Ruth 1
1 During the time before kings ruled Israel, (there was a famine/the people there had nothing to eat). There was a man who lived there whose name was Elimelech. His wife’s name was Naomi, and his sons’ names were Mahlon and Chilion. They were all from Bethlehem [town], from the Ephrath [clan] in Judah [region].
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.
2 Because of the famine, they left Bethlehem and went east to [live for a while in] Moab [region].
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.
3 While they were there, Elimelech died, and Naomi had only her two sons with her.
And Elimelech husband of Naomi dies, and she is left, she and her two sons;
4 They married women from Moab. One of them was named Orpah, and the other one was named Ruth. But after they had lived in that area for about ten years,
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.
5 Mahlon and Chilion died. So then Naomi had no husband and no sons.
And they die also, both of them—Mahlon and Chilion—and the woman is left of her two children and of her husband.
6 One day while Naomi was in Moab, she heard someone say that Yahweh had helped his people in Israel and that now there was plenty of food to eat. So she prepared to return [to Bethlehem].
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.
7 She left the place where she had been living and started to walk [with her daughters-in-law] along the road back to Judah.
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.
8 Then as the three of them were walking, Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, “Each of you should turn around and go back to your mother’s home. You treated [your husbands] kindly [before] they died, and you have treated me kindly.
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;
9 Now I desire that Yahweh will enable each of you to have another husband in whose home you will [feel] secure.” Then she kissed both of them, and they cried aloud.
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.
10 They each said, “No, we want to go with you as you return to your relatives.”
And they say to her, “Surely with you we go back to your people.”
11 But Naomi said, “No, my daughters, return home. (It will not do any good for you to come with me!/What good will it do for you to come with me?) [RHQ] Do you think I will get married again and have more sons who could become your husbands?
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?
12 Even if I thought I could have another husband, and even if I got married today and became pregnant [EUP] tonight and later gave birth to sons,
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:
13 would you remain single/unmarried until they grew up [and became old enough] for you to marry? No, my daughters, [you would not do that]. Your situations are bad [because your husbands have died, but it is possible that you will each marry again]. My situation is much worse, because Yahweh [SYN] has opposed me, [and now I am too old to get married again].”
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.”
14 Then Ruth and Orpah cried again [because of what Naomi said]. Then Orpah kissed her mother-in-law goodbye, [and left], but Ruth clung to Naomi.
And they lift up their voice, and weep again, and Orpah kisses her mother-in-law, and Ruth has cleaved to her.
15 Naomi said to her, “Look! Your sister-in-law is going back to her relatives and to her gods! Go back with her!”
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.”
16 But Ruth replied, “No! Don’t urge me to leave you! I [want to] go with you. Where you go, I will go. Where you stay, I will stay. Your relatives will be my relatives, and the God you [worship] will be the God I [worship].
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.
17 Where you die, I will die. Where you are buried, I will be buried. May Yahweh punish me severely if I separate from you. I will be separated from you only [when one of us] dies.”
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.”
18 When Naomi realized that Ruth was very determined to go with her, she stopped urging her [to return home].
And she sees that she is strengthening herself to go with her, and she ceases to speak to her;
19 So the two women continued walking until they came to Bethlehem. When they arrived there, everyone in town was excited [to see] them. The women [of the town] exclaimed, “(Can this be Naomi?/It is difficult to believe that this is Naomi!)” [RHQ]
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?”
20 Naomi said to them, “Don’t call me Naomi, [which means ‘pleasant’]. Instead, call me Mara, [which means ‘bitter’], because God Almighty has made my life very unpleasant.
And she says to them, “Do not call me Naomi; call me Mara, for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly to me,
21 When I left here, I [felt] rich, [because I had a family]. But Yahweh has brought me back here and now I [feel] poor, [because I have no family]. Do not call me Naomi [RHQ]. [I feel as though] Yahweh has spoken against (OR, afflicted) me. Almighty [God] has caused me to experience a great tragedy.”
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?”
22 That [summarizes the account] of Naomi returning home along with her daughter-in-law Ruth, the woman from Moab. And [it happened that] when they arrived in Bethlehem, the barley [grain] harvest was just beginning.
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.
