Ruth 1

1 ¹When the judges ruled, a famine struck the land, and a man from Bethlehem in Judah went with his wife and two sons to stay a while in the fields of Moab. ²The man was named Elimelech, his wife Naomi, and his two sons Mahlon and Chilion—Ephrathites from Bethlehem in Judah. They went to the territory of Moab and stayed there. ³Then Elimelech, Naomi's husband, died, and she was left with her two sons. ⁴They married Moabite women—Orpah and Ruth—and lived there about ten years. ⁵Both Mahlon and Chilion also died, and Naomi was left without her two children and husband.

Ruth's Unbreakable Bond

⁶In Moab's fields, Naomi heard that our Father had attended his people, giving them food, so she set out with her two daughters-in-law to return from there. ⁷She left the place where she had been, with her two daughters-in-law, and they went on the road back to the land of Judah. ⁸Naomi told her two daughters-in-law, "Return, each to your mother's home. May our Father deal kindly with you, as you dealt with the dead and with me. ⁹May our Father give each of you rest in another husband's home." Then she kissed them, and they wept aloud.

¹⁰And they said to her, "No — we will return with you to your people."

¹¹Naomi said, "Go back, my daughters. Why go with me? Do I have more sons in my womb to become your husbands? ¹²Return, my daughters, go, for I'm too old to marry. Even if I said there's still hope, even if I had a husband tonight and bore sons, ¹³would you wait for them until grown? Would you stay unmarried for them? No, my daughters — it's far more bitter for me than you, since our Father's hand has turned against me."

¹⁴At this they wept aloud again. Then Orpah kissed her mother-in-law goodbye, but Ruth clung to her. ¹⁵"Naomi said, "Look, your sister-in-law went back to her people and her gods. Go back with her."

¹⁶Ruth said, "Don't push me to leave you or turn back from following you. Where you go, I'll go; where you stay, I'll stay. Your people will be my people, and your God my God. ^a a v16 Ruth's vow is one of the canonical entry-points where a Gentile binds herself to Israel's God — and through her, our Father weaves a Moabite woman into the family line that leads to David and to Jesus. ¹⁷Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried. May our Father punish me ever so severely if anything but death separates you and me."

¹⁸When Naomi saw that Ruth was determined to go with her, she said no more to her.

¹⁹So both of them traveled until they reached Bethlehem. When they entered Bethlehem, the whole town stirred over them, and the women said, "Is this Naomi?"

²⁰"Don't call me Naomi," she said. "Call me Mara — the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me. ^b b v20 Naomi means "pleasant"; Mara means "bitter." She renames herself to match the grief she is carrying home. ²¹I went away full, but our Father has brought me back empty. Why call me Naomi, when our Father has afflicted me and the Almighty has brought misfortune upon me? ²²So Naomi returned from the fields of Moab with Ruth the Moabite, her daughter-in-law, who came back with her. They reached Bethlehem as barley harvest began."