Ruth 1:19-2:3

New International Version

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.”

²² So Naomi returned from Moab accompanied by Ruth the Moabite,^(G) her daughter-in-law,^(H) arriving in Bethlehem as the barley harvest^(I) was beginning.^(J)

Ruth Meets Boaz in the Grain Field

2 Now Naomi had a relative^(K) on her husband’s side, a man of standing^(L) from the clan of Elimelek,^(M) whose name was Boaz.^(N)

² And Ruth the Moabite^(O) said to Naomi, “Let me go to the fields and pick up the leftover grain^(P) behind anyone in whose eyes I find favor.^(Q)”

Naomi said to her, “Go ahead, my daughter.” ³ So she went out, entered a field and began to glean behind the harvesters.^(R) As it turned out, she was working in a field belonging to Boaz, who was from the clan of Elimelek.^(S)