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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 ESV</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" /></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="../">ESV</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">English Standard Version</td><td width="1%" valign="top"><a href="/p/esv/nas/ruth/1.shtml" style="color:#001320" title="Parallel Chapters"> Par ▾ </a></tr></table></div></a><div class="chap"><p class="heading">Naomi Widowed</p><p class="regular"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/ruth/1-1.htm"><b>1</b></a></span>In the days when the judges ruled there was a famine in the land, and a man of Bethlehem in Judah went to sojourn in the country of Moab, he and his wife and his two sons. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/ruth/1-2.htm"><b>2</b></a></span>The name of the man was Elimelech and the name of his wife Naomi, and the names of his two sons were Mahlon and Chilion. They were Ephrathites from Bethlehem in Judah. They went into the country of Moab and remained there. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/ruth/1-3.htm"><b>3</b></a></span>But Elimelech, the husband of Naomi, died, and she was left with her two sons. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/ruth/1-4.htm"><b>4</b></a></span>These took Moabite wives; the name of the one was Orpah and the name of the other Ruth. They lived there about ten years, <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/ruth/1-5.htm"><b>5</b></a></span>and both Mahlon and Chilion died, so that the woman was left without her two sons and her husband.</p> <p class="heading">Ruth’s Loyalty to Naomi</p><p class="regular"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/ruth/1-6.htm"><b>6</b></a></span>Then she arose with her daughters-in-law to return from the country of Moab, for she had heard in the fields of Moab that the <span class="divine-name">Lord</span> had visited his people and given them food. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/ruth/1-7.htm"><b>7</b></a></span>So she set out from the place where she was with her two daughters-in-law, and they went on the way to return to the land of Judah. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/ruth/1-8.htm"><b>8</b></a></span>But Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, “Go, return each of you to her mother’s house. May the <span class="divine-name">Lord</span> deal kindly with you, as you have dealt with the dead and with me. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/ruth/1-9.htm"><b>9</b></a></span>The <span class="divine-name">Lord</span> grant that you may find rest, each of you in the house of her husband!” Then she kissed them, and they lifted up their voices and wept. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/ruth/1-10.htm"><b>10</b></a></span>And they said to her, “No, we will return with you to your people.” <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/ruth/1-11.htm"><b>11</b></a></span>But Naomi said, “Turn back, my daughters; why will you go with me? Have I yet sons in my womb that they may become your husbands? <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/ruth/1-12.htm"><b>12</b></a></span>Turn back, my daughters; go your way, for I am too old to have a husband. If I should say I have hope, even if I should have a husband this night and should bear sons, <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/ruth/1-13.htm"><b>13</b></a></span>would you therefore wait till they were grown? Would you therefore refrain from marrying? No, my daughters, for it is exceedingly bitter to me for your sake that the hand of the <span class="divine-name">Lord</span> has gone out against me.” <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/ruth/1-14.htm"><b>14</b></a></span>Then they lifted up their voices and wept again. And Orpah kissed her mother-in-law, but Ruth clung to her.</p> <p class="regular"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/ruth/1-15.htm"><b>15</b></a></span>And she said, “See, your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and to her gods; return after your sister-in-law.” <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/ruth/1-16.htm"><b>16</b></a></span>But Ruth said, “Do not urge me to leave you or to return from following you. For where you go I will go, and where you lodge I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God my God. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/ruth/1-17.htm"><b>17</b></a></span>Where you die I will die, and there will I be buried. May the <span class="divine-name">Lord</span> do so to me and more also if anything but death parts me from you.” <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/ruth/1-18.htm"><b>18</b></a></span>And when Naomi saw that she was determined to go with her, she said no more.</p> <p class="heading">Naomi and Ruth Return</p><p class="regular"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/ruth/1-19.htm"><b>19</b></a></span>So the two of them went on until they came to Bethlehem. And when they came to Bethlehem, the whole town was stirred because of them. And the women said, “Is this Naomi?” <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/ruth/1-20.htm"><b>20</b></a></span>She said to them, “Do not call me Naomi;<span class="footnote"><sup><a href="#footnotes" title="Naomi means pleasant">a</a></sup></span> call me Mara,<span class="footnote"><sup><a href="#footnotes" title="Mara means bitter">b</a></sup></span> for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/ruth/1-21.htm"><b>21</b></a></span>I went away full, and the <span class="divine-name">Lord</span> has brought me back empty. Why call me Naomi, when the <span class="divine-name">Lord</span> has testified against me and the Almighty has brought calamity upon me?”</p> <p class="regular"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/ruth/1-22.htm"><b>22</b></a></span>So Naomi returned, and Ruth the Moabite her daughter-in-law with her, who returned from the country of Moab. And they came to Bethlehem at the beginning of barley harvest.</p><A name="footnotes"></a><hr size="1" color="DDEEFF"><span class="mainfootnotes"><span class="mainfootnoteshdg">Footnotes:</span><br><span class="footnotesbot">a</span> <span class="fnverse">20</span> <i class="catch-word">Naomi</i> means <i>pleasant</i><br /><span class="footnotesbot">b</span> <span class="fnverse">20</span> <i class="catch-word">Mara</i> means <i>bitter</i><br /></span></div></div><div id="botbox"><div class="padbot"><div align="center">ESV Text Edition® (2016).<br /><br />The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®) copyright © 2001 by <a href="http://www.crossway.org/home/esv/">Crossway Bibles</a>, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. The ESV® text has been reproduced in cooperation with and by permission of Good News Publishers. Unauthorized reproduction of this publication is prohibited. All rights reserved.<br /><br />The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®) is adapted from the Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A. 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