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19 So they both went until they came to Bethlehem. When they had come to Bethlehem, all the city was excited about them, and they asked, “Is this Naomi?”

20 She said to them, “Don’t call me Naomi.[a] Call me Mara,[b] for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me. 21 I went out full, and Yahweh has brought me home again empty. Why do you call me Naomi, since Yahweh has testified against me, and the Almighty has afflicted me?” 22 So Naomi returned, and Ruth the Moabitess, her daughter-in-law, with her, who returned out of the country of Moab. They came to Bethlehem in the beginning of barley harvest.

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Footnotes

  1. 1:20 “Naomi” means “pleasant”.
  2. 1:20 “Mara” means “bitter”.

19 So the two of them went until they came to Bethlehem. And when they came[a] to Bethlehem, all of the town was stirred because of them. And they said, “Is this Naomi?” 20 And she said to them, “You should not call me Naomi; call me Mara, for Shaddai[b] has caused me to be very bitter.[c] 21 I went away full, but Yahweh brought me back empty-handed! Why call me Naomi when Yahweh has testified against me[d] and Shaddai[e] has brought calamity upon me?” 22 So Naomi returned, and Ruth the Moabite her daughter-in-law with her, returning from the countryside of Moab. And they came to Bethlehem at the beginning of the harvest of barley.

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Footnotes

  1. Ruth 1:19 Literally “And it happened at the moment of coming”
  2. Ruth 1:20 Often translated “the Almighty”
  3. Ruth 1:20 Literally “caused very bitterness to me”
  4. Ruth 1:21 Literally “and Yahweh answered against me”
  5. Ruth 1:21 Often translated “the Almighty”