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<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" /><meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1" /><title>Ruth 1 NET Bible</title><link rel="stylesheet" href="/chapnew2.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="../spec.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="/print.css" type="text/css" media="Print" /><script type="application/javascript" src="https://scripts.webcontentassessor.com/scripts/8a2459b64f9cac8122fc7f2eac4409c8555fac9383016db59c4c26e3d5b8b157"></script><script src='https://qd.admetricspro.com/js/biblehub/biblehub-layout-loader-revcatch.js'></script><script id='HyDgbd_1s' src='https://prebidads.revcatch.com/ads.js' type='text/javascript' async></script><script>(function(w,d,b,s,i){var cts=d.createElement(s);cts.async=true;cts.id='catchscript'; cts.dataset.appid=i;cts.src='https://app.protectsubrev.com/catch_rp.js?cb='+Math.random(); document.head.appendChild(cts); }) (window,document,'head','script','rc-anksrH');</script></head><body><div id="fx"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx2"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="30" scrolling="no" src="../cmenus/ruth/1.htm" align="left" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div><div id="blnk"></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable"><tr><td><div id="fx5"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx6"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="245" scrolling="no" src="../topmenuchap/ruth/1-1.htm" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable3"><tr><td><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center" id="announce"><tr><td><div id="l1"><div id="breadcrumbs"><a href="http://biblehub.com">Bible</a> > <a href="../">NET Bible</a> > Ruth 1</div><div id="anc"><iframe src="/anc.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></div><div id="anc2"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><iframe src="/anc2.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></div></td></tr></table><div id="movebox2"><table border="0" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td><div id="topheading"><a href="../judges/21.htm" title="Judges 21">◄</a> Ruth 1 <a href="../ruth/2.htm" title="Ruth 2">►</a></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center" class="maintable2"><table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><div id="leftbox"><div class="padleft"><div class="vheading"><table width="100%"><tr><td width="99%" valign="top">NET Bible</td><td width="1%" valign="top"><a href="/p/net/esv/ruth/1.shtml" style="color:#001320" title="Parallel Chapters"> Par ▾ </a></tr></table></div><div class="chap"><p class="title">A Family Tragedy: Famine and Death</p><p class="bodytext"><span class="reftext"><a href="/ruth/1-1.htm"><b>1</b></a></span>During the time of the judges there was a famine in the land of Judah. So a man from Bethlehem in Judah went to live as a resident foreigner in the region of Moab, along with his wife and two sons. <span class="reftext"><a href="/ruth/1-2.htm"><b>2</b></a></span>(Now the man’s name was Elimelech, his wife was Naomi, and his two sons were Mahlon and Kilion. They were of the clan of Ephrath from Bethlehem in Judah.) They entered the region of Moab and settled there. <span class="reftext"><a href="/ruth/1-3.htm"><b>3</b></a></span>Sometime later Naomi’s husband Elimelech died, so she and her two sons were left alone. <span class="reftext"><a href="/ruth/1-4.htm"><b>4</b></a></span>So her sons married Moabite women. (One was named Orpah and the other Ruth.) And they continued to live there about ten years. <span class="reftext"><a href="/ruth/1-5.htm"><b>5</b></a></span>Then Naomi’s two sons, Mahlon and Kilion, also died. So the woman was left all alone – bereaved of her two children as well as her husband! <span class="reftext"><a href="/ruth/1-6.htm"><b>6</b></a></span>So she decided to return home from the region of Moab, accompanied by her daughters-in-law, because while she was living in Moab she had heard that the <span class="smallcaps">Lord</span> had shown concern for his people, reversing the famine by providing abundant crops.