Ruth 1 (FBV) · Opened

1There was a famine during the time when the judges ruled Israel, so a man left Bethlehem in Judah and went to live in exile in the country of Moab, along with his wife and two sons.In the days when the judges ruled, there was a famine in the land. And a certain man from Bethlehem in Judah, with his wife and two sons, went to reside in the land of Moab.

2His name was Elimelech, and his wife's name Naomi. His sons were called Mahlon and Chilion. They were Ephrathites from Bethlehem in Judah. They went to the country of Moab and lived there.The 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, and they entered the land of Moab and settled there.

3However, Elimelech, Naomi's husband, died, and she was left with her two sons.Then Naomi’s husband Elimelech died, and she was left with her two sons,

4The sons married Moabite women. One was called Orpah, the other was called Ruth. After about ten years,who took Moabite women as their wives, one named Orpah and the other named Ruth. And after they had lived in Moab about ten years,

5both Mahlon and Chilion died. Naomi was left alone, without her two sons or her husband.both Mahlon and Chilion also died, and Naomi was left without her two sons and without her husband.

6So she and her daughters-in-law prepared to leave the country of Moab and return home because she had heard that the Lord had blessed his people there with food.When Naomi heard in Moab that the LORD had attended to His people by providing them with food, she and her daughters-in-law prepared to leave the land of Moab.

7She left the place where she had been living and with her two daughters-in-law set out on the road back to the land of Judah.Accompanied by her two daughters-in-law, she left the place where she had been living and set out on the road leading back to the land of Judah.

8However, as they left, Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, “Each of you, go back to your mother's homes, and may the Lord be as kind to you as you have been to me, and to those who have died.Then Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, “Go back, each of you to your mother’s home. May the LORD show you loving devotion, as you have shown to your dead and to me.

9May the Lord give you a good home with another husband.” She kissed them, and they all started to cry loudly.May the LORD enable each of you to find rest in the home of your new husband.” And she kissed them as they wept aloud

10“No! We want to go back with you to your people,” they replied.and said, “Surely we will return with you to your people.”

11“Why do you want to go back with me?” Naomi asked. “I'm not able to have any more sons for you to marry.But Naomi replied, “Return home, my daughters. Why would you go with me? Are there still sons in my womb to become your husbands?

12Go back home, my daughters, because I'm too old to marry again. Even if I were to sleep with a new husband tonight and had sons,Return home, my daughters. Go on, for I am too old to have another husband. Even if I thought there was hope for me to have a husband tonight and to bear sons,

13would you wait for them to grow up? Would you decide you weren't going to marry anyone else? No. The whole situation is more bitter for me than it is for you, for the Lord has turned against me!”would you wait for them to grow up? Would you refrain from having husbands? No, my daughters, it is much more bitter for me than for you, because the hand of the LORD has gone out against me.”

14They started crying loudly again. Then Orpah kissed her mother-in-law goodbye. But Ruth held on tightly to Naomi.Again they wept aloud, and Orpah kissed her mother-in-law goodbye, but Ruth clung to her.

15“Look, your sister-in-law is going back to her people and her gods. Go back home with her,” said Naomi.“Look,” said Naomi, “your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and her gods; follow her back home.”

16But Ruth replied, “Please don't keep on telling me to leave you and go back. Where you go, I will go. Where you live, I will live. Your people will be my people. Your God will be my God.But Ruth replied: “Do not urge me to leave you or to turn from following 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.

17Where you die, I will die, and there I will be buried. May the Lord punish me harshly if I let anything but death separate us!”Where you die, I will die, and there I will be buried. May the LORD punish me, and ever so severely, if anything but death separates you and me.”

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

19So the two of them walked on until they reached Bethlehem. When they arrived there, the whole town got excited. “Is this Naomi?” the women asked.So Naomi and Ruth traveled until they came to Bethlehem. When they entered Bethlehem, the whole town was stirred because of them, and the women of the town exclaimed, “Can this be Naomi?”

20She said to them, “Don't call me Naomi! Call me Mara, for the Almighty has treated me very bitterly.“Do not call me Naomi,” she replied. “Call me Mara, because the Almighty has dealt quite bitterly with me.

21I left here full, but the Lord has brought me home empty. Why call me Naomi when the Lord has condemned me, when the Almighty has brought disaster on me?”I went away full, but the LORD has brought me back empty. Why call me Naomi? After all, the LORD has testified against me, and the Almighty has afflicted me.”

22This is the way that Naomi returned from Moab with Ruth, the Moabite, her daughter-in-law. They arrived in Bethlehem at the beginning of the barley harvest.So Naomi returned from the land of Moab with her daughter-in-law Ruth the Moabitess. And they arrived in Bethlehem at the beginning of the barley harvest.

Ruth 1

Naomi Becomes a Widow

Ruth’s Loyalty to Naomi

The Return to Bethlehem

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