| Ruth 1 Naomi and Ruth 1 In the days when the judges ruled , [ a ] there was a famine in the land , and a man from Bethlehem in Judah , together with his wife and two sons , went to live for a while in the country of Moab . 2 The man 's name was Elimelech , his wife 's name 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 . 3 Now Elimelech , Naomi 's husband , died , and she was left with her two sons . 4 They married Moabite women , one named Orpah and the other Ruth . After they had lived there about ten years , 5 both Mahlon and Kilion also died , and Naomi was left without her two sons and her husband . 6 When she heard in Moab that the LORD had come to the aid of his people by providing food for them , Naomi and her daughters-in-law prepared to return home from there . 7 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 . 8 Then Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law , “ Go back , each of you , to your mother 's home . May the LORD show kindness to you , as you have shown to your dead and to me . 9 May the LORD grant that each of you will find rest in the home of another husband . ” Then she kissed them and they wept aloud 10 and said to her , “ We will go back with you to your people . ” 11 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 ? 12 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 — 13 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 LORD 's hand has gone out against me ! ” 14 At this they wept again . Then Orpah kissed her mother-in-law good-by , but Ruth clung to her . 15 “ Look , ” said Naomi , “ your sister-in-law is going back to her people and her gods . Go back with her . ” 16 But Ruth replied , “ Do n'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 . 17 Where you die I will die , and there I will be buried . May the LORD deal with me , be it ever so severely , if anything but death separates you and me . ” 18 When Naomi realized that Ruth was determined to go with her , she stopped urging her . 19 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 ? ” 20 “ Do n't call me Naomi , [ b ] ” she told them . “ Call me Mara , [ c ] because the Almighty[d ] has made my life very bitter . 21 I went away full , but the LORD has brought me back empty . Why call me Naomi ? The LORD has afflicted[e ] me ; the Almighty has brought misfortune upon me . ” 22 So Naomi returned from Moab accompanied by Ruth the Moabitess , her daughter-in-law , arriving in Bethlehem as the barley harvest was beginning . Ruth 2 Ruth Meets Boaz 1 Now Naomi had a relative on her husband 's side , from the clan of Elimelech , a man of standing , whose name was Boaz . 2 And Ruth the Moabitess said to Naomi , “ Let me go to the fields and pick up the leftover grain behind anyone in whose eyes I find favor . ” Naomi said to her , “ Go ahead , my daughter . ” 3 So she went out and began to glean in the fields behind the harvesters . As it turned out , she found herself working in a field belonging to Boaz , who was from the clan of Elimelech . 4 Just then Boaz arrived from Bethlehem and greeted the harvesters , “ The LORD be with you ! ” “ The LORD bless you ! ” they called back . 5 Boaz asked the foreman of his harvesters , “ Whose young woman is that ? ” 6 The foreman replied , “ She is the Moabitess who came back from Moab with Naomi . 7 She said , ‘ Please let me glean and gather among the sheaves behind the harvesters . ' She went into the field and has worked steadily from morning till now , except for a short rest in the shelter . ” 8 So Boaz said to Ruth , “ My daughter , listen to me . Do n't go and glean in another field and do n't go away from here . Stay here with my servant girls . 9 Watch the field where the men are harvesting , and follow along after the girls . I have told the men not to touch you . And whenever you are thirsty , go and get a drink from the water jars the men have filled . ” 10 At this , she bowed down with her face to the ground . She exclaimed , “ Why have I found such favor in your eyes that you notice me—a foreigner ? ” 11 Boaz replied , “ I 've been told all about what you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband—how you left your father and mother and your homeland and came to live with a people you did not know before . 12 May the LORD repay you for what you have done . May you be richly rewarded by the LORD , the God of Israel , under whose wings you have come to take refuge . ” 13 “ May I continue to find favor in your eyes , my lord , ” she said . “ You have given me comfort and have spoken kindly to your servant—though I do not have the standing of one of your servant girls . ” 14 At mealtime Boaz said to her , “ Come over here . Have some bread and dip it in the wine vinegar . ” When she sat down with the harvesters , he offered her some roasted grain . She ate all she wanted and had some left over . 15 As she got up to glean , Boaz gave orders to his men , “ Even if she gathers among the sheaves , do n't embarrass her . 16 Rather , pull out some stalks for her from the bundles and leave them for her to pick up , and do n't rebuke her . ” 17 So Ruth gleaned in the field until evening . Then she threshed the barley she had gathered , and it amounted to about an ephah . [ a ] 18 She carried it back to town , and her mother-in-law saw how much she had gathered . Ruth also brought out and gave her what she had left over after she had eaten enough . 19 Her mother-in-law asked her , “ Where did you glean today ? Where did you work ? Blessed be the man who took notice of you ! ” Then Ruth told her mother-in-law about the one at whose place she had been working . “ The name of the man I worked with today is Boaz , ” she said . 20 “ The LORD bless him ! ” Naomi said to her daughter-in-law . “ He has not stopped showing his kindness to the living and the dead . ” She added , “ That man is our close relative ; he is one of our kinsman-redeemers . ” 21 Then Ruth the Moabitess said , “ He even said to me , ‘ Stay with my workers until they finish harvesting all my grain . ' ” 22 Naomi said to Ruth her daughter-in-law , “ It will be good for you , my daughter , to go with his girls , because in someone else 's field you might be harmed . ” 23 So Ruth stayed close to the servant girls of Boaz to glean until the barley and wheat harvests were finished . And she lived with her mother-in-law . |