Ῥούθ 1
1 καὶ ἐγένετο ἐν τῷ κρίνειν τοὺς κριτὰς καὶ ἐγένετο λιμὸς ἐν τῇ γῇ καὶ ἐπορεύθη ἀνὴρ ἀπὸ Βαιθλεεμ τῆς Ιουδα τοῦ παροικῆσαι ἐν ἀγρῷ Μωαβ αὐτὸς καὶ ἡ γυνὴ αὐτοῦ καὶ οἱ υἱοὶ αὐτοῦ
During the time before kings ruled Israel, (there was a famine/the people there had nothing to eat). There was a man who lived there whose name was Elimelech. His wife’s name was Naomi, and his sons’ names were Mahlon and Chilion. They were all from Bethlehem [town], from the Ephrath [clan] in Judah [region].
2 καὶ ὄνομα τῷ ἀνδρὶ Αβιμελεχ καὶ ὄνομα τῇ γυναικὶ αὐτοῦ Νωεμιν καὶ ὄνομα τοῖς δυσὶν υἱοῖς αὐτοῦ Μααλων καὶ Χελαιων Εφραθαῖοι ἐκ Βαιθλεεμ τῆς Ιουδα καὶ ἤλθοσαν εἰς ἀγρὸν Μωαβ καὶ ἦσαν ἐκεῖ
Because of the famine, they left Bethlehem and went east to [live for a while in] Moab [region].
3 καὶ ἀπέθανεν Αβιμελεχ ὁ ἀνὴρ τῆς Νωεμιν καὶ κατελείφθη αὐτὴ καὶ οἱ δύο υἱοὶ αὐτῆς
While they were there, Elimelech died, and Naomi had only her two sons with her.
4 καὶ ἐλάβοσαν ἑαυτοῖς γυναῖκας Μωαβίτιδας ὄνομα τῇ μιᾷ Ορφα καὶ ὄνομα τῇ δευτέρᾳ Ρουθ καὶ κατῴκησαν ἐκεῖ ὡς δέκα ἔτη
They married women from Moab. One of them was named Orpah, and the other one was named Ruth. But after they had lived in that area for about ten years,
5 καὶ ἀπέθανον καί γε ἀμφότεροι Μααλων καὶ Χελαιων καὶ κατελείφθη ἡ γυνὴ ἀπὸ τοῦ ἀνδρὸς αὐτῆς καὶ ἀπὸ τῶν δύο υἱῶν αὐτῆς
Mahlon and Chilion died. So then Naomi had no husband and no sons.
6 καὶ ἀνέστη αὐτὴ καὶ αἱ δύο νύμφαι αὐτῆς καὶ ἀπέστρεψαν ἐξ ἀγροῦ Μωαβ ὅτι ἤκουσαν ἐν ἀγρῷ Μωαβ ὅτι ἐπέσκεπται κύριος τὸν λαὸν αὐτοῦ δοῦναι αὐτοῖς ἄρτους
One day while Naomi was in Moab, she heard someone say that Yahweh had helped his people in Israel and that now there was plenty of food to eat. So she prepared to return [to Bethlehem].
7 καὶ ἐξῆλθεν ἐκ τοῦ τόπου οὗ ἦν ἐκεῖ καὶ αἱ δύο νύμφαι αὐτῆς μετ’ αὐτῆς καὶ ἐπορεύοντο ἐν τῇ ὁδῷ τοῦ ἐπιστρέψαι εἰς τὴν γῆν Ιουδα
She left the place where she had been living and started to walk [with her daughters-in-law] along the road back to Judah.
8 καὶ εἶπεν Νωεμιν ταῖς νύμφαις αὐτῆς πορεύεσθε δὴ ἀποστράφητε ἑκάστη εἰς οἶκον μητρὸς αὐτῆς ποιήσαι κύριος μεθ’ ὑμῶν ἔλεος καθὼς ἐποιήσατε μετὰ τῶν τεθνηκότων καὶ μετ’ ἐμοῦ
Then as the three of them were walking, Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, “Each of you should turn around and go back to your mother’s home. You treated [your husbands] kindly [before] they died, and you have treated me kindly.
9 δῴη κύριος ὑμῖν καὶ εὕροιτε ἀνάπαυσιν ἑκάστη ἐν οἴκῳ ἀνδρὸς αὐτῆς καὶ κατεφίλησεν αὐτάς καὶ ἐπῆραν τὴν φωνὴν αὐτῶν καὶ ἔκλαυσαν
Now I desire that Yahweh will enable each of you to have another husband in whose home you will [feel] secure.” Then she kissed both of them, and they cried aloud.
10 καὶ εἶπαν αὐτῇ μετὰ σοῦ ἐπιστρέφομεν εἰς τὸν λαόν σου
They each said, “No, we want to go with you as you return to your relatives.”
11 καὶ εἶπεν Νωεμιν ἐπιστράφητε δή θυγατέρες μου καὶ ἵνα τί πορεύεσθε μετ’ ἐμοῦ μὴ ἔτι μοι υἱοὶ ἐν τῇ κοιλίᾳ μου καὶ ἔσονται ὑμῖν εἰς ἄνδρας
But Naomi said, “No, my daughters, return home. (It will not do any good for you to come with me!/What good will it do for you to come with me?) [RHQ] Do you think I will get married again and have more sons who could become your husbands?
