Ruth 1
1 And it comes to pass, in [the] days [when] the ones judging judge, that there is a famine in the land, and there goes a man from Beth-Lehem-Judah to sojourn in the fields of Moab, he, and his wife, and his two sons.
In the time when the judges ruled, there was once a famine in the land. A man from Bethlehem in Judah took his wife and two sons to live in the territory of Moab.
2 And the name of the man [is] Elimelech, and the name of his wife Naomi, and the name of his two sons Mahlon and Chilion, Ephraimites from Beth-Lehem-Judah; and they come into the fields of Moab, and are there.
His name was Elimelech and his wife’s was Naomi, and his two sons were Mahlon and Chilion. They were Ephrathites from Bethlehem in Judah. After they had been living in Moab for some time,
3 And Elimelech husband of Naomi dies, and she is left, she and her two sons;
Elimelech died, and Naomi was left with her two sons,
4 and they take to them wives, Moabitesses: the name of the first [is] Orpah, and the name of the second Ruth; and they dwell there about ten years.
who married Moabite women named Orpah and Ruth. After they had lived there about ten years,
5 And they die also, both of them—Mahlon and Chilion—and the woman is left of her two children and of her husband.
Mahlon and Chilion both died, and Naomi was left alone, without husband or sons.
6 And she rises, she and her daughters-in-law, and turns back from the fields of Moab, for she has heard in the fields of Moab that God has looked after His people—to give to them bread.
So she set out with her daughters-in-law to return from the land of Moab, for she had heard that the Lord had remembered his people and given them food.
7 And she goes out from the place where she has been, and her two daughters-in-law with her, and they go in the way to return to the land of Judah.
As they were setting out together on the journey to Judah,
8 And Naomi says to her two daughters-in-law, “Go, return, each to the house of her mother; YHWH does with you kindness as you have done with the dead, and with me;
Naomi said to her daughters-in-law, ‘Go, return both of you to the home of your mother. May the Lord be kind to you as you have been kind to the dead and to me.
9 YHWH grants to you, and you find rest each in the house of her husband”; and she kisses them, and they lift up their voice and weep.
The Lord grant that each of you may find peace and happiness in the house of a new husband.’ Then she kissed them; but they began to weep aloud
10 And they say to her, “Surely with you we go back to your people.”
and said to her, ‘No, we will return with you to your people.’
11 And Naomi says, “Turn back, my daughters; why do you go with me? Are there yet to me sons in my bowels that they have been to you for husbands?
But Naomi said, ‘Go back, my daughters. Why should you go with me? Can I still bear sons who might become your husbands?
12 Turn back, my daughters, go, for I am too aged to be to a husband; though I had said, There is for me hope, also, I have been tonight to a husband, and also I have borne sons:
Go back, my daughters, go your own way, because I am too old to have a husband. Even if I should say, “I have hope,” even if I should have a husband tonight and should bear sons,
13 do you wait for them until they grow up? Do you shut yourselves up for them, not to be to a husband? No, my daughters, for more bitter to me than to you, for the hand of YHWH has gone out against me.”
would you wait for them until they were grown up? Would you remain single for them? No, my daughters! My heart grieves for you, for the Lord has sent me adversity.’
14 And they lift up their voice, and weep again, and Orpah kisses her mother-in-law, and Ruth has cleaved to her.
Then they again wept aloud, and Orpah kissed her mother-in-law goodbye, but Ruth stayed with her.
15 And she says, “Behold, your sister-in-law has turned back to her people, and to her god, turn back after your sister-in-law.”
‘Look,’ said Naomi, ‘your sister-in-law is going back to her own people and to her own gods. Go along with her!’
16 And Ruth says, “Do not urge me to leave you—to turn back from after you; for to where you go I go, and where you lodge I lodge; your people [is] my people, and your God my God.
But Ruth answered, ‘Do not urge me to leave you or to go back. I will go where you go, and I will stay wherever you stay. Your people will be my people, and your God my God;
17 Where you die I die, and there I am buried; thus does YHWH to me, and thus He adds—for death itself parts between me and you.”
I will die where you die, and be buried there. May the Lord bring a curse upon me, if anything but death separate you and me.’
18 And she sees that she is strengthening herself to go with her, and she ceases to speak to her;
When Naomi saw that Ruth was determined to go with her, she ceased urging her to return.
19 and the two of them go until their coming to Beth-Lehem; and it comes to pass at their coming to Beth-Lehem, that all the city is moved at them, and they say, “Is this Naomi?”
So they journeyed on until they came to Bethlehem. Their arrival stirred the whole town, and the women said, ‘Can this be Naomi?’
20 And she says to them, “Do not call me Naomi; call me Mara, for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly to me,
‘Do not call me Naomi,’ she said to them, ‘call me Mara, for the Almighty has given me a bitter lot.
21 I went out full, and YHWH has brought me back empty, why do you call me Naomi, and YHWH has testified against me, and the Almighty has done evil to me?”
I had plenty when I left, but the Lord has brought me back empty handed. Why should you call me Naomi, now that the Lord has afflicted me, and the Almighty has brought misfortune on me?’
22 And Naomi turns back, and Ruth the Moabitess, her daughter-in-law, with her, who has turned back from the fields of Moab, and they have come to Beth-Lehem at the commencement of barley-harvest.
So Naomi and Ruth, her Moabite daughter-in-law, returned from Moab. They reached Bethlehem at the beginning of the barley harvest.
