World English Bible
- In the days when the judges judged, there was a famine in the land. A certain man of Bethlehem Judah went to live in the country of Moab with his wife and his two sons.
- The name of the man was Elimelech, and the name of his wife Naomi. The names of his two sons were Mahlon and Chilion, Ephrathites of Bethlehem Judah. They came into the country of Moab and lived there.
- Elimelech, Naomi’s husband, died; and she was left with her two sons.
- They took for themselves wives of the women of Moab. The name of the one was Orpah, and the name of the other was Ruth. They lived there about ten years.
- Mahlon and Chilion both died, and the woman was bereaved of her two children and of her husband.
- Then she arose with her daughters-in-law, that she might return from the country of Moab; for she had heard in the country of Moab how the LORD had visited his people in giving them bread.
- She went out of the place where she was, and her two daughters-in-law with her. They went on the way to return to the land of Judah.
- Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, “Go, return each of you to her mother’s house. May the LORD deal kindly with you, as you have dealt with the dead and with me.
- May the LORD grant you that you may find rest, each of you in the house of her husband.” Then she kissed them, and they lifted up their voices, and wept.
- They said to her, “No, but we will return with you to your people.”
- Naomi said, “Go back, my daughters. Why do you want to go with me? Do I still have sons in my womb, that they may be your husbands?
- Go back, my daughters, go your way; for I am too old to have a husband. If I should say, ‘I have hope,’ if I should even have a husband tonight, and should also bear sons,
- would you then wait until they were grown? Would you then refrain from having husbands? No, my daughters, for it grieves me seriously for your sakes, for the LORD’s hand has gone out against me.”
- They lifted up their voices and wept again; then Orpah kissed her mother-in-law, but Ruth stayed with her.
- She said, “Behold, your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and to her god. Follow your sister-in-law.”
- Ruth said, “Don’t urge me to leave you, and to return from following you, for where you go, I will go; and where you stay, I will stay. Your people will be my people, and your God my God.
- Where you die, I will die, and there I will be buried. May the LORD do so to me, and more also, if anything but death parts you and me.”
- When Naomi saw that she was determined to go with her, she stopped urging her.
- So they both went until they came to Bethlehem. When they had come to Bethlehem, all the city was excited about them, and they asked, “Is this Naomi?”
- She said to them, “Don’t call me Naomi. Call me Mara, for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me.
- I went out full, and the LORD has brought me home again empty. Why do you call me Naomi, since the LORD has testified against me, and the Almighty has afflicted me?”
- So Naomi returned, and Ruth the Moabitess, her daughter-in-law, with her, who returned out of the country of Moab. They came to Bethlehem in the beginning of barley harvest.
A devotional for thoughtful believers
The book of Ruth begins with the soft voice of a family story, yet it is framed by the dark backdrop of Judges, “when everyone did what was right in his own eyes.” (Judges 21 : 25, New International Version). A famine drives Elimelek, his wife Naomi, and their two sons from Bethlehem—ironically, “House of Bread”—to Moab, Israel’s long-standing rival east of the Dead Sea.
• Moab’s high tableland still shows terraced fields and cisterns from
the Late Bronze Age.
• Stelae of Mesha (9th century BC) speaks of Moabite-Israelite conflict
and names the god Chemosh, hinting at why Israel viewed Moab
with caution (see Numbers 21 : 29).
• Deuteronomy 23 : 3 forbids Moabites from Israel’s assembly “to the
tenth generation,” a tension that makes Ruth’s later welcome startling
grace.
Death comes three times: Elimelek, Mahlon, Kilion. Naomi is left with two Moabite daughters-in-law, Orpah and Ruth. The Hebrew author piles short clauses to mimic blow after blow.
The verb shakhol (“to be bereaved”) appears twice, stressing Naomi’s deep loss. Hebrew often repeats sound and sense to let us feel pain rise like waves.
• Job 1 : 13-19 – another string of sudden losses.
• Psalm 34 : 18 – “The Lord is close to the brokenhearted.”
Naomi “heard…that the Lord had come to the aid of his people by providing food.” The little phrase “had come” is the Hebrew paqad—a verb of visitation that can be blessing or judgment. God “visited” Sarah (Genesis 21 : 1) with a child; He now visits Bethlehem with bread.
Naomi urges Orpah and Ruth to return, invoking the covenant word ḥesed—steadfast love (v. 8). Orpah kisses and leaves. Ruth clings. The narrator uses davaq, the same verb of covenant bonding in Genesis 2 : 24 (“cleave”). Loss has carved space for new covenant.
Ruth’s pledge is Hebrew poetry, six swelling lines moving from journey to death to burial to oath. She calls on the personal name YHWH—rare on Moabite lips.
“Where you go I will go…Your people will be my people and your God my God.” (Ruth 1 : 16, New International Version)
• Augustine saw Ruth as a figure of the Church, a Gentile bride
clinging to Israel’s Messiah.
• Martin Luther highlighted Ruth’s faith that “takes God at His bare
word though all else is against her.”
Back in Bethlehem, women whisper, “Can this be Naomi?” She answers, “Call me Mara, because the Almighty has made my life very bitter.”
Naomi (“pleasant”) becomes Mara (“bitter”). The Hebrew sounds clash—Na‛ómi vs. Mára—marking identity crisis. Yet the author slips hope into the closing line: “So Naomi returned…arriving as the barley harvest was beginning.” Harvest signals new seed, new life.
• Exodus 15 : 22-25 – bitter waters of Marah turned sweet.
• Psalm 126 : 5 – “Those who sow with tears will reap with songs of
joy.”
• Women in Ancient Near Eastern culture had no legal standing without
a male. Naomi’s emptiness is economic, social, and spiritual. Ruth’s
pledge risks lifelong poverty.
• Travel from Moab to Bethlehem is roughly 50 rugged miles through the
Judean Wilderness—two widows alone, constant danger.
• Barley harvest (April) is Passover season; Jewish tradition reads Ruth
at Shavuot (Pentecost) linking harvest and covenant giving.
“God Moves in a Mysterious Way” – William Cowper, 1774.
Its melody of hidden providence matches Naomi’s journey from empty to
full.
Lord of Bethlehem and Moab,
You walk with us through famine and harvest.
Teach our hearts the faith of Ruth,
the courage to cling when all seems lost,
and the trust to wait for Your hidden harvest.
Rename our bitterness with Your joy,
until Jesus, our Redeemer, is seen in all we do.
Amen.