12 ἐπιστράφητε δή θυγατέρες μου διότι γεγήρακα τοῦ μὴ εἶναι ἀνδρί ὅτι εἶπα ὅτι ἔστιν μοι ὑπόστασις τοῦ γενηθῆναί με ἀνδρὶ καὶ τέξομαι υἱούς
Even if I thought I could have another husband, and even if I got married today and became pregnant [EUP] tonight and later gave birth to sons,
13 μὴ αὐτοὺς προσδέξεσθε ἕως οὗ ἁδρυνθῶσιν ἢ αὐτοῖς κατασχεθήσεσθε τοῦ μὴ γενέσθαι ἀνδρί μὴ δή θυγατέρες μου ὅτι ἐπικράνθη μοι ὑπὲρ ὑμᾶς ὅτι ἐξῆλθεν ἐν ἐμοὶ χεὶρ κυρίου
would you remain single/unmarried until they grew up [and became old enough] for you to marry? No, my daughters, [you would not do that]. Your situations are bad [because your husbands have died, but it is possible that you will each marry again]. My situation is much worse, because Yahweh [SYN] has opposed me, [and now I am too old to get married again].”
14 καὶ ἐπῆραν τὴν φωνὴν αὐτῶν καὶ ἔκλαυσαν ἔτι καὶ κατεφίλησεν Ορφα τὴν πενθερὰν αὐτῆς καὶ ἐπέστρεψεν εἰς τὸν λαὸν αὐτῆς Ρουθ δὲ ἠκολούθησεν αὐτῇ
Then Ruth and Orpah cried again [because of what Naomi said]. Then Orpah kissed her mother-in-law goodbye, [and left], but Ruth clung to Naomi.
15 καὶ εἶπεν Νωεμιν πρὸς Ρουθ ἰδοὺ ἀνέστρεψεν ἡ σύννυμφός σου πρὸς λαὸν αὐτῆς καὶ πρὸς τοὺς θεοὺς αὐτῆς ἐπιστράφητι δὴ καὶ σὺ ὀπίσω τῆς συννύμφου σου
Naomi said to her, “Look! Your sister-in-law is going back to her relatives and to her gods! Go back with her!”
16 εἶπεν δὲ Ρουθ μὴ ἀπαντήσαι ἐμοὶ τοῦ καταλιπεῖν σε ἢ ἀποστρέψαι ὄπισθέν σου ὅτι σὺ ὅπου ἐὰν πορευθῇς πορεύσομαι καὶ οὗ ἐὰν αὐλισθῇς αὐλισθήσομαι ὁ λαός σου λαός μου καὶ ὁ θεός σου θεός μου
But Ruth replied, “No! Don’t urge me to leave you! I [want to] go with you. Where you go, I will go. Where you stay, I will stay. Your relatives will be my relatives, and the God you [worship] will be the God I [worship].
17 καὶ οὗ ἐὰν ἀποθάνῃς ἀποθανοῦμαι κἀκεῖ ταφήσομαι τάδε ποιήσαι μοι κύριος καὶ τάδε προσθείη ὅτι θάνατος διαστελεῖ ἀνὰ μέσον ἐμοῦ καὶ σοῦ
Where you die, I will die. Where you are buried, I will be buried. May Yahweh punish me severely if I separate from you. I will be separated from you only [when one of us] dies.”
18 ἰδοῦσα δὲ Νωεμιν ὅτι κραταιοῦται αὐτὴ τοῦ πορεύεσθαι μετ’ αὐτῆς ἐκόπασεν τοῦ λαλῆσαι πρὸς αὐτὴν ἔτι
When Naomi realized that Ruth was very determined to go with her, she stopped urging her [to return home].
19 ἐπορεύθησαν δὲ ἀμφότεραι ἕως τοῦ παραγενέσθαι αὐτὰς εἰς Βαιθλεεμ καὶ ἤχησεν πᾶσα ἡ πόλις ἐπ’ αὐταῖς καὶ εἶπον αὕτη ἐστὶν Νωεμιν
So the two women continued walking until they came to Bethlehem. When they arrived there, everyone in town was excited [to see] them. The women [of the town] exclaimed, “(Can this be Naomi?/It is difficult to believe that this is Naomi!)” [RHQ]
20 καὶ εἶπεν πρὸς αὐτάς μὴ δὴ καλεῖτέ με Νωεμιν καλέσατέ με Πικράν ὅτι ἐπικράνθη ἐν ἐμοὶ ὁ ἱκανὸς σφόδρα
Naomi said to them, “Don’t call me Naomi, [which means ‘pleasant’]. Instead, call me Mara, [which means ‘bitter’], because God Almighty has made my life very unpleasant.
21 ἐγὼ πλήρης ἐπορεύθην καὶ κενὴν ἀπέστρεψέν με ὁ κύριος καὶ ἵνα τί καλεῖτέ με Νωεμιν καὶ κύριος ἐταπείνωσέν με καὶ ὁ ἱκανὸς ἐκάκωσέν με
When I left here, I [felt] rich, [because I had a family]. But Yahweh has brought me back here and now I [feel] poor, [because I have no family]. Do not call me Naomi [RHQ]. [I feel as though] Yahweh has spoken against (OR, afflicted) me. Almighty [God] has caused me to experience a great tragedy.”
22 καὶ ἐπέστρεψεν Νωεμιν καὶ Ρουθ ἡ Μωαβῖτις ἡ νύμφη αὐτῆς ἐπιστρέφουσα ἐξ ἀγροῦ Μωαβ αὐταὶ δὲ παρεγενήθησαν εἰς Βαιθλεεμ ἐν ἀρχῇ θερισμοῦ κριθῶν
That [summarizes the account] of Naomi returning home along with her daughter-in-law Ruth, the woman from Moab. And [it happened that] when they arrived in Bethlehem, the barley [grain] harvest was just beginning.
