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16 [a]But Ruth said, “Do not press me to go back and abandon you!

Wherever you go I will go,
    wherever you lodge I will lodge.
Your people shall be my people
    and your God, my God.
17 Where you die I will die,
    and there be buried.

May the Lord do thus to me, and more, if even death separates me from you!”

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Footnotes

  1. 1:16–17 Ruth’s adherence to her mother-in-law in 1:14 is now expressed in a profound oath of loyalty, culminating in a formulary found frequently in Samuel and Kings; cf. especially 1 Sm 20:13. Even death: burial in Naomi’s family tomb means that not even death will separate them.

16 But Ruth replied, “Don’t urge me to leave you(A) or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go,(B) and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people(C) and your God my God.(D) 17 Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried. May the Lord deal with me, be it ever so severely,(E) if even death separates you and me.”(F)

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