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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 NIV</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="../">NIV</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">New International Version</td><td width="1%" valign="top"><a href="/p/niv/esv/ruth/1.shtml" style="color:#001320" title="Parallel Chapters"> Par ▾ </a></tr></table></div><div class="chap"><p class="sectionhead">Naomi Loses Her Husband and Sons</p><p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/ruth/1-1.htm"><b>1</b></a></span>In the days when the judges ruled, <span class="nivfootnote"><sup><a href="#footnotes" title="Traditionally judged">a</a></sup></span> there was a famine in the land. So a man from Bethlehem in Judah, together with his wife and two sons, went to live for a while in the country of Moab. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/ruth/1-2.htm"><b>2</b></a></span>The man’s name was Elimelek, his wife’s name was Naomi, and the names of his two sons were Mahlon and Kilion. They were Ephrathites from Bethlehem, Judah. And they went to Moab and lived there.</p> <p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/ruth/1-3.htm"><b>3</b></a></span>Now Elimelek, Naomi’s husband, 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>They married Moabite women, one named Orpah and the other Ruth. After they had lived there about ten years, <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/ruth/1-5.htm"><b>5</b></a></span>both Mahlon and Kilion also died, and Naomi was left without her two sons and her husband.</p> <p class="sectionhead">Naomi and Ruth Return to Bethlehem</p><p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/ruth/1-6.htm"><b>6</b></a></span>When Naomi heard in Moab that the <span class="name">Lord</span> had come to the aid of his people by providing food for them, she and her daughters-in-law prepared to return home from there. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/ruth/1-7.htm"><b>7</b></a></span>With her two daughters-in-law she left the place where she had been living and set out on the road that would take them back to the land of Judah.</p> <p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/ruth/1-8.htm"><b>8</b></a></span>Then Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, “Go back, each of you, to your mother’s home. May the <span class="name">Lord</span> show you kindness, as you have shown kindness to your dead husbands and to me. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/ruth/1-9.htm"><b>9</b></a></span>May the <span class="name">Lord</span> grant that each of you will find rest in the home of another husband.”</p><p class="reg">Then she kissed them goodbye and they wept aloud <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/ruth/1-10.htm"><b>10</b></a></span>and said to her, “We will go back with you to your people.”</p> <p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/ruth/1-11.htm"><b>11</b></a></span>But Naomi said, “Return home, my daughters. Why would you come with me? Am I going to have any more sons, who could become your husbands? <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/ruth/1-12.htm"><b>12</b></a></span>Return home, my daughters; I am too old to have another husband. Even if I thought there was still hope for me—even if I had a husband tonight and then gave birth to sons— <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/ruth/1-13.htm"><b>13</b></a></span>would you wait until they grew up? Would you remain unmarried for them? No, my daughters. It is more bitter for me than for you, because the <span class="name">Lord</span>’s hand has turned against me!”</p> <p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/ruth/1-14.htm"><b>14</b></a></span>At this they wept aloud again. Then Orpah kissed her mother-in-law goodbye, but Ruth clung to her.</p> <p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/ruth/1-15.htm"><b>15</b></a></span>“Look,” said Naomi, “your sister-in-law is going back to her people and her gods. Go back with her.”</p> <p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/ruth/1-16.htm"><b>16</b></a></span>But Ruth replied, “Don’t urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will 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 I will be buried. May the <span class="name">Lord</span> deal with me, be it ever so severely, if even death separates you and me.” <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/ruth/1-18.htm"><b>18</b></a></span>When Naomi realized that Ruth was determined to go with her, she stopped urging her.</p> <p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/ruth/1-19.htm"><b>19</b></a></span>So the two women went on until they came to Bethlehem. When they arrived in Bethlehem, the whole town was stirred because of them, and the women exclaimed, “Can this be Naomi?”</p> <p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/ruth/1-20.htm"><b>20</b></a></span>“Don’t call me Naomi, <span class="nivfootnote"><sup><a href="#footnotes" title="Naomi means pleasant.">b</a></sup></span> ” she told them. “Call me Mara, <span class="nivfootnote"><sup><a href="#footnotes" title="Mara means bitter.">c</a></sup></span> because the Almighty <span class="nivfootnote"><sup><a href="#footnotes" title="Hebrew Shaddai; also in verse 21">d</a></sup></span> has made my life very bitter. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/ruth/1-21.htm"><b>21</b></a></span>I went away full, but the <span class="name">Lord</span> has brought me back empty. Why call me Naomi? The <span class="name">Lord</span> has afflicted <span class="nivfootnote"><sup><a href="#footnotes" title="Or has testified against">e</a></sup></span> me; the Almighty has brought misfortune upon me.”</p> <p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/ruth/1-22.htm"><b>22</b></a></span>So Naomi returned from Moab accompanied by Ruth the Moabite, her daughter-in-law, arriving in Bethlehem as the barley harvest was beginning.</p><hr size="1" color="DDEEFF"><span class="mainfootnotes"><A name="footnotes"></a><span class="mainfootnoteshdg">Footnotes:</span><br><span class="nivfootnotesbot">a</span> <span class="fnverse">1</span> <span class="footnotebot">Traditionally <i>judged</i></span><br><span class="nivfootnotesbot">b</span> <span class="fnverse">20</span> <span class="footnotebot"><i>Naomi</i> means <i>pleasant.</i></span><br><span class="nivfootnotesbot">c</span> <span class="fnverse">20</span> <span class="footnotebot"><i>Mara</i> means <i>bitter.</i></span><br><span class="nivfootnotesbot">d</span> <span class="fnverse">20</span> <span class="footnotebot">Hebrew <i>Shaddai</i>; also in verse 21</span><br><span class="nivfootnotesbot">e</span> <span class="fnverse">21</span> <span class="footnotebot">Or <i>has testified against</i></span><br><hr size="1" color="DDEEFF"></div></div><div id="botbox"><div class="padbot"><div align="center"><p class="ntext"><a href="http://niv.scripturetext.com/version.htm">New International Version</a> (NIV)</p><p class="ntext2">Holy Bible, New International Version&reg, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by <a href="http://biblica.com">Biblica, Inc.</a>® Used by permission. 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