Chapter 1
Elimelech in Moab
1:1 Now it came to pass in the days when the chieftains ruled, that there was a famine in the land. And a certain man of Bethlehem in Judah went to sojourn in the country of Moab, he, and his wife, and his two sons.
1:2 And the name of the man was Elimelech, and the name of his wife Naomi, and the name of his two sons Mahlon and Chilion, Ephrathites of Bethlehem in Judah. They came into the country of Moab, and remained there.
Elimelech and his sons die
1:3 And Elimelech Naomi’s husband died; and she was left with her two sons.
1:4 And they married Moabite women, one named Orpah, and the other Ruth, and they lived there about ten years.
1:5 And Mahlon and Chilion died; and the woman was left without her two sons and her husband.
1:6 ¶ She started out with her daughters in law, to return from the country of Moab she had heard in the country of Moab how that the Lord had visited his people and given them food.
1:7 Wherefore she went left the place where she had been living, and her two daughters in law with her; and they set out on the road back to the land of Judah.
1:8 But Naomi said to her two daughters in law, Go, turn back each to her mother’s house: the Lord deal kindly with you, as y'all have dealt with the dead, and with me.
1:9 The Lord grant you that y'all may find rest, each of you in the house of her husband. Then she kissed them farewell. They lifted up their voice, and wept.
1:10 And they said to her, No we will return with you to your people.
1:11 And Naomi said, Turn back, my daughters! Why will y'all go with me? Have I any more sons in my womb, who they may be your husbands?
1:12 Turn back, my daughters, go your way; for I am too old to have an husband. Even if I thought there was hope for me, even if I were married tonight, and should also bear sons;
1:13 Would y'all wait for them till they were grown? Should y'all stay on their account debar yourselves from having husbands? Oh no, my daughters! My lot is far more bitter than yours for the hand of the Lord has struck out against me.
1:14 They broke out into weeping again, and Orpah kissed her mother in law; but Ruth clung to her.
1:15 So she said, See, your sister in law is gone back to her people, and unto her gods, Go follow your sister in law.
1:16 But Ruth replied, Do not urge me to leave you, to back not follow you. For wherever you go, I will go; and wherever you lodge, I will lodge: your people shall be my people, and your God my God:
1:7 Where you die, will I die, and there will I be buried. Thus and more may the Lord do to me, if anything but death parts me from you.
1:8 When she saw that she was determined was to go with her, she ceased to argue with her,
Naomi Returns with Ruth
1:19 ¶ So they two went until they came to Beth-lehem. When they arrived in Beth-lehem, the whole city buzzed with excitement about them, the women said, Is this Naomi?
1:20 And she said to them, Do not call me Naomi, call me Mara: for Shaddai has made my lot very bitter.
1:21 I went away full, and the Lord has brought me home again empty. How can y'all call me Naomi, seeing the Lord has dealt harshly with me, and Shaddai has brought misfortune upon me?
1:22 So Naomi returned, and Ruth the Moabitess, her daughter in law, with her, which returned from the country of Moab: and they arrived in Beth-lehem at the beginning of barley harvest.
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