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.
Now there came a time, in the days of the judges, when there was no food in the land. And a certain man went from Beth-lehem-judah, he and his wife and his two sons, to make a living-place in the country 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.
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 Beth-lehem-judah. And they came into the country of Moab, and were there for some time.
3 And Elimelech husband of Naomi dies, and she is left, she and her two sons;
And Elimelech, Naomi's husband, came to his end; and only her two sons were with her.
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.
And they took two women of Moab as their wives: the name of the one was Orpah, and the name of the other Ruth; and they went on living there for 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.
And Mahlon and Chilion came to their end; and the woman was without her two sons and 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.
So she and her daughters-in-law got ready to go back from the country of Moab, for news had come to her in the country of Moab that the Lord, in mercy for his people, had given them food.
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.
And she went out of the place where she was, and her two daughters-in-law with her; and they went on their way to go 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;
And Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, Go back to your mothers' houses: may the Lord be good to you as you have been good to the 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 give you rest in the houses of your husbands. Then she gave them a kiss; and they were weeping bitterly.
10 And they say to her, “Surely with you we go back to your people.”
And they said to her, No, but we will go back 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 said, Go back, my daughters; why will you come with me? Have I more sons in my body, 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:
Go back, my daughters, and go on your way; I am so old now that I may not have another husband. If I said, I have hopes, if I had a husband tonight, and might have 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 keep yourselves till they were old enough? would you keep from having husbands for them? No, my daughters; but I am very sad for you that the hand of the Lord is 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.
Then again they were weeping; and Orpah gave her mother-in-law a kiss, but Ruth would not be parted from 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.”
And Naomi said, See, your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and to her gods: go back after your sister-in-law.
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 said, Give up requesting me to go away from you, or to go back without you: for where you go I will go; and where you take your rest I will take my rest; your people will be my people, and your God 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.”
Wherever death comes to you, death will come to me, and there will be my last resting-place; the Lord do so to me and more if we are parted by anything but death.
18 And she sees that she is strengthening herself to go with her, and she ceases to speak to her;
And when she saw that Ruth was strong in her purpose to go with her she said no more.
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 the two of them went on till they came to Beth-lehem. And when they came to Beth-lehem all the town was moved about them, and they said, Is this Naomi?
20 And she says to them, “Do not call me Naomi; call me Mara, for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly to me,
And she said to them, Do not let my name be Naomi, but Mara, for the Ruler of all has given me a bitter fate.
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 out full, and the Lord has sent me back again with nothing; why do you give me the name Naomi, seeing that the Lord has given witness against me, and the Ruler of all has sent sorrow on 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 came back out of the country of Moab, and Ruth the Moabitess, her daughter-in-law, with her; and they came to Beth-lehem in the first days of the grain-cutting.
