King James Version

1 And it came to pass in the days of the judges that there was a famine in the land, and a man went from Bethlehem of Judah to dwell in the fields of Moab, he and his wife and his two sons. 2 And the name of the man was Elimelech, and the name of his wife was Naomi, and the name of his two sons was Mahlon and Chilion, Ephrathites from Bethlehem in Judah, and they came to the fields of Moab and they were there. 3 And Elimelech, a man of Naomi, died, and she was left with her two sons. 4 And they took for themselves Moabite women; the name of one was Orpah and the name of the second was Ruth. And they lived there about ten years. 5 And both of them, Mahlon and Chilion, died; and the woman was left with her two sons. 6 And she arose, and after she had finished, she returned from the fields of Moab, for she had heard in the fields of Moab that the Lord had visited His people to give them bread. 7 And she went out from the place where she was, and her two daughters-in-law went with her; and they went on the way to return to the land of Judah. 8 And Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, "Go back, each of you, to your mother's house. May the LORD deal kindly with you, as you have dealt with the dead and with me." 9 The LORD will give you rest, a woman in the house of her husband, and she will kiss them, and they will raise their voice, and they will weep. 10 And they said to her, "For with you we will return to your people." 11 And Naomi said, "Return, my daughters; why will you go with me? Are there still sons in my womb that they may be your husbands?" 12 Return, my daughters, go, for I am too old to have a husband; for I said, 'I have hope, even if I were to have a husband tonight and also bear sons.' 13 And you shall be grieved until they grow up; and you shall be mourning for the loss of a man, for my bitterness is very great because the hand of the LORD has gone out against me. 14 And they raised their voices and wept again, and she kissed her mother-in-law; and Ruth clung to her. 15 And she said, "Behold, your sister has returned to her people and to her God; I will return after your sister." 16 And Ruth said, "Do not urge me to leave you or to return from following you, for where you go, I will go, and where you stay, I will stay; your people shall be my people, and your God my God." 17 "Wherever you die, I will die, and there I will be buried; thus may the Lord do to me and more also; for death will separate between me and you." 18 And she saw that she was determined to go with her, and she stopped speaking to her. 19 And they went until they came to Bethlehem, and it was when they came to Bethlehem that all the city was stirred because of them, and they said, "Is this Naomi?" 20 And she said to them, "Do not call me Naomi; call me Mara, for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me." 21 I went away full, and the Lord has brought me back empty. Why do you call me Naomi, since the Lord has testified against me, and the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me? 22 And Naomi returned, and Ruth the Moabitess, her daughter-in-law with her, who returned from the fields of Moab; and they came to Bethlehem at the beginning of the barley harvest.