Old Testament · History

Ruth chapter 1

Back when the ran things in Israel, a famine hit the land. So a man from in Judah took his wife and two sons and moved to the country of to find food.The man’s name was , his wife was , and their two sons were and . They were Ephrathites from Bethlehem in Judah. They arrived in Moab and settled there.Then Elimelek, Naomi’s husband, died. She was left with just her two sons.The sons married — one named Orpah, the other . They lived there about ten years.Then both Mahlon and Kilion also died. Naomi was left without her two sons and without her husband.While in Moab, Naomi heard that had his people and given them food again. So she got ready to leave Moab with her daughters-in-law.She left the place where she’d been living, with her two daughters-in-law, and they started on the road back to Judah.Then Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, “Go back, both of you — go home to your mothers. May Yahweh show you the same you’ve shown to your dead husbands and to me.”“May Yahweh give each of you in the home of a new husband.” She kissed them, and they all broke down crying.They said to her, “No — we’re going back with you, to your people.”But Naomi said, “Go back, my daughters. Why would you come with me? Do I have in my womb who could become your husbands?”“Go back, my daughters, go on your way. I’m too old to have another husband. Even if I thought there was still hope for me — even if I had a husband tonight and then gave birth to sons —““would you really wait for them to grow up? Would you really stay unmarried for that long? No, my daughters. My life has become far more than yours, because .”They cried again. Then Orpah kissed her mother-in-law goodbye. But Ruth and wouldn’t let go.Naomi said, “Look — your sister-in-law is going back to her people and . Go with her.”But Ruth said, “Don’t ask me to leave you or to stop following you. Wherever you go, I’ll go. Wherever you live, I’ll live. , and .”“Where you die, I’ll die — and that’s where I’ll be buried. , if anything but death separates us.”When Naomi saw that Ruth had completely made up her mind to go with her, she stopped arguing.So the two of them traveled until they reached Bethlehem. When they arrived, the whole town buzzed with excitement. The women said, “Can this really be Naomi?”She told them, “Don’t call me . Call me , because has made my life incredibly bitter.”“I left here , and Yahweh has brought me back empty. Why call me Naomi? Yahweh has . The Almighty has brought disaster on me.”That’s how Naomi came back from Moab, with her daughter-in-law . They arrived in Bethlehem just as the was beginning.