Ruth 1:1-9 ▼

1 Once back in the time of the judges there was a famine in the land; so a man from Bethlehem of Judah left home with his wife and two sons to reside on the plateau of Moab.

2 The man was named Elimelech, his wife Naomi, and his sons Mahlon and Chilion; they were Ephrathites from Bethlehem of Judah. Some time after their arrival on the plateau of Moab,

3 Elimelech, the husband of Naomi, died, and she was left with her two sons.

4 They married Moabite women, one named Orpah, the other Ruth. When they had lived there about ten years,

5 both Mahlon and Chilion died also, and the woman was left with neither her two boys nor her husband.

6 She and her daughters-in-law then prepared to go back from the plateau of Moab because word had reached her there that the LORD had seen to his people’s needs and given them food.

7 She and her two daughters-in-law left the place where they had been living. On the road back to the land of Judah,

8 Naomi said to her daughters-in-law, “Go back, each of you to your mother’s house. May the LORD show you the same kindness as you have shown to the deceased and to me.

9 May the LORD guide each of you to find a husband and a home in which you will be at rest.” She kissed them good-bye, but they wept aloud,