Ruth 1
Expanded Bible
1 Long ago when the ·judges [leaders; C not courtroom judges, but leaders who guided the nation through difficult times; Judg. 2:16; a very dark time in Israel’s history] ruled Israel, there was a ·shortage of food [famine] in the land. So a man from the town of Bethlehem in Judah left to ·live [sojourn; reside as a resident alien] in the ·country [region] of Moab [C east of the Jordan River and the Dead Sea; Gen. 19:37] with his wife and his two sons. 2 The man’s name was Elimelech, his wife was named Naomi, and his two sons were named Mahlon and Kilion. They were Ephrathahites from Bethlehem in Judah. When they came to Moab, they settled there.
3 Then Naomi’s husband, Elimelech, died, and she was left with her two sons. 4 These sons married women from Moab. One was named Orpah, and the other was named Ruth. Naomi and her sons had lived in Moab about ten years 5 when Mahlon and Kilion also died. So Naomi was left alone without her husband or her two ·sons [offspring; 4:16].
6 While Naomi was in Moab, she heard that the Lord had ·come to help [L visited] his people and had given them food again. So she and her daughters-in-law ·got ready [L arose] to leave Moab and return home. 7 Naomi and her daughters-in-law left the place where they had lived and ·started back [set off on the road to return] to the land of Judah. 8 But Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, “Go back home, each of you to your own mother’s house. May the Lord ·be as kind [show mercy/lovingkindness] to you as you have been to me and ·my sons who are now dead [L with the dead]. 9 May the Lord give you ·another happy home and a new [L to find rest/security, each in the house of her] husband.”
When Naomi kissed the women good-bye, they ·began to cry out loud [L raised their voices and wept]. 10 They said to her, “No, we ·want to go [will return] with you to your people.”
11 But Naomi said, “My daughters, ·return to your own homes [L return]. Why ·do you want to [should you] go with me? ·I cannot give birth to more sons [L Do I have sons in my womb…?] to give you new husbands; 12 go back, my daughters, to your own homes. [L …because] I am too old to have another husband. Even if I told myself, ‘I still have hope’ and had another husband tonight, and even if I had more sons, 13 ·should [or would] you wait until they were grown into men [Deut. 25:5–10]? ·Should [or Would] you ·live for so many years without husbands [remain unmarried]? Don’t do that, my daughters. ·My life is much too sad for you to share [or It is more bitter for me than for you], because the Lord has been against me!”
14 The women ·cried together out loud [L raised their voices and wept] again. Then Orpah kissed her mother-in-law Naomi good-bye, but Ruth ·held on [clung] to her tightly.
15 Naomi said to Ruth, “Look, your sister-in-law is going back to her own people and her own ·gods [or god; C Chemosh was the chief god of the Moabites; 1 Kin. 11:33]. Go back with her.”
Ruth Stays with Naomi
16 But Ruth said, “Don’t ·beg [urge] me to ·leave [abandon] you or to ·stop following [L turn back from] you. Where you go, I will go. Where you live, I will live. Your people will be my people, and your God will be my God. 17 And where you die, I will die, and there I will be buried. May the Lord ·punish me terribly [L do to me and even more] if I do not keep this promise: ·Not even [or Nothing but] death will separate us.”
18 When Naomi saw that Ruth ·had firmly made up her mind [was resolved/determined] to go with her, she stopped ·arguing with [urging; talking to] her. 19 So Naomi and Ruth went on until they came to the town of Bethlehem. When they entered Bethlehem, ·all the people became very excited [the whole town was abuzz/stirred up]. The women of the town said, “Is this really Naomi?”
20 Naomi answered the people, “Don’t call me Naomi [C “pleasant” or “happy”]. Call me Mara [C “bitter” or “sad”], because ·the Almighty [L Shaddai] has ·made my life very sad [dealt bitterly/harshly with me]. 21 ·When I left, I had all I wanted [L I went out full], but now, the Lord has brought me home ·with nothing [empty]. Why should you call me Naomi when the Lord has ·spoken against [testified against; or afflicted; opposed] me and the Almighty [1:20] has ·given me so much trouble [brought calamity/misfortune/evil on me]?”
22 So Naomi and her daughter-in-law Ruth, the Moabite, returned from the land of Moab and arrived at Bethlehem at the beginning of the barley harvest [C April or May].
Ruth 1
Amplified Bible
Naomi Widowed
1 In the days when the judges governed [Israel], there was a famine in the land [of Canaan]. And a certain man of Bethlehem in Judah went to live temporarily in the [a]country of Moab with his wife and his two sons. 2 The man’s name was Elimelech and his wife’s name was Naomi and his two sons were named Mahlon and Chilion. They were Ephrathites from Bethlehem in Judah. They went to the country of Moab and stayed there. 3 Then Elimelech, Naomi’s husband, died, and she was left [a widow] with her two sons. 4 They took wives from the Moabite women; the name of the one was Orpah, and the name of the other was Ruth. They lived there about ten years; 5 and then both Mahlon and Chilion also died, so the woman [Naomi] was left without her two sons and her husband.
6 Then she set out with her daughters-in-law to return from the country of Moab, for she had heard in Moab how the Lord had taken care of His people [of Judah] in giving them food. 7 So she left the place where she was living, her two daughters-in-law with her, and they started on the way back to the land of Judah. 8 But Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, “Go back, each of you return to your mother’s house. May the Lord show kindness to you as you have shown kindness to the dead and to me. 9 May the Lord grant that you find rest, each one in the home of her husband.” Then she kissed them [goodbye], and they wept aloud. 10 And they said to her, “No, we will go with you to your people [in Judah].” 11 But Naomi said, “Go back, my daughters, why should you go with me? Do I still have sons in my womb that may become your husbands? 12 Go back, my daughters, go, for I am too old to have a husband. If I said I have hope, and if I actually had a husband tonight and even gave birth to sons, 13 would you wait until they were grown? Would you go without marrying? No, my daughters; for it is much more [b]difficult for me than for you, because the Lord’s hand has gone against me.”
Ruth’s Loyalty
14 Then they wept aloud again; and Orpah kissed her mother-in-law [goodbye], but Ruth clung to her.
15 Then Naomi said, “Look, your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and to her gods; turn back and follow your sister-in-law.” 16 But Ruth said, “Do not urge me to leave you or to turn back from following you; for where you go, I will go, and where you lodge, I will lodge. 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 do the same to me [as He has done to you], and more also, if anything but death separates me from you.” 18 When Naomi saw that Ruth was determined to go with her, she said nothing more.
19 So the two of them went on until they came to Bethlehem. And when they arrived in Bethlehem, the whole city was [c]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?”
22 So Naomi returned from the country of Moab, and with her Ruth the Moabitess, her daughter-in-law. And they arrived in Bethlehem at the beginning of the barley harvest.
Footnotes
- Ruth 1:1 Moab was located on a high plateau on the eastern shore of the Salt (Dead) Sea. The Moabites were related to the Israelites through their common ancestor, Terah. Their primary god was Chemosh, but the Moabites also worshiped many other pagan gods and sometimes engaged in human sacrifice.
- Ruth 1:13 Lit bitter.
- 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.
The Expanded Bible, Copyright © 2011 Thomas Nelson Inc. All rights reserved.
Copyright © 2015 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, CA 90631. All rights reserved.
