16 But Ruth replied:

Do not persuade me to leave you
or go back and not follow you.
For wherever you go, I will go,
and wherever you live, I will live;
your people will be my people,
and your God will be my God.
17 Where you die, I will die,
and there I will be buried.
May Yahweh punish me,[a](A)
and do so severely,
if anything but death separates you and me.

18 When Naomi saw that Ruth was determined to go with her, she stopped trying to persuade her.

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Footnotes

  1. Ruth 1:17 A solemn oath formula; 1Sm 3:17; 2Sm 3:9,35; 1Kg 2:23; 2Kg 6:31

16 But Ruth replied, “Don’t urge me to leave you(A) or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go,(B) and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people(C) and your God my God.(D) 17 Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried. May the Lord deal with me, be it ever so severely,(E) if even death separates you and me.”(F) 18 When Naomi realized that Ruth was determined to go with her, she stopped urging her.(G)

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