Ruth 1
Legacy Standard Bible
Naomi’s Husband and Sons Die
1 Now it happened in the days (A)when the judges judged, that there was (B)a famine in the land. And a certain man (C)of Bethlehem in Judah went to sojourn in the fields of Moab [a]with his wife and his two sons. 2 The name of the man was Elimelech, and the name of his wife, Naomi; and the names of his two sons were Mahlon and Chilion, Ephrathites of Bethlehem in Judah. Now they (D)came to the fields of Moab and remained there. 3 Then Elimelech, Naomi’s husband, died; and she was left with her two sons. 4 They took for themselves Moabite women as wives; the name of the one was Orpah and the name of the other Ruth. And they lived there about ten years. 5 Then [b]both Mahlon and Chilion also died, and the woman was left without her two children and her husband.
Ruth Is Determined to Go with Naomi
6 Then she arose with her daughters-in-law and returned from the fields of Moab, for she had heard in the fields of Moab that [c]Yahweh had (E)visited His people to (F)give them [d]food. 7 So she went forth from the place where she was, and her two daughters-in-law with her; and they went on the way to return to the land of Judah. 8 And Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, “Go, return each of you to her mother’s house. (G)May Yahweh [e]show lovingkindness with you as you have [f]shown with the dead and with me. 9 May Yahweh grant that you may find rest, each in the house of her husband.” Then she kissed them, and they lifted up their voices and wept. 10 And they said to her, “No, but we will return with you to your people.” 11 But Naomi said, “Return, my daughters. Why should you go with me? Have I yet sons in my womb, that (H)they may be your husbands? 12 Return, my daughters! Go, for I am too old to have a husband. If I said I have hope, if I should even have a husband tonight and also bear sons, 13 would you therefore wait until they were grown? Would you therefore refrain from marrying? No, my daughters; for it is more bitter for me than for you, for (I)the hand of Yahweh has gone forth against me.” 14 And they lifted up their voices and wept again; and Orpah kissed her mother-in-law, but Ruth clung to her.
15 Then she said, “Behold, your sister-in-law has returned to her people and her (J)gods; return after your sister-in-law.” 16 But Ruth said, “Do not press me to forsake you in turning back from following you; for where you go, I will go, and where you lodge, I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God, my God. 17 Where you die, I will die, and there I will be buried. Thus may (K)Yahweh do to me, and more, if anything but death separates you and me.” 18 So (L)she saw that she was determined to go with her, and she [g]said no more to her.
19 Then they both went until they came to Bethlehem. Now it happened, when they had come to Bethlehem, (M)all the city was stirred because of them, and [h]the women said, “Is this Naomi?” 20 She said to them, “Do not call me [i]Naomi; call me [j]Mara, for [k](N)the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me. 21 I went out full, but (O)Yahweh has caused me to return empty. Why do you call me Naomi? Yahweh has answered against me, and [l]the Almighty has brought calamity against me.”
22 So Naomi returned, and with her Ruth the Moabitess, her daughter-in-law, who returned from the fields of Moab. Now they came to Bethlehem at (P)the beginning of barley harvest.
Notas al pie
- Ruth 1:1 Lit he, and
- Ruth 1:5 Lit both of them
- Ruth 1:6 The personal covenant name of God, a form of I AM WHO I AM, cf. Ex 3:14-15
- Ruth 1:6 Lit bread, cf. Bethlehem (house of bread), Ruth 1:19
- Ruth 1:8 Lit do, cf. 1:17; 2:11, 19
- Ruth 1:8 Lit done, cf. 1:17; 2:11, 19
- Ruth 1:18 Lit ceased to speak
- Ruth 1:19 Lit they
- Ruth 1:20 Lit pleasant
- Ruth 1:20 Lit bitter
- Ruth 1:20 Heb Shaddai
- Ruth 1:21 Heb Shaddai
Ruth 1
New Living Translation
Elimelech Moves His Family to Moab
1 In the days when the judges ruled in Israel, a severe famine came upon the land. So a man from Bethlehem in Judah left his home and went to live in the country of Moab, taking his wife and two sons with him. 2 The man’s name was Elimelech, and his wife was Naomi. Their two sons were Mahlon and Kilion. They were Ephrathites from Bethlehem in the land of Judah. And when they reached Moab, they settled there.
3 Then Elimelech died, and Naomi was left with her two sons. 4 The two sons married Moabite women. One married a woman named Orpah, and the other a woman named Ruth. But about ten years later, 5 both Mahlon and Kilion died. This left Naomi alone, without her two sons or her husband.
Naomi and Ruth Return
6 Then Naomi heard in Moab that the Lord had blessed his people in Judah by giving them good crops again. So Naomi and her daughters-in-law got ready to leave Moab to return to her homeland. 7 With her two daughters-in-law she set out from the place where she had been living, and they took the road that would lead them back to Judah.
8 But on the way, Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, “Go back to your mothers’ homes. And may the Lord reward you for your kindness to your husbands and to me. 9 May the Lord bless you with the security of another marriage.” Then she kissed them good-bye, and they all broke down and wept.
10 “No,” they said. “We want to go with you to your people.”
11 But Naomi replied, “Why should you go on with me? Can I still give birth to other sons who could grow up to be your husbands? 12 No, my daughters, return to your parents’ homes, for I am too old to marry again. And even if it were possible, and I were to get married tonight and bear sons, then what? 13 Would you wait for them to grow up and refuse to marry someone else? No, of course not, my daughters! Things are far more bitter for me than for you, because the Lord himself has raised his fist against me.”
14 And again they wept together, and Orpah kissed her mother-in-law good-bye. But Ruth clung tightly to Naomi. 15 “Look,” Naomi said to her, “your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and to her gods. You should do the same.”
16 But Ruth replied, “Don’t ask me to leave you and turn back. Wherever you go, I will go; wherever you live, I will live. Your people will be my people, and your God will be my God. 17 Wherever you die, I will die, and there I will be buried. May the Lord punish me severely if I allow anything but death to separate us!” 18 When Naomi saw that Ruth was determined to go with her, she said nothing more.
19 So the two of them continued on their journey. When they came to Bethlehem, the entire town was excited by their arrival. “Is it really Naomi?” the women asked.
20 “Don’t call me Naomi,” she responded. “Instead, call me Mara,[a] for the Almighty has made life very bitter for me. 21 I went away full, but the Lord has brought me home empty. Why call me Naomi when the Lord has caused me to suffer[b] and the Almighty has sent such tragedy upon me?”
22 So Naomi returned from Moab, accompanied by her daughter-in-law Ruth, the young Moabite woman. They arrived in Bethlehem in late spring, at the beginning of the barley harvest.
Legacy Standard Bible Copyright ©2021 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved. Managed in partnership with Three Sixteen Publishing Inc. LSBible.org For Permission to Quote Information visit https://www.LSBible.org.
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
