Ruth 1:6-14

GOD’S WORD Translation

Departure from Moab

⁶ Naomi and her daughters-in-law started on the way back from the country of Moab. (While they were still in Moab she heard that the Lord had come to help his people and give them food. ⁷ So she left the place where she had been living, and her two daughters-in-law went with her.) They began to walk back along the road to the territory of Judah.

Naomi’s Appeal to Her Daughters-in-Law

⁸ Then Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, “Go back! Each of you should go back to your mother’s home. May the Lord be as kind to you as you were to me and to our loved ones who have died. ⁹ May the Lord repay each of you so that you may find security in a home with a husband.”

When she kissed them goodbye, they began to cry loudly. ¹⁰ They said to her, “We are going back with you to your people.”

¹¹ But Naomi said, “Go back, my daughters. Why should you go with me? Do I have any more sons in my womb who could be your husbands? ¹² Go back, my daughters. Go, because I am too old to get married again. If I said that I still have hope. … And if I had a husband tonight. … And even if I gave birth to sons, ¹³ would you wait until they grew up and stay single just for them? No, my daughters. My bitterness is much worse than yours because the Lord has sent me so much trouble.”

¹⁴ They began to cry loudly again. Then Orpah kissed her mother-in-law goodbye, but Ruth held on to her tightly.