Ruth 1:18-2:4

New King James Version

¹⁸^(A)When she saw that she ^[a]was determined to go with her, she stopped speaking to her.

¹⁹Now the two of them went until they came to Bethlehem. And it happened, when they had come to Bethlehem, that ^(B)all the city was excited because of them; and the women said, ^(C)“Is this Naomi?”

²⁰But she said to them, “Do not call me ^[b]Naomi; call me ^[c]Mara, for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me. ²¹I went out full, ^(D)and the Lord has brought me home again empty. Why do you call me Naomi, since the Lord has testified against me, and ^[d]the Almighty has afflicted me?”

²²So Naomi returned, and Ruth the Moabitess her daughter-in-law with her, who returned from the country of Moab. Now they came to Bethlehem ^(E)at the beginning of barley harvest.

Ruth Meets Boaz

2 There was a ^(F)relative of Naomi’s husband, a man of great wealth, of the family of ^(G)Elimelech. His name was ^(H)Boaz. ²So Ruth the Moabitess said to Naomi, “Please let me go to the ^(I)field, and glean heads of grain after him in whose sight I may find favor.”

And she said to her, “Go, my daughter.”

³Then she left, and went and gleaned in the field after the reapers. And she happened to come to the part of the field belonging to Boaz, who was of the family of Elimelech.

⁴Now behold, Boaz came from ^(J)Bethlehem, and said to the reapers, ^(K)“The Lord be with you!”

And they answered him, “The Lord bless you!”