1During the time when judges ruled, there was a famine in the land. A man from Bethlehem, in Judah, went to live in the country of Moab with his wife and two sons.
2The man's name was Elimelech, and his wife's name was Naomi. His two sons were Mahlon and Chilion. They were Ephrathites from Bethlehem, Judah. They went to the country of Moab and settled there.
3Elimelech, Naomi’s husband, died, leaving her with her two sons.
4The sons married women from Moab. One was named Orpah, and the other was named Ruth. They lived there for about ten years.
5Then both Mahlon and Chilion died, leaving the woman without her two children and her husband.
6So she and her daughters-in-law got ready to return from the country of Moab, because she had heard in Moab that Yahweh had blessed his people by giving them food.
7She left the place where she was living, and her two daughters-in-law went with her. They started on the road to return to the land of Judah.
8Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, “Go back, each of you, to your mother's home. May Yahweh be kind to you, just as you have been kind to the dead and to me.
9May Yahweh allow each of you to find security in the home of a new husband.” Then she kissed them, and they began to cry loudly.
10They said to her, “No, we will return with you to your people.”
11Naomi replied, “Go back, my daughters. Why would you want to come with me? Do I still have sons who could become your husbands?
12Go back, my daughters, go your way, because I am too old to have a husband. Even if I were to say, ‘I have hope,’ and even if I were to get a husband tonight and bear sons,
13would you wait for them until they grew up? Would you stay single for their sake? No, my daughters. It pains me deeply for your sake, because Yahweh has turned against me.”
14They cried loudly again. Then Orpah kissed her mother-in-law goodbye, but Ruth clung to her.
15Naomi said, "Look, your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and to her gods. Go back with your sister-in-law."
16Ruth said, "Don't ask me to leave you or to turn back from following you. Because wherever you go, I will go. Wherever you stay, I will stay. Your people will be my people, and your God my God.
17Wherever you die, I will die, and there I will be buried. May Yahweh punish me, and even more, if anything but death separates you and me."
18When Naomi saw that Ruth was determined to go with her, she stopped trying to persuade her.
19So both of them traveled until they reached Bethlehem. When they arrived in Bethlehem, the whole town was excited because of them, and the women asked, "Is this Naomi?"
20She told them, "Don't call me Naomi. Call me Mara, because the Almighty has made my life very bitter.
21I went away full, but Yahweh has brought me back empty. Why call me Naomi, since Yahweh has testified against me and the Almighty has brought me trouble?"
22So Naomi returned, and her daughter-in-law, Ruth the Moabitess, returned with her from the country of Moab. They arrived in Bethlehem at the beginning of the barley harvest.