- 1
- And it came to pass in the days when the judges ruled, that there was a famine in the land.
And a certain man went from Bethlehem-Judah, to sojourn in the country of Moab, he, and his wife, and his two sons.
- 2
- 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 Bethlehem-Judah.
And they came into the country of Moab, and continued there.
- 3
- And Elimelech Naomi's husband died;
and she was left, and her two sons.
- 4
- And they took them Moabitish wives;
the name of the one was Orpah, and the name of the second Ruth: and they abode there about ten years.
- 5
- And Mahlon and Chilion died also, both of them;
and the woman was left of her two children and of her husband.
- 6
- And she arose, she and her daughters-in-law, and returned from the fields of Moab;
for she had heard in the fields of Moab how that Jehovah had visited his people to give them bread.
- 7
- Wherefore she went forth out of the place where she had been, and her two daughters-in-law with her;
and they went on the way to return to the land of Judah.
- 8
- And Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, Go, return each to her mother's house.
Jehovah deal kindly with you, as ye have dealt with the dead and with me.
- 9
- Jehovah grant you that ye may find rest, each in the house of her husband.
And she kissed them; and they lifted up their voice and wept.
- 10
- And they said to her, We will certainly return with thee to thy people.
- 11
- And Naomi said, Return, my daughters: why will ye go with me?
Are there yet sons in my womb, that they could be your husbands?
- 12
- Return, my daughters, go;
for I am too old to have a husband. If I should say, I have hope, should I even have a husband to-night, and should I also bear sons,
- 13
- would ye wait on that account till they were grown?
Would ye stay on that account from having husbands? No, my daughters, for I am in much more bitterness than you; for the hand of Jehovah is gone out against me.
- 14
- And they lifted up their voice and wept again.
And Orpah kissed her mother-in-law, but Ruth clave to her.
- 15
- And she said, Behold, thy sister-in-law is gone back to her people and to her gods: return after thy sister-in-law.
- 16
- And Ruth said, Do not intreat me to leave thee, to return from [following] after thee;
for whither thou goest I will go, and where thou lodgest I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God;
- 17
- where thou diest will I die, and there will I be buried.
Jehovah do so to me, and more also, if aught but death part me and thee!
- 18
- And when she saw that she was stedfastly minded to go with her, she left off speaking to her.
- 19
- And they two went until they came to Bethlehem.
And it came to pass, when they came to Bethlehem, that all the city was moved about them, and the [women] said, Is this Naomi?
- 20
- And she said to them, Call me not Naomi — call me Mara;
for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me.
- 21
- I went out full, and Jehovah has brought me home again empty.
Why do ye call me Naomi, seeing Jehovah has brought me low, and the Almighty has afflicted me?
- 22
- So Naomi returned, and Ruth the Moabitess, her daughter-in-law, with her, who returned out of the fields of Moab;
and they came to Bethlehem in the beginning of the barley-harvest.
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