</p> <p class="title">Ruth Returns with Naomi</p><p class="bodytext"><span class="reftext"><a href="/ruth/1-7.htm"><b>7</b></a></span>Now as she and her two daughters-in-law began to leave the place where she had been living to return to the land of Judah, <span class="reftext"><a href="/ruth/1-8.htm"><b>8</b></a></span>Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, “Listen to me! Each of you should return to your mother’s home! May the <span class="smallcaps">Lord</span> show you the same kind of devotion that you have shown to your deceased husbands and to me! <span class="reftext"><a href="/ruth/1-9.htm"><b>9</b></a></span>May the <span class="smallcaps">Lord</span> enable each of you to find security in the home of a new husband!” Then she kissed them goodbye and they wept loudly. <span class="reftext"><a href="/ruth/1-10.htm"><b>10</b></a></span>But they said to her, “No! We will return with you to your people.”</p> <p class="bodytext"><span class="reftext"><a href="/ruth/1-11.htm"><b>11</b></a></span>But Naomi replied, “Go back home, my daughters! There is no reason for you to return to Judah with me! I am no longer capable of giving birth to sons who might become your husbands! <span class="reftext"><a href="/ruth/1-12.htm"><b>12</b></a></span>Go back home, my daughters! For I am too old to get married again. Even if I thought that there was hope that I could get married tonight and conceive sons, <span class="reftext"><a href="/ruth/1-13.htm"><b>13</b></a></span>surely you would not want to wait until they were old enough to marry! Surely you would not remain unmarried all that time! No, my daughters, you must not return with me. For my intense suffering is too much for you to bear. For the <span class="smallcaps">Lord</span> is afflicting me!”</p> <p class="bodytext"><span class="reftext"><a href="/ruth/1-14.htm"><b>14</b></a></span>Again they wept loudly. Then Orpah kissed her mother-in-law goodbye, but Ruth clung tightly to her. <span class="reftext"><a href="/ruth/1-15.htm"><b>15</b></a></span>So Naomi said, “Look, your sister-in-law is returning to her people and to her god. Follow your sister-in-law back home!” <span class="reftext"><a href="/ruth/1-16.htm"><b>16</b></a></span>But Ruth replied,</p><p class="poetry2">“Stop urging me to abandon you!</p><p class="poetry2">For wherever you go, I will go.</p><p class="poetry2">Wherever you live, I will live.</p><p class="poetry2">Your people will become my people,</p><p class="poetry2">and your God will become my God.</p> <p class="poetry1"><span class="reftext"><a href="/ruth/1-17.htm"><b>17</b></a></span>Wherever you die, I will die – and there I will be buried.</p><p class="poetry2">May the <span class="smallcaps">Lord</span> punish me severely if I do not keep my promise!</p><p class="poetry2">Only death will be able to separate me from you!”</p> <p class="bodytext"><span class="reftext"><a href="/ruth/1-18.htm"><b>18</b></a></span>When Naomi realized that Ruth was determined to go with her, she stopped trying to dissuade her. <span class="reftext"><a href="/ruth/1-19.htm"><b>19</b></a></span>So the two of them journeyed together until they arrived in Bethlehem.</p><p class="title">Naomi and Ruth Arrive in Bethlehem</p><p class="bodytext">When they entered Bethlehem, the whole village was excited about their arrival. The women of the village said, “Can this be Naomi?” <span class="reftext"><a href="/ruth/1-20.htm"><b>20</b></a></span>But she replied to them, “Don’t call me ‘Naomi’! Call me ‘Mara’ because the Sovereign One has treated me very harshly. <span class="reftext"><a href="/ruth/1-21.htm"><b>21</b></a></span>I left here full, but the <span class="smallcaps">Lord</span> has caused me to return empty-handed. Why do you call me ‘Naomi,’ seeing that the <span class="smallcaps">Lord</span> has opposed me, and the Sovereign One has caused me to suffer?” <span class="reftext"><a href="/ruth/1-22.htm"><b>22</b></a></span>So Naomi returned, accompanied by her Moabite daughter-in-law Ruth, who came back with her from the region of Moab. (Now they arrived in Bethlehem at the beginning of the barley harvest.)</p></div></div><div id="botbox"><div class="padbot"><div align="center"><a href="http://netbible.com/">NET Bible copyright © 1996-2006 by Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. http://netbible.com.<br />Used by permission. 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