| New Living Translation | Berean Study Bible |
| 1In the days when the judges ruled in Israel, a severe famine came upon the land. So a man from Bethlehem in Judah left his home and went to live in the country of Moab, taking his wife and two sons with him. | 1In the days when the judges ruled, there was a famine in the land. And a certain man from Bethlehem in Judah, with his wife and two sons, went to reside in the land of Moab. |
| 2The man’s name was Elimelech, and his wife was Naomi. Their two sons were Mahlon and Kilion. They were Ephrathites from Bethlehem in the land of Judah. And when they reached Moab, they settled there. | 2The man’s name was Elimelech, his wife’s name was Naomi, and the names of his two sons were Mahlon and Chilion. They were Ephrathites from Bethlehem in Judah, and they entered the land of Moab and settled there. |
| 3Then Elimelech died, and Naomi was left with her two sons. | 3Then Naomi’s husband Elimelech died, and she was left with her two sons, |
| 4The two sons married Moabite women. One married a woman named Orpah, and the other a woman named Ruth. But about ten years later, | 4who took Moabite women as their wives, one named Orpah and the other named Ruth. And after they had lived in Moab about ten years, |
| 5both Mahlon and Kilion died. This left Naomi alone, without her two sons or her husband. Naomi and Ruth Return | 5both Mahlon and Chilion also died, and Naomi was left without her two sons and without her husband. |
| 6Then Naomi heard in Moab that the LORD had blessed his people in Judah by giving them good crops again. So Naomi and her daughters-in-law got ready to leave Moab to return to her homeland. | 6When Naomi heard in Moab that the LORD had attended to His people by providing them with food, she and her daughters-in-law prepared to leave the land of Moab. |
| 7With her two daughters-in-law she set out from the place where she had been living, and they took the road that would lead them back to Judah. | 7Accompanied by her two daughters-in-law, she left the place where she had been living and set out on the road leading back to the land of Judah. |
| 8But on the way, Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, “Go back to your mothers’ homes. And may the LORD reward you for your kindness to your husbands and to me. | 8Then Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, “Go back, each of you to your mother’s home. May the LORD show you loving devotion, as you have shown to your dead and to me. |
| 9May the LORD bless you with the security of another marriage.” Then she kissed them good-bye, and they all broke down and wept. | 9May the LORD enable each of you to find rest in the home of your new husband.” And she kissed them as they wept aloud |
| 10“No,” they said. “We want to go with you to your people.” | 10and said, “Surely we will return with you to your people.” |
| 11But Naomi replied, “Why should you go on with me? Can I still give birth to other sons who could grow up to be your husbands? | 11But Naomi replied, “Return home, my daughters. Why would you go with me? Are there still sons in my womb to become your husbands? |
| 12No, my daughters, return to your parents’ homes, for I am too old to marry again. And even if it were possible, and I were to get married tonight and bear sons, then what? | 12Return home, my daughters. Go on, for I am too old to have another husband. Even if I thought there was hope for me to have a husband tonight and to bear sons, |
| 13Would you wait for them to grow up and refuse to marry someone else? No, of course not, my daughters! Things are far more bitter for me than for you, because the LORD himself has raised his fist against me.” | 13would you wait for them to grow up? Would you refrain from having husbands? No, my daughters, it grieves me very much for your sakes that the hand of the LORD has gone out against me.” |
| 14And again they wept together, and Orpah kissed her mother-in-law good-bye. But Ruth clung tightly to Naomi. | 14Again they wept aloud, and Orpah kissed her mother-in-law goodbye, but Ruth clung to her. |
| 15“Look,” Naomi said to her, “your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and to her gods. You should do the same.” | 15“Look,” said Naomi, “your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and her gods; follow her back home.” |
| 16But Ruth replied, “Don’t ask me to leave you and turn back. Wherever you go, I will go; wherever you live, I will live. Your people will be my people, and your God will be my God. | 16But Ruth replied: “Do not urge me to leave you or to turn from following you. For wherever you go, I will go, and wherever you live, I will live; your people will be my people, and your God will be my God. |
| 17Wherever you die, I will die, and there I will be buried. May the LORD punish me severely if I allow anything but death to separate us!” | 17Where you die, I will die, and there I will be buried. May the LORD punish me, and ever so severely, if anything but death separates you and me.” |
| 18When Naomi saw that Ruth was determined to go with her, she said nothing more. | 18When Naomi saw that Ruth was determined to go with her, she stopped trying to persuade her. |
| 19So the two of them continued on their journey. When they came to Bethlehem, the entire town was excited by their arrival. “Is it really Naomi?” the women asked. | 19So Naomi and Ruth traveled until they came to Bethlehem. When they entered Bethlehem, the whole city was stirred because of them, and the women of the city exclaimed, “Can this be Naomi?” |
| 20“Don’t call me Naomi,” she responded. “Instead, call me Mara, for the Almighty has made life very bitter for me. | 20“Do not call me Naomi,” she replied. “Call me Mara, because the Almighty has dealt quite bitterly with me. |
| 21I went away full, but the LORD has brought me home empty. Why call me Naomi when the LORD has caused me to suffer and the Almighty has sent such tragedy upon me?” | 21I went away full, but the LORD has brought me back empty. Why call me Naomi? After all, the LORD has testified against me, and the Almighty has afflicted me.” |
| 22So Naomi returned from Moab, accompanied by her daughter-in-law Ruth, the young Moabite woman. They arrived in Bethlehem in late spring, at the beginning of the barley harvest. | 22So Naomi returned from the land of Moab with her daughter-in-law Ruth the Moabitess. And they arrived in Bethlehem at the beginning of the barley harvest. |
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