| NET Bible | New American Standard Bible 1995 |
| 1During 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. | 1Now it came about in the days when the judges governed, that there was a famine in the land. And a certain man of Bethlehem in Judah went to sojourn in the land of Moab with his wife and his two sons. |
| 2(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. | 2The name of the man was Elimelech, and the name of his wife, Naomi; and the names of his two sons were Mahlon and Chilion, Ephrathites of Bethlehem in Judah. Now they entered the land of Moab and remained there. |
| 3Sometime later Naomi's husband Elimelech died, so she and her two sons were left alone. | 3Then Elimelech, Naomi's husband, died; and she was left with her two sons. |
| 4So her sons married Moabite women. (One was named Orpah and the other Ruth.) And they continued to live there about ten years. | 4They took for themselves Moabite women as wives; the name of the one was Orpah and the name of the other Ruth. And they lived there about ten years. |
| 5Then 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! | 5Then both Mahlon and Chilion also died, and the woman was bereft of her two children and her husband. |
| 6So 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 LORD had shown concern for his people, reversing the famine by providing abundant crops. | 6Then she arose with her daughters-in-law that she might return from the land of Moab, for she had heard in the land of Moab that the LORD had visited His people in giving them food. |
| 7Now 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, | 7So she departed from the place where she was, and her two daughters-in-law with her; and they went on the way to return to the land of Judah. |
| 8Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, "Listen to me! Each of you should return to your mother's home! May the LORD show you the same kind of devotion that you have shown to your deceased husbands and to me! | 8And Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, "Go, return each of you to her mother's house. May the LORD deal kindly with you as you have dealt with the dead and with me. |
| 9May the LORD enable each of you to find security in the home of a new husband!" Then she kissed them goodbye and they wept loudly. | 9"May the LORD grant that you may find rest, each in the house of her husband." Then she kissed them, and they lifted up their voices and wept. |
| 10But they said to her, "No! We will return with you to your people." | 10And they said to her, "No, but we will surely return with you to your people." |
| 11But 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! | 11But Naomi said, "Return, my daughters. Why should you go with me? Have I yet sons in my womb, that they may be your husbands? |
| 12Go 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, | 12"Return, my daughters! Go, for I am too old to have a husband. If I said I have hope, if I should even have a husband tonight and also bear sons, |
| 13surely 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 LORD is afflicting me!" | 13would you therefore wait until they were grown? Would you therefore refrain from marrying? No, my daughters; for it is harder for me than for you, for the hand of the LORD has gone forth against me." |
| 14Again they wept loudly. Then Orpah kissed her mother-in-law goodbye, but Ruth clung tightly to her. | 14And they lifted up their voices and wept again; and Orpah kissed her mother-in-law, but Ruth clung to her. |
| 15So Naomi said, "Look, your sister-in-law is returning to her people and to her god. Follow your sister-in-law back home!" | 15Then she said, "Behold, your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and her gods; return after your sister-in-law." |
| 16But Ruth replied, "Stop urging me to abandon you! For wherever you go, I will go. Wherever you live, I will live. Your people will become my people, and your God will become my God. | 16But Ruth said, "Do not urge me to leave you or turn back 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. |
| 17Wherever you die, I will die--and there I will be buried. May the LORD punish me severely if I do not keep my promise! Only death will be able to separate me from you!" | 17"Where you die, I will die, and there I will be buried. Thus may the LORD do to me, and worse, if anything but death parts you and me." |
| 18When Naomi realized that Ruth was determined to go with her, she stopped trying to dissuade her. | 18When she saw that she was determined to go with her, she said no more to her. |
| 19So the two of them journeyed together until they arrived in Bethlehem. Naomi and Ruth Arrive in Bethlehem When they entered Bethlehem, the whole village was excited about their arrival. The women of the village said, "Can this be Naomi?" | 19So they both went until they came to Bethlehem. And when they had come to Bethlehem, all the city was stirred because of them, and the women said, "Is this Naomi?" |
| 20But she replied to them, "Don't call me 'Naomi'! Call me 'Mara' because the Sovereign One has treated me very harshly. | 20She said to them, "Do not call me Naomi; call me Mara, for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me. |
| 21I left here full, but the LORD has caused me to return empty-handed. Why do you call me 'Naomi,' seeing that the LORD has opposed me, and the Sovereign One has caused me to suffer?" | 21"I went out full, but the LORD has brought me back empty. Why do you call me Naomi, since the LORD has witnessed against me and the Almighty has afflicted me?" |
| 22So 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.) | 22So Naomi returned, and with her Ruth the Moabitess, her daughter-in-law, who returned from the land of Moab. And they came to Bethlehem at the beginning of barley harvest. |
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