Side by side
Ruth 1
Our retelling next to the Bible text it comes from. Each row lines up one scene with the verses it retells.
Scene 1: No Bread in BethlehemVerses 1 to 2
In Bethlehem, there was no bread. The name Bethlehem means "house of bread." But a famine had come. A famine is a time when there is not enough food.
A man named Elimelech lived in Bethlehem. His wife's name was Naomi. They had two sons, Mahlon and Chilion.
Because of the famine, the family left home. They moved to Moab, a foreign country, and settled there as immigrants.
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, 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.
Scene 2: Naomi Loses Her FamilyVerses 3 to 5
Then Naomi's husband, Elimelech, died. Naomi was a widow now. She still had her two sons.
The sons married women from Moab, named Orpah and Ruth. The family had lived in Moab about ten years. Then Mahlon and Chilion died too.
The Bible doesn't say how they died. It says Naomi was left without her two sons and without her husband. She was far from home, and her family was gone.
3Then Naomi