Ruth 1

1 In the days when the judges gave judgment, there was a famine in the land; and a man went from Bethlehem of Judah to live as a foreigner in the country of Moab — he and his wife and his sons. [a] 2 The man’s name was Elimelech, and his wife’s name was Naomi, and the names of his two sons were Mahlon and Chilion; they were Ephrathites from Bethlehem of Judah. And they came to the country of Moab and stayed there. [b] 3 Then Elimelech, Naomi’s husband, died, and she was left, she and her two sons. 4 They took Moabite women as wives for themselves — the name of the one was Orpah, and the name of the second was Ruth — and they lived there about ten years. 5 Then the two of them died as well, Mahlon and Chilion; and the woman was left without her husband and without her two sons.

6 Then she set out, she and her two daughters-in-law, and they turned back out of the country of Moab, because they had heard in the country of Moab that the Lord had visited his people to give them bread. 7 So she went out from the place where she had been, and her two daughters-in-law with her; and they went on the road to return to the land of Judah.

8 And Naomi said to her daughters-in-law, “Go now, each of you back to her mother’s house. May the Lord deal with you in mercy, as you have dealt with the dead and with me. 9 May the Lord grant you this: that each of you finds rest in the house of her husband.” And she kissed them; and they lifted up their voice and wept. 10 And they said to her, “We are going back with you, to your people.” 11 And Naomi said, “Turn back, my daughters. Why would you come with me? Do I still have sons in my womb, who could become your husbands? 12 Turn back, my daughters, for I am too old to have a husband. For I said, ‘There is still hope for me — I will have a husband and I will bear sons’ — [c] 13 would you wait for them until they were grown? Would you hold yourselves back for their sakes from having husbands? No, my daughters; it is more bitter for me than for you, because the hand of the Lord has gone out against me.”

14 And they lifted up their voice and wept again; and Orpah kissed her mother-in-law and went back to her people, but Ruth followed her. 15 And Naomi said to Ruth, “Look — your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and to her gods. Turn back, you too, after your sister-in-law.”

18 And when Naomi saw that she was making herself strong to go with her, she said no more to her about it. 19 So the two of them went on until they came to Bethlehem. And when they arrived at Bethlehem, the whole city rang with them, and they said, “Is this Naomi?” 20 And she said to them, “Do not call me Naomi; call me Bitter, because the Sufficient One has dealt very bitterly with me. [e] 21 I went out full, and the Lord has brought me back empty. Why do you call me Naomi, when the Lord has brought me low and the Sufficient One has done me harm?” 22 So Naomi came back, and Ruth the Moabite, her daughter-in-law, with her, returning out of the country of Moab; and they arrived at Bethlehem at the beginning of the barley harvest.