1 In the days when the judges ruled, there was a famine in the land, and a certain man of Bethlehem in Judah went to live in the country of Moab, he and his wife and two sons. 2 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 Ephrathites from Bethlehem in Judah. They went into the country of Moab and remained there. 3 But Elimelech, the husband of Naomi, died, and she was left with her two sons. 4 These took Moabite wives; the name of the one was Orpah and the name of the other Ruth. When they had lived there about ten years, 5 both Mahlon and Chilion also died, so that the woman was left without her two sons and her husband.
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Then she started to return with her daughters-in-law from the country of Moab, for she had heard in the country of Moab that the
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So she said, "See, your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and to her gods; return after your sister-in-law."
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But Ruth said,
"Do not press me to leave you
or to turn back from following you!
Where you go, I will go;
where you lodge, I will lodge;
your people shall be my people,
and your God my God.
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Where you die, I will die--
there will I be buried.
May the
and more as well,
if even death parts me from you!"
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When Naomi saw that she was determined to go with her, she said no more to her.
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So the two of them went on until they came to Bethlehem. When they came to Bethlehem, the whole town was stirred because of them; and the women said, "Is this Naomi?"
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She said to them,
"Call me no longer Naomi, 1
call me Mara, 2
for the Almighty 3 has dealt bitterly with me.
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I went away full,
but the
why call me Naomi
when the
and the Almighty 5 has brought calamity upon me?"
22 So Naomi returned together with Ruth the Moabite, her daughter-in-law, who came back with her from the country of Moab. They came to Bethlehem at the beginning of the barley harvest.