1 In the days when the judges ruled, there was a famine in the land. And a certain man of Bethlehem of Judah went to sojourn in the country of Moab, he, 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 [invalid] and Chilion [pining]; they were Ephrathites from Bethlehem of Judah. They went to the country of Moab and continued there.

³ But Elimelech, who Naomi’s husband, died, and she was left with her two sons.

⁴ And they took wives of the women of Moab; the name of the one was Orpah and the name of the other Ruth. They dwelt there about ten years;

⁵ And Mahlon and Chilion died also, both of them, so the woman was bereft of her two sons and her husband.

⁶ Then she arose with her daughters-in-law to return from the country of Moab, for she had heard in Moab how the Lord had visited His people in giving them food.

⁷ So she left the place where she was, her two daughters-in-law with her, and they started on the way back to Judah.

⁸ But Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, Go, return each of you to her mother’s house. May the Lord deal kindly with you, as you have dealt with the dead and with me.

⁹ The Lord grant that you may find a home and rest, each in the house of her husband! Then she kissed them and they wept aloud.

¹⁰ And they said to her, No, we will return with you to your people.

¹¹ But Naomi said, Turn back, my daughters, why will you go with me? Have I yet sons in my womb that may become your husbands?

¹² Turn back, my daughters, go; for I am too old to have a husband. If I should say I have hope, even if I should have a husband tonight and should bear sons,

¹³ Would you therefore wait till they were grown? Would you therefore refrain from marrying? No, my daughters; it is far more bitter for me than for you that the hand of the Lord is gone out against me.

¹⁴ Then they wept aloud again; and Orpah ^[a]kissed her mother-in-law [good-bye], but Ruth clung to her.

¹⁵ And Naomi said, See, your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and to her gods; return after your sister-in-law.

¹⁶ And Ruth said, Urge me not to leave you or to turn back from following you; for where you go I will go, and where you lodge I will lodge. ^[b]Your people shall be my people and your God my God.

¹⁷ Where you die I will die, and there will I be buried. The Lord do so to me, and more also, if anything but death parts me from you.

¹⁸ When Naomi saw that Ruth was determined to go with her, she said no more.

¹³ So Boaz took Ruth and she became his wife. And he went in to her, and the Lord caused her to conceive, and she bore a son.

¹⁴ And the women said to Naomi, Blessed be the Lord, Who has not left you this day without a close kinsman, and may his name be famous in Israel.

¹⁵ And may he be to you a restorer of life and a nourisher and supporter in your old age, for your daughter-in-law who loves you, who is better to you than seven sons, has borne him.

¹⁶ Then Naomi took the child and laid him in her bosom and became his nurse.

¹⁷ And her neighbor women gave him a name, saying, A son is born to Naomi. They named him Obed. He was the father of Jesse, the father of David [the ancestor of Jesus Christ].

1 The book of the ancestry (genealogy) of Jesus Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed), the son (descendant) of David, the son (descendant) of Abraham.^(A)

² Abraham was the father of Isaac, Isaac the father of Jacob, Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers,

³ Judah the father of Perez and Zerah, whose mother was Tamar, Perez the father of Hezron, Hezron the father of Aram,

⁴ Aram the father of Aminadab, Aminadab the father of Nahshon, Nahshon the father of Salmon,

⁵ Salmon the father of Boaz, whose mother was Rahab, Boaz the father of Obed, whose mother was Ruth, Obed the father of Jesse,

⁶ Jesse the father of King David, King David the father of Solomon, whose mother had been the wife of Uriah,^(B)

⁷ Solomon the father of Rehoboam, Rehoboam the father of Abijah, Abijah the father of Asa,

⁸ Asa the father of Jehoshaphat, Jehoshaphat the father of Joram [Jehoram], Joram the father of Uzziah,

⁹ Uzziah the father of Jotham, Jotham the father of Ahaz, Ahaz the father of Hezekiah,

¹⁰ Hezekiah the father of Manasseh, Manasseh the father of Amon, Amon the father of Josiah,

¹¹ And Josiah became the father of Jeconiah [also called Coniah and Jehoiachin] and his brothers about the time of the removal (deportation) to Babylon.^(C)

¹² After the exile to Babylon, Jeconiah became the father of Shealtiel [Salathiel], Shealtiel the father of Zerubbabel,

¹³ Zerubbabel the father of Abiud, Abiud the father of Eliakim, Eliakim the father of Azor,

¹⁴ Azor the father of Sadoc, Sadoc the father of Achim, Achim the father of Eliud,

¹⁵ Eliud the father of Eleazar, Eleazar the father of Matthan, Matthan the father of Jacob,

¹⁶ Jacob the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, Who is called the Christ. (the Messiah, the Anointed)

¹⁷ So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen, from David to the Babylonian exile (deportation) fourteen generations, from the Babylonian exile to the Christ fourteen generations.

²³ Jesus Himself, when He began [His ministry], was about thirty years of age, being the Son, as was supposed, of Joseph, the son of Heli,

²⁴ The son of Matthat, the son of Levi, the son of Melchi, the son of Jannai, the son of Joseph,

²⁵ The son of Mattathias, the son of Amos, the son of Nahum, the son of Esli, the son of Naggai,

²⁶ The son of Maath, the son of Mattathias, the son of Semein, the son of Josech, the son of Joda,

²⁷ The son of Joanan, the son of Rhesa, the son of Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel, the son of Neri,

²⁸ The son of Melchi, the son of Addi, the son of Cosam, the son of Elmadam, the son of Er,

²⁹ The son of Jesus, the son of Eliezer, the son of Jorim, the son of Matthat, the son of Levi,

³⁰ The son of Simeon, the son of Judah, the son of Joseph, the son of Jonam, the son of Eliakim,

³¹ The son of Melea, the son of Menna, the son of Mattatha, the son of Nathan, the son of David,

³² The son of Jesse, the son of Obed, the son of Boaz, the son of Salmon (Sala), the son of Nahshon,

³³ The son of Aminadab, the son of Admin, the son of Arni, the son of Hezron, the son of Perez, the son of Judah,

³⁴ The son of Jacob, the son of Isaac, the son of Abraham, the son of Terah, the son of Nahor,

³⁵ The son of Serug, the son of Reu, the son of Peleg, the son of Eber, the son of Shelah,

³⁶ The son of Cainan, the son of Arphaxad, the son of Shem, the son of Noah, the son of Lamech,

³⁷ The son of Methuselah, the son of Enoch, the son of Jared, the son of Mahalaleel, the son of Cainan,

³⁸ The son of Enos, the son of Seth, the son of Adam, the son of God.^(A)