Ruth 1
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In the days a when the judges ruled there was b a famine in the land, and a man of c Bethlehem in Judah went to sojourn in the country of Moab, he and his wife and his two sons.
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The name of the man was Elimelech and the name of his wife Naomi, and the names of his two sons were Mahlon and Chilion. They were d Ephrathites from Bethlehem in Judah. They went into the country of Moab and remained there.
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But Elimelech, the husband of Naomi, died, and she was left with her two sons.
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These took Moabite wives; the name of the one was Orpah and the name of the other Ruth. They lived there about ten years,
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and both Mahlon and Chilion died, so that the woman was left without her two sons and her husband.
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Then she arose with her daughters-in-law to return from the country of Moab, for she had heard in the fields of Moab that e the Lord had visited his people and f given them food.
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So she set out from the place where she was with her two daughters-in-law, and they went on the way to return to the land of Judah.
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But Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, "Go, return each of you to her mother's house. May the Lord g deal kindly with you, as you have dealt with h the dead and with me.
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The Lord grant that you may find i rest, each of you in the house of her husband!" Then she kissed them, and they lifted up their voices and wept.
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And they said to her, "No, we will return with you to your people."
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But Naomi said, "Turn back, my daughters; why will you go with me? Have I yet sons in my womb j that they may become your husbands?
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Turn back, my daughters; go your way, for I am too old to have a husband. If I should say I have hope, even if I should have a husband this night and should bear sons,
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would you therefore wait till they were grown? Would you therefore refrain from marrying? No, my daughters, for it is exceedingly bitter to me for your sake that k the hand of the Lord has gone out against me."
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Then they lifted up their voices and wept again. And Orpah kissed her mother-in-law, but Ruth clung to her.
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And she said, "See, your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and to l her gods; return after your sister-in-law."
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But Ruth said, "Do not urge me to leave you or to return from following you. For where you go I will go, and where you lodge I will lodge. m Your people shall be my people, and your God my God.
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Where you die I will die, and there will I be buried. n May the Lord do so to me and more also if anything but death parts me from you."
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o And when Naomi saw that she was determined to go with her, she said no more.
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So the two of them went on until they came to Bethlehem. And when they came to Bethlehem, p the whole town was stirred because of them. And the women said, "Is this Naomi?"
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She said to them, "Do not call me Naomi; call me q Mara, for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me.
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r I went away full, and the Lord has brought me back empty. Why call me Naomi, when the Lord has testified against me and the Almighty has brought calamity upon me?"
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So Naomi returned, and Ruth the Moabite her daughter-in-law with her, who returned from the country of Moab. And they came to Bethlehem s at the beginning of barley harvest.
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Cross References
Judges 2:16
Then the Lord raised up judges, who saved them out of the hand of those who plundered them.
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Cross References
Genesis 12:10
Now there was a famine in the land. So Abram went down to Egypt to sojourn there, for the famine was severe in the land.
Genesis 26:1
Now there was a famine in the land, besides the former famine that was in the days of Abraham. And Isaac went to Gerar to Abimelech king of the Philistines.
Genesis 43:1
Now the famine was severe in the land.
2 Kings 8:1
Now Elisha had said to the woman whose son he had restored to life, "Arise, and depart with your household, and sojourn wherever you can, for the Lord has called for a famine, and it will come upon the land for seven years.
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Cross References
Judges 17:7
Now there was a young man of Bethlehem in Judah, of the family of Judah, who was a Levite, and he sojourned there.
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Cross References
Genesis 35:19
So Rachel died, and she was buried on the way to Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem).
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Cross References
Exodus 3:16
Go and gather the elders of Israel together and say to them, 'The Lord, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, has appeared to me, saying, "I have observed you and what has been done to you in Egypt.
Exodus 4:31
And the people believed; and when they heard that the Lord had visited the people of Israel and that he had seen their affliction, they bowed their heads and worshiped.
Luke 1:68
Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he has visited and redeemed his people
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Cross References
Psalms 132:15
I will abundantly bless her provisions; I will satisfy her poor with bread.
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Cross References
Joshua 2:12
Now then, please swear to me by the Lord that, as I have dealt kindly with you, you also will deal kindly with my father's house, and give me a sure sign
Joshua 2:14
And the men said to her, "Our life for yours even to death! If you do not tell this business of ours, then when the Lord gives us the land we will deal kindly and faithfully with you.
Judges 1:24
And the spies saw a man coming out of the city, and they said to him, "Please show us the way into the city, and we will deal kindly with you.
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Cross References
Ruth 1:5
And both Mahlon and Chilion died, so that the woman was left without her two sons and her husband.
Ruth 2:20
And Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, "May he be blessed by the Lord, whose kindness has not forsaken the living or the dead!" Naomi also said to her, "The man is a close relative of ours, one of our redeemers.
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Cross References
Ruth 3:1
Then Naomi her mother-in-law said to her, "My daughter, should I not seek rest for you, that it may be well with you?
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Cross References
Genesis 38:11
Then Judah said to Tamar his daughter-in-law, "Remain a widow in your father's house, till Shelah my son grows up" - for he feared that he would die, like his brothers. So Tamar went and remained in her father's house.
Deuteronomy 25:5
If brothers dwell together, and one of them dies and has no son, the wife of the dead man shall not be married outside the family to a stranger. Her husband's brother shall go in to her and take her as his wife and perform the duty of a husband's brother to her.
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Cross References
Judges 2:15
Whenever they marched out, the hand of the Lord was against them for harm, as the Lord had warned, and as the Lord had sworn to them. And they were in terrible distress.
Job 19:21
Have mercy on me, have mercy on me, O you my friends, for the hand of God has touched me!
Psalms 32:4
For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer. Selah
Psalms 38:2
For your arrows have sunk into me, and your hand has come down on me.
Psalms 39:10
Remove your stroke from me; I am spent by the hostility of your hand.
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Cross References
Judges 11:24
Will you not possess what Chemosh your god gives you to possess? And all that the Lord our God has dispossessed before us, we will possess.
1 Kings 11:7
Then Solomon built a high place for Chemosh the abomination of Moab, and for Molech the abomination of the Ammonites, on the mountain east of Jerusalem.
Jeremiah 48:7
For, because you trusted in your works and your treasures, you also shall be taken; and Chemosh shall go into exile with his priests and his officials.
Jeremiah 48:13
Then Moab shall be ashamed of Chemosh, as the house of Israel was ashamed of Bethel, their confidence.
Jeremiah 48:46
Woe to you, O Moab! The people of Chemosh are undone, for your sons have been taken captive, and your daughters into captivity.
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Cross References
Ruth 2:11 - 12
But Boaz answered her, "All that you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband has been fully told to me, and how you left your father and mother and your native land and came to a people that you did not know before.
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Cross References
1 Samuel 3:17
And Eli said, "What was it that he told you? Do not hide it from me. May God do so to you and more also if you hide anything from me of all that he told you.
1 Samuel 25:22
God do so to the enemies of David and more also, if by morning I leave so much as one male of all who belong to him.
2 Samuel 19:13
And say to Amasa, 'Are you not my bone and my flesh? God do so to me and more also, if you are not commander of my army from now on in place of Joab.'
1 Kings 2:23
Then King Solomon swore by the Lord, saying, "God do so to me and more also if this word does not cost Adonijah his life!
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Cross References
Acts 21:14
And since he would not be persuaded, we ceased and said, "Let the will of the Lord be done.
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Cross References
Matthew 21:10
And when he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred up, saying, "Who is this?
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Cross References
Exodus 15:23
When they came to Marah, they could not drink the water of Marah because it was bitter; therefore it was named Marah.
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Cross References
Job 1:21
And he said, "Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked shall I return. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.
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Cross References
2 Samuel 21:9
And he gave them into the hands of the Gibeonites, and they hanged them on the mountain before the Lord, and the seven of them perished together. They were put to death in the first days of harvest, at the beginning of barley harvest.
Ruth 2:23
So she kept close to the young women of Boaz, gleaning until the end of the barley and wheat harvests. And she lived with her mother-in-law.
English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers.