19
So the two of them continued on their journey. When they came to Bethlehem, the entire town was excited by their arrival. “Is it really Naomi?” the women asked.
20
“Don’t call me Naomi,” she responded. “Instead, call me Mara, 1 for the Almighty has made life very bitter for me.
21
I went away full, but the Lord has brought me home empty. Why call me Naomi when the Lord has caused me to suffer 2 and the Almighty has sent such tragedy upon me?”
22
So Naomi returned from Moab, accompanied by her daughter-in-law Ruth, the young Moabite woman. They arrived in Bethlehem in late spring, at the beginning of the barley harvest.