Ruth 1
1
Ruth 1
Elimelech’s Family Goes to Moab
1 #
Judg 2.16
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#Gen 35.19; Judg 3.30The name of the man was Elimelech and the name of his wife Naomi, and the names of his two sons were Mahlon#1.2 That is, sickly and Chilion;#1.2 That is, frail they were Ephrathites from Bethlehem in Judah. They went into the country of Moab and remained there. 3But Elimelech, the husband of Naomi, died, and she was left with her two sons. 4These 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, 5both Mahlon and Chilion also died, so that the woman was left without her two sons and her husband.
Naomi and Her Moabite Daughters-in-Law
6 #
Ex 4.31
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 Lord had considered his people and given them food. 7So she set out from the place where she had been living, she and her two daughters-in-law, and they went on their way to go back to the land of Judah. 8#v 5; Ruth 2.20But Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, “Go back each of you to your mother’s house. May the Lord deal kindly with you, as you have dealt with the dead and with me. 9#Ruth 3.1The Lord grant that you may find security, each of you in the house of your husband.” Then she kissed them, and they wept aloud. 10They said to her, “No, we will return with you to your people.” 11#Deut 25.5But Naomi said, “Turn back, my daughters. Why will you go with me? Do I still have sons in my womb that they may become your husbands? 12Turn back, my daughters, go your way, for I am too old to have a husband. Even if I thought there was hope for me, even if I should have a husband tonight and bear sons, 13#Judg 2.15; Ps 32.4would you then wait until they were grown? Would you then refrain from marrying? No, my daughters, it has been far more bitter for me than for you, because the hand of the Lord has turned against me.” 14Then they wept aloud again. Orpah kissed her mother-in-law goodbye, but Ruth clung to her.
15So she said, “Look, your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and to her gods; return after your sister-in-law.” 16#Ruth 2.11, 12; 2 Kings 2.2, 4, 6But Ruth said,
“Do not press me to leave you,
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.
17Where you die, I will die,
and there will I be buried.
May the Lord do thus to me,
and more as well,
if even death parts me from you!”
18 #
Acts 21.14
When Naomi saw that she was determined to go with her, she said no more to her.
19So 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?” 20#Ex 6.3; Job 6.4She said to them,
“Call me no longer Naomi;#1.20 That is, pleasant
call me Mara,#1.20 That is, bitter
for the Almighty#1.20 Traditional rendering of Heb Shaddai has dealt bitterly with me.
21 #
Job 1.21
I went away full,
but the Lord has brought me back empty;
why call me Naomi
when the Lord has dealt harshly with#1.21 Or has testified against me
and the Almighty#1.21 Traditional rendering of Heb Shaddai has brought calamity upon me?”
22 #
Ex 9.31, 32; Ruth 2.23 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.
Currently Selected:
Ruth 1: NRSVUE
Highlight
Share
Copy
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition, copyright © 2021 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
