Ruth 1
1 And it comes to pass, in [the] days [when] the ones judging judge, that there is a famine in the land, and there goes a man from Beth-Lehem-Judah to sojourn in the fields of Moab, he, and his wife, and his 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.
2 And the name of the man [is] Elimelech, and the name of his wife Naomi, and the name of his two sons Mahlon and Chilion, Ephraimites from Beth-Lehem-Judah; and they come into the fields of Moab, and are 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.
3 And Elimelech husband of Naomi dies, and she is left, she and her two sons;
Then Naomi’s husband Elimelech died, and she was left with her two sons,
4 and they take to them wives, Moabitesses: the name of the first [is] Orpah, and the name of the second Ruth; and they dwell there 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,
5 And they die also, both of them—Mahlon and Chilion—and the woman is left of her two children and of her husband.
both Mahlon and Chilion also died, and Naomi was left without her two sons and without her husband.
6 And she rises, she and her daughters-in-law, and turns back from the fields of Moab, for she has heard in the fields of Moab that God has looked after His people—to give to them bread.
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.
7 And she goes out from the place where she has been, and her two daughters-in-law with her, and they go in the way to return 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.
8 And Naomi says to her two daughters-in-law, “Go, return, each to the house of her mother; YHWH does with you kindness as you have done with the dead, and with me;
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.
9 YHWH grants to you, and you find rest each in the house of her husband”; and she kisses them, and they lift up their voice and weep.
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 And they say to her, “Surely with you we go back to your people.”
and said, “Surely we will return with you to your people.”
11 And Naomi says, “Turn back, my daughters; why do you go with me? Are there yet to me sons in my bowels that they have been to you for husbands?
But Naomi replied, “Return home, my daughters. Why would you go with me? Are there still sons in my womb to become your husbands?
12 Turn back, my daughters, go, for I am too aged to be to a husband; though I had said, There is for me hope, also, I have been tonight to a husband, and also I have borne 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,
13 do you wait for them until they grow up? Do you shut yourselves up for them, not to be to a husband? No, my daughters, for more bitter to me than to you, for the hand of YHWH has gone out against me.”
would you wait for them to grow up? Would you refrain from having husbands? No, my daughters, it grieves me very much for your sakes that the hand of the LORD has gone out against me.”
14 And they lift up their voice, and weep again, and Orpah kisses her mother-in-law, and Ruth has cleaved to her.
Again they wept aloud, and Orpah kissed her mother-in-law goodbye, but Ruth clung to her.
15 And she says, “Behold, your sister-in-law has turned back to her people, and to her god, turn back after your sister-in-law.”
“Look,” said Naomi, “your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and her gods; follow her back home.”
16 And Ruth says, “Do not urge me to leave you—to turn back from after you; for to where you go I go, and where you lodge I lodge; your people [is] my people, and your God 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.
17 Where you die I die, and there I am buried; thus does YHWH to me, and thus He adds—for death itself parts between me and you.”
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.”
18 And she sees that she is strengthening herself to go with her, and she ceases to speak to her;
When Naomi saw that Ruth was determined to go with her, she stopped trying to persuade her.
19 and the two of them go until their coming to Beth-Lehem; and it comes to pass at their coming to Beth-Lehem, that all the city is moved at them, and they say, “Is this Naomi?”
So Naomi and Ruth traveled until they came to Bethlehem. When they entered Bethlehem, the whole city was stirred because of them, and the women of the city exclaimed, “Can this be Naomi?”
20 And she says to them, “Do not call me Naomi; call me Mara, for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly to me,
“Do not call me Naomi,” she replied. “Call me Mara, because the Almighty has dealt quite bitterly with me.
21 I went out full, and YHWH has brought me back empty, why do you call me Naomi, and YHWH has testified against me, and the Almighty has done evil to 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.”
22 And Naomi turns back, and Ruth the Moabitess, her daughter-in-law, with her, who has turned back from the fields of Moab, and they have come to Beth-Lehem at the commencement of 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.
