1 Long ago when the ·judges [leaders; ^Cnot courtroom judges, but leaders who guided the nation through difficult times; Judg. 2:16; a very dark time in Israel’s history] ruled Israel, there was a ·shortage of food [famine] in the land. So a man from the town of Bethlehem in Judah left to ·live [sojourn; reside as a resident alien] in the ·country [region] of Moab [^Ceast of the Jordan River and the Dead Sea; Gen. 19:37] with his wife and his two sons. ² The man’s name was Elimelech, his wife was named Naomi, and his two sons were named Mahlon and Kilion. They were Ephrathahites from Bethlehem in Judah. When they came to Moab, they settled there.

³ Then Naomi’s husband, Elimelech, died, and she was left with her two sons. ⁴ These sons married women from Moab. One was named Orpah, and the other was named Ruth. Naomi and her sons had lived in Moab about ten years ⁵ when Mahlon and Kilion also died. So Naomi was left alone without her husband or her two ·sons [offspring; 4:16].