Ruth, Chapter 1:
advertising
Verses from Ruth, Chapter 1 of the book of Ruth in the Bible.
Naomi and Ruth
- 1. In the days of the leaders there was a great famine in the land. A man named Eliab, from Bethlehem in Judah, with his wife Naomi and their two sons, decided to go and live temporarily in the lands of Moab.
- 2. The man's name was Eliab, his wife was Naomi, and his sons were Mahlon and Chiliom. They were from the tribe of Ephraim and lived in Bethlehem in Judah. They went to Moab and stayed there.
- 3. But unfortunately, Eliab, Naomi's husband, passed away, and she became a widow, having to take care of her two children alone.
- 4. His sons married Moabite women, one named Orpah and the other Ruth. They lived in Moab for about ten years.
- 5. However, both of Naomi's sons, Mahlon and Chilion, died, leaving Naomi a widow and childless.
- 6. When Naomi heard that the Lord had blessed her people in Judah with food again, she decided to return to her homeland, taking her daughters-in-law with her.
- 7. Then she, together with her daughters-in-law, left the place where they were living and began the journey back to the land of Judah.
- 8. Naomi said to her daughters-in-law, “Go back to your mother’s house! May the Lord be kind to you, just as you were kind to your deceased husbands and to me.
- 9. May the Lord grant that each of you finds a new home and a new husband.” And then she kissed them goodbye. But they began to cry loudly.
- 10. They said to Naomi, “No! We will go with you to your people!”
- 11. Naomi replied, “Return, my daughters! Why would you come with me? Could I still have children to be their husbands?
- 12. Come back, my daughters! They go! I'm too old to have another husband. And even if I thought there was still hope for me, and if I got married today and had kids,
- 13. would you wait until they grow up? Would you stay without getting married and wait for them? No, my daughters! My situation is more bitter than yours, for the hand of the Lord is against me!”
- 14. Then they began to cry loudly again. Orpah kissed her mother-in-law goodbye, but Ruth stayed with her.
- 15. Naomi said to Ruth, “See, your sister-in-law is returning to her people and her gods. Come back with her!”
- 16. But Ruth replied: “Do not insist that I leave you and no longer accompany you. Wherever you go, I will go; Wherever you stay, I will stay. Your people will be my people, and your God will be my God.
- 17. Where you die, I will die, and there I will be buried. May the Lord punish me severely if anything other than death separates us!”
- 18. When Naomi saw that Ruth was determined to stay with her, she no longer insisted.
- 19. Then the two continued their journey to Bethlehem. When they arrived there, the whole city was excited by their arrival. The women asked: “Is this Naomi?”
- 20. Naomi said to them, “Do not call me Naomi, which means 'pleasant.' Call me Mara, which means 'bitter', for the Almighty has made my life bitter.
- 21. I left here full, but the Lord brought me back empty. Why do they call me Noemi? The Lord has turned against me, and the Almighty has brought me misfortune!”
- 22. This is how Naomi returned from the lands of Moab, accompanied by her daughter-in-law Ruth the Moabite. They arrived in Bethlehem at the beginning of the barley harvest.
