| New International Version | NET Bible |
| 1In the days when the judges ruled, 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. | 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. |
| 2The 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. | 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. |
| 3Now Elimelek, Naomi's husband, died, and she was left with her two sons. | 3Sometime later Naomi's husband Elimelech died, so she and her two sons were left alone. |
| 4They married Moabite women, one named Orpah and the other Ruth. After they had lived there about ten years, | 4So her sons married Moabite women. (One was named Orpah and the other Ruth.) And they continued to live there about ten years. |
| 5both Mahlon and Kilion also died, and Naomi was left without her two sons and her husband. | 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! |
| 6When Naomi heard in Moab that the LORD 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. | 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. |
| 7With 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. | 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, |
| 8Then Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, "Go back, each of you, to your mother's home. May the LORD show you kindness, as you have shown kindness to your dead husbands and to me. | 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! |
| 9May the LORD grant that each of you will find rest in the home of another husband." Then she kissed them goodbye and they wept aloud | 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. |
| 10and said to her, "We will go back with you to your people." | 10But they said to her, "No! We will return with you to your people." |
| 11But 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? | 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! |
| 12Return 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-- | 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, |
| 13would 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 LORD's hand has turned against me!" | 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!" |
| 14At this they wept aloud again. Then Orpah kissed her mother-in-law goodbye, but Ruth clung to her. | 14Again they wept loudly. Then Orpah kissed her mother-in-law goodbye, but Ruth clung tightly to her. |
| 15"Look," said Naomi, "your sister-in-law is going back to her people and her gods. Go back with 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!" |
| 16But 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. | 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. |
| 17Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried. May the LORD deal with me, be it ever so severely, if even death separates you and me." | 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!" |
| 18When Naomi realized that Ruth was determined to go with her, she stopped urging her. | 18When Naomi realized that Ruth was determined to go with her, she stopped trying to dissuade her. |
| 19So 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?" | 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?" |
| 20"Don't call me Naomi," she told them. "Call me Mara, because the Almighty has made my life very bitter. | 20But she replied to them, "Don't call me 'Naomi'! Call me 'Mara' because the Sovereign One has treated me very harshly. |
| 21I went away full, but the LORD has brought me back empty. Why call me Naomi? The LORD has afflicted me; the Almighty has brought misfortune upon 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?" |
| 22So Naomi returned from Moab accompanied by Ruth the Moabite, her daughter-in-law, arriving in Bethlehem as the barley harvest was beginning. | 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.) |
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