Ruth 1
1 There 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.
And it came to pass in the days when the judges ruled, that there was a famine in the land. And a certain man went from Bethlehem-Judah, to sojourn in the country of Moab, he, and his wife, and his two sons.
2 His 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.
And the name of the man was Elimelech, and the name of his wife Naomi, and the name of his two sons Mahlon and Chilion, Ephrathites of Bethlehem-Judah. And they came into the country of Moab, and continued there.
3 However, Elimelech, Naomi's husband, died, and she was left with her two sons.
And Elimelech Naomi's husband died; and she was left, and her two sons.
4 The sons married Moabite women. One was called Orpah, the other was called Ruth. After about ten years,
And they took them Moabitish wives; the name of the one was Orpah, and the name of the second Ruth: and they abode there about ten years.
5 both Mahlon and Chilion died. Naomi was left alone, without her two sons or her husband.
And Mahlon and Chilion died also, both of them; and the woman was left of her two children and of her husband.
6 So 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.
And she arose, she and her daughters-in-law, and returned from the fields of Moab; for she had heard in the fields of Moab how that Jehovah had visited his people to give them bread.
7 She 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.
Wherefore she went forth out of the place where she had been, and her two daughters-in-law with her; and they went on the way to return to the land of Judah.
8 However, 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.
And Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, Go, return each to her mother's house. Jehovah deal kindly with you, as ye have dealt with the dead and with me.
9 May the Lord give you a good home with another husband.” She kissed them, and they all started to cry loudly.
Jehovah grant you that ye may find rest, each in the house of her husband. And she kissed them; and they lifted up their voice and wept.
10 “No! We want to go back with you to your people,” they replied.
And they said to her, We will certainly return with thee to thy 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.
And Naomi said, Return, my daughters: why will ye go with me? Are there yet sons in my womb, that they could be your husbands?
12 Go 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, my daughters, go; for I am too old to have a husband. If I should say, I have hope, should I even have a husband to-night, and should I also bear sons,
13 would 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 ye wait on that account till they were grown? Would ye stay on that account from having husbands? No, my daughters, for I am in much more bitterness than you; for the hand of Jehovah is gone out against me.
14 They started crying loudly again. Then Orpah kissed her mother-in-law goodbye. But Ruth held on tightly to Naomi.
And they lifted up their voice and wept again. And Orpah kissed her mother-in-law, but Ruth clave to her.
15 “Look, your sister-in-law is going back to her people and her gods. Go back home with her,” said Naomi.
And she said, Behold, thy sister-in-law is gone back to her people and to her gods: return after thy sister-in-law.
16 But 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.
And Ruth said, Do not intreat me to leave thee, to return from [following] after thee; for whither thou goest I will go, and where thou lodgest I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God;
17 Where 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 thou diest will I die, and there will I be buried. Jehovah do so to me, and more also, if aught but death part me and thee!
18 When Naomi saw that Ruth was determined to go with her, she stopped telling Ruth to go home.
And when she saw that she was stedfastly minded to go with her, she left off speaking to her.
19 So 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.
And they two went until they came to Bethlehem. And it came to pass, when they came to Bethlehem, that all the city was moved about them, and the [women] said, Is this Naomi?
20 She said to them, “Don't call me Naomi! Call me Mara, for the Almighty has treated me very bitterly.
And she said to them, Call me not Naomi — call me Mara; for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me.
21 I 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 out full, and Jehovah has brought me home again empty. Why do ye call me Naomi, seeing Jehovah has brought me low, and the Almighty has afflicted me?
22 This 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, and Ruth the Moabitess, her daughter-in-law, with her, who returned out of the fields of Moab; and they came to Bethlehem in the beginning of the barley-harvest.
