Add parallel Print Page Options

19 So the two of them went on until they came to Bethlehem. And when they arrived in Bethlehem, the whole city was [a]stirred because of them, and the women asked, “Is this Naomi?” 20 She said to them, “Do not call me Naomi (sweetness); call me Mara (bitter), for the Almighty has caused me great grief and bitterness. 21 I left full [with a husband and two sons], but the Lord has brought me back empty. Why call me Naomi, since the Lord has testified against me and the Almighty has afflicted me?”

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. Ruth 1:19 Bethlehem was a small city where everyone probably knew everyone else, and Naomi’s husband may have been a prominent man in the city.

19 So the two women went on until they came to Bethlehem.(A) When they arrived in Bethlehem, the whole town was stirred(B) because of them, and the women exclaimed, “Can this be Naomi?”

20 “Don’t call me Naomi,[a]” she told them. “Call me Mara,[b] because the Almighty[c](C) has made my life very bitter.(D) 21 I went away full, but the Lord has brought me back empty.(E) Why call me Naomi? The Lord has afflicted[d] me;(F) the Almighty has brought misfortune upon me.”

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. Ruth 1:20 Naomi means pleasant.
  2. Ruth 1:20 Mara means bitter.
  3. Ruth 1:20 Hebrew Shaddai; also in verse 21
  4. Ruth 1:21 Or has testified against