry? No, my daughters. My soul is far more bitter than yours, because the hand of the LORD has gone out against me." ¹⁴They cried out and wept again. Then Orpah kissed her mother-in-law and went back to her people, but Ruth stayed with her. ¹⁵Naomi said to Ruth, "Look, your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and to her gods. Go back with your sister-in-law too." ¹⁶But Ruth said, "Don't urge me to leave you or to turn back from following you. Where you go, I will go, and where you stay, I will stay. Your people will be my people, and your God will be my God. ¹⁷Where you die, I will die, and there I will be buried. May the LORD do this to me, and more, if anything but death separates me from you." ¹⁸When Naomi saw that Ruth was determined to go with her, she stopped arguing with her. ¹⁹So the two of them went on until they reached Bethlehem. The whole town was stirred because of them, and the women said, "Can this be Naomi, still alive?" ²⁰She said to them, "Don't call me Naomi. Call me Mara, because I have become very bitter indeed. ²¹I went away full, and the LORD has brought me back empty. Why call me Naomi, when the LORD has brought me low and has caused me great pain?" ²²So Naomi came back, and Ruth the Moabite, her daughter-in-law, with her. They returned from the country of Moab and arrived in Bethlehem at the beginning of the barley harvest.