1 In the days when the judges were leading, famine {ra’av: prolonged scarcity} came upon the land. A man from Bethlehem of Judah went to live as a resident foreigner {lagur: dwell temporarily} in the fields of Moab—he, his wife, and his two sons.
2 The man was named Elimelech {elimelekh: God Is King}, and his wife was named Naomi; their two sons were Mahlon and Chilion. They were Ephrathites {ephrathim: from Ephrath} from Bethlehem in Judah. They entered the fields of Moab and stayed there.
3 Then Elimelech {Elimelekh: God Is King}, Naomi’s husband, died, and she remained with her two sons {banim: male offspring}.
4 They took Moabite women {moaviyot: foreign brides} as wives; one was named Orpah and the other was named Ruth. They lived there for about ten years {ke’esar shanim: approximate duration}.
5 Both Mahlon and Chilion died, and the woman {ishah: widowed woman} was left without her two sons and without her husband {ish: household head}.
6 She rose with her daughters-in-law and departed from the fields of Moab when she heard that the LORD {YHWH, Covenant Provider} had visited His people to give them bread {lechem: life-sustaining provision}.
7 So she departed from the place {makom: physical location} where she had been, and her two daughters-in-law went with her; and they started along the road to return to the land of Judah {Yehudah: tribal territory}.
8 And Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, “Go—turn back, each of you, to your mother’s house. May the LORD {YHWH, Kindness Giver} show loyal kindness {chesed: covenant loyalty} to you, just as you have shown it to the dead and to me.”
9 May the LORD {YHWH, Source of Blessing} give this to you—that each of you may find rest {menuchah: settled security} in the house of her husband. Then she kissed them, and they lifted up their voices and wept.
10 But they said to her, “No; we will return{nashuv: determined return} with you to your people{ammekh: family group}.”
11 Naomi replied, "Turn back, my daughters {benotai: female descendants}. Why should you go with me? Do I still have sons in my womb {beme’ai: inner depths} who could become husbands for you?"
12 Turn back, my daughters; depart, for I am too old now to have a husband {le'ish: marital partner}. Even if I dared to voice hope {tikvah: expectation} for myself, even if I were to marry tonight and bear sons—
13 Would you wait for them until they grow up? Would you hold back from marrying for their sakes? No, my daughters; for it is exceedingly bitter {mar: intense sorrow} to me more than to you, because the hand of the LORD {YHWH, Sovereign Judge} has gone out against me.
14 They raised their voices and wept again. Orpah kissed her mother-in-law {hamot: mother of husband}, but Ruth clung {davqah: unwavering attachment} to her.
15 And she said, “Look, your sister-in-law has gone back to her people {am: kin-group} and to her gods {elohim: foreign deities}; turn back and follow your sister-in-law.”
16 But Ruth said, “Do not press me to abandon you {leazvek: abandon you} or to withdraw from following you, for wherever you go, I will go, and wherever you lodge, I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God {Elohayikh/Elohay, Covenant Guardian} will be my God.”
17 Where you die, I will die, and there I will be buried. May the LORD {YHWH, Oath Witness} do this to me, and add more, if anything other than death {hammavet: final parting} separates me from you.
18 When Naomi saw that Ruth was determined {mitammetzet: firmly resolved} to go with her, she stopped {vatechdal: stopped} speaking to her about it.
19 So the two of them traveled on until they reached Bethlehem {beit lechem: house of bread}. When they arrived in Bethlehem, the whole city was stirred concerning them, and the women said, “Is this Naomi {nā‘ōmî: pleasant one}?”
20 She said to them, “Do not call me Naomi; call me Mara, for the Almighty {Shaddai, All-Powerful Ruler} has made me very bitter {hemar: brought about bitterness}.”
21 I went away full, but the LORD {YHWH, Witness Against Me} has brought me back empty {reqam: stripped of blessing}. Why call me Naomi, when the LORD has testified against me and the Almighty {Shaddai, All-Powerful Ruler} has brought disaster upon me?
22 So Naomi {naomi: pleasant} returned, and with her was Ruth the Moabite woman, her daughter-in-law, who returned from the fields of Moab. They came to Bethlehem at the beginning of the barley harvest {ketzir seorim: first gathering}.