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Ruth 1
EasyEnglish Bible
Ruth 1
EasyEnglish Bible
Naomi and Ruth
1 1-2 There was a time when judges ruled Israel. During that time there was a famine in Judah. A man who lived in Bethlehem, in Judah, had a wife and two sons. His name was Elimelech. Elimelech's wife was called Naomi, and his sons were called Mahlon and Kilion. They were from Ephrathah's clan. Because there was not enough food in Judah, Elimelech and his family left Bethlehem. They went to live as strangers in Moab.[a]
3 Elimelech died while they were living in Moab. Naomi and her two sons remained there alone. 4 Then Naomi's sons married women from Moab. Mahlon married a woman called Ruth. Kilion married a woman called Orpah. 5 After they had all lived in Moab for about ten years, both Mahlon and Kilion died. Now Naomi was completely alone, without her husband or her sons.[b]
6 Naomi received news from Judah that the Lord had helped his people.[c] There was now enough food in Judah again. So Naomi decided to leave Moab and return to Judah with Ruth and Orpah.
7 Naomi and her sons' wives left their home in Moab. They began to travel together on the way back to Judah. 8 On the way, Naomi said to Ruth and Orpah, ‘Listen! You should return to your mothers' homes in Moab and stay there. Your husbands are dead now. You have been kind to them and to me. I pray that the Lord will be as kind to you. 9 I also pray that God will give to each of you another husband and a new home.’ Naomi kissed them and said ‘goodbye’. Ruth and Orpah began to weep loudly. 10 They said to Naomi, ‘No! We will go with you to live with your people.’
11 But Naomi said, ‘My daughters, you should return to your own country. You should not choose to come back to Judah with me. I will not give birth to any more sons for you to marry them. 12 Return to your own country, my daughters. I am too old to marry another husband. Even if I did marry a man immediately, when might I give birth to sons? 13 I am sure that you do not want to wait until they are old enough for you to marry them! Would you wait all that time and not marry anyone else? So, my daughters, you must not return to Judah with me. You should not have to share my pain. The Lord has turned against me.’
14 Ruth and Orpah wept loudly again. Orpah kissed Naomi and she said ‘goodbye’. But Ruth would not leave Naomi. She held on to her. 15 Naomi said to Ruth, ‘Look! Orpah has returned to her family. She has returned to serve the gods of Moab. Go back home with her.’
16 Ruth said to Naomi, ‘Do not say that I must leave you. I will go with you, wherever you go. I will live wherever you live. You belong to Israel's people. I will belong to them too. Your God will be my God. 17 I will die in the same place that you die. That is where people will bury me. I will stay beside you until death makes us separate. If I ever leave you, the Lord should punish me.’
18 Then Naomi understood that Ruth would not agree to return to her own country. So she stopped saying that Ruth should leave her.
Naomi and Ruth arrive in Bethlehem
19 Naomi and Ruth travelled together to Bethlehem. When they arrived there, the people were very surprised. The women from the town said, ‘Is this really Naomi?’
20 Naomi said to them, ‘Do not call me Naomi. Call me Mara, instead.[d] The Almighty God has made my life very sad. 21 I left here with everything that I needed. Now the Lord has brought me back here with nothing. The Almighty Lord has turned against me, so that I have suffered. It is not right for you to call me Naomi.’
22 That is how Naomi returned from Moab with Ruth. Ruth was from Moab. She was the wife of Naomi's son Mahlon. Naomi and Ruth arrived in Bethlehem when the harvest of barley was beginning.
Footnotes
- 1:1-2 Moab was a good place to grow food. Wheat grew well in one part of Moab. Grass grew well in another part of the country. So the cows could become fat.
- 1:5 When the women had no husbands, they could no longer work on their land. They needed help from the men in their families.
- 1:6 When we write Lord like this, it is a special name for God. Sometimes people write it as ‘Yahweh’, or as ‘Jehovah’. It is his own name that he told Moses. See Exodus 3:14. It means ‘I am who I am’. This shows that God has always been there and he always will be there.
- 1:20 The name Naomi means ‘happy’. The name Mara means ‘sad’.
Ruth 1
New International Version
Ruth 1
New International Version
Naomi Loses Her Husband and Sons
1 In the days when the judges ruled,[a](A) there was a famine in the land.(B) So a man from Bethlehem in Judah,(C) together with his wife and two sons, went to live for a while(D) in the country of Moab.(E) 2 The man’s name was Elimelek,(F) his wife’s name was Naomi, and the names of his two sons were Mahlon and Kilion.(G) They were Ephrathites(H) from Bethlehem,(I) Judah. And they went to Moab and lived there.
3 Now Elimelek, Naomi’s husband, died, and she was left with her two sons. 4 They married Moabite women,(J) one named Orpah and the other Ruth.(K) After they had lived there about ten years, 5 both Mahlon and Kilion(L) also died,(M) and Naomi was left without her two sons and her husband.
Naomi and Ruth Return to Bethlehem
6 When Naomi heard in Moab(N) that the Lord had come to the aid of his people(O) by providing food(P) for them, she and her daughters-in-law(Q) prepared to return home from there. 7 With her two daughters-in-law she left the place where she had been living and set out on the road that would take them back to the land of Judah.
8 Then Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, “Go back, each of you, to your mother’s home.(R) May the Lord show you kindness,(S) as you have shown kindness to your dead husbands(T) and to me. 9 May the Lord grant that each of you will find rest(U) in the home of another husband.”
Then she kissed(V) them goodbye and they wept aloud(W) 10 and said to her, “We will go back with you to your people.”
11 But Naomi said, “Return home, my daughters. Why would you come with me? Am I going to have any more sons, who could become your husbands?(X) 12 Return home, my daughters; I am too old to have another husband. Even if I thought there was still hope for me—even if I had a husband tonight and then gave birth to sons— 13 would you wait until they grew up?(Y) Would you remain unmarried for them? No, my daughters. It is more bitter(Z) for me than for you, because the Lord’s hand has turned against me!(AA)”
14 At this they wept(AB) aloud again. Then Orpah kissed her mother-in-law(AC) goodbye,(AD) but Ruth clung to her.(AE)
15 “Look,” said Naomi, “your sister-in-law(AF) is going back to her people and her gods.(AG) Go back with her.”
16 But Ruth replied, “Don’t urge me to leave you(AH) or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go,(AI) and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people(AJ) and your God my God.(AK) 17 Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried. May the Lord deal with me, be it ever so severely,(AL) if even death separates you and me.”(AM) 18 When Naomi realized that Ruth was determined to go with her, she stopped urging her.(AN)
19 So the two women went on until they came to Bethlehem.(AO) When they arrived in Bethlehem, the whole town was stirred(AP) because of them, and the women exclaimed, “Can this be Naomi?”
20 “Don’t call me Naomi,[b]” she told them. “Call me Mara,[c] because the Almighty[d](AQ) has made my life very bitter.(AR) 21 I went away full, but the Lord has brought me back empty.(AS) Why call me Naomi? The Lord has afflicted[e] me;(AT) the Almighty has brought misfortune upon me.”
22 So Naomi returned from Moab accompanied by Ruth the Moabite,(AU) her daughter-in-law,(AV) arriving in Bethlehem as the barley harvest(AW) was beginning.(AX)
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