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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 on until they came to Bethlehem. When they came to Bethlehem, the whole town was stirred because of them, and the women said, “Is this Naomi?” 20 She said to them,

“Call me no longer Naomi;[a]
    call me Mara,[b]
    for the Almighty[c] has dealt bitterly with me.(A)
21 I went away full,
    but the Lord has brought me back empty;
why call me Naomi
    when the Lord has dealt harshly with[d] me
    and the Almighty[e] has brought calamity upon me?”(B)

22 So Naomi returned together with Ruth the Moabite, her daughter-in-law, who came back with her from the country of Moab. They came to Bethlehem at the beginning of the barley harvest.(C)

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Footnotes

  1. 1.20 That is, pleasant
  2. 1.20 That is, bitter
  3. 1.20 Traditional rendering of Heb Shaddai
  4. 1.21 Or has testified against
  5. 1.21 Traditional rendering of Heb Shaddai