Ruth 1

Living Bible

1 ^1-2 Long ago when judges ruled in Israel, a man named Elimelech, from Bethlehem,^[a] left the country because of a famine and moved to the land of Moab. With him were his wife, Naomi, and his two sons, Mahlon and Chilion. ³ During the time of their residence there, Elimelech died and Naomi was left with her two sons.

^4-5 These young men, Mahlon and Chilion, married girls of Moab, Orpah and Ruth. But later, both men died, so that Naomi was left alone, without her husband or sons. ^6-7 She decided to return to Israel with her daughters-in-law, for she had heard that the Lord had blessed his people by giving them good crops again.

⁸ But after they had begun their homeward journey, she changed her mind and said to her two daughters-in-law, “Why don’t you return to your parents’ homes instead of coming with me? And may the Lord reward you for your faithfulness to your husbands and to me. ⁹ And may he bless you with another happy marriage.” Then she kissed them, and they all broke down and cried.

¹⁰ “No,” they said. “We want to go with you to your people.”

¹¹ But Naomi replied, “It is better for you to return to your own people. Do I have younger sons who could grow up to be your husbands?^{[b] 12} No, my daughters, return to your parents’ homes, for I am too old to have a husband. And even if that were possible, and I became pregnant tonight, and bore sons ¹³ would you wait for them to grow up? No, of course not, my daughters; oh, how I grieve for you that the Lord has punished me in a way that injures you.”

¹⁴ And again they cried together, and Orpah kissed her mother-in-law good-bye, and returned to her childhood home; but Ruth insisted on staying with Naomi.

¹⁵ “See,” Naomi said to her, “your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and to her gods; you should do the same.”

¹⁶ But Ruth replied, “Don’t make me leave you, for I want to go wherever you go and to live wherever you live; your people shall be my people, and your God shall be my God; ¹⁷ I want to die where you die and be buried there. May the Lord do terrible things to me if I allow anything but death to separate us.”

¹⁸ And when Naomi saw that Ruth had made up her mind and could not be persuaded otherwise, she stopped urging her. ¹⁹ So they both came to Bethlehem, and the entire village was stirred by their arrival.

“Is it really Naomi?” the women asked.

²⁰ But she told them, “Don’t call me Naomi. Call me Mara,” (Naomi means “pleasant”; Mara means “bitter”) “for Almighty God has dealt me bitter blows. ²¹ I went out full and the Lord has brought me home empty; why should you call me Naomi when the Lord has turned his back on me and sent such calamity!”

²² (Their return from Moab and arrival in Bethlehem was at the beginning of the barley harvest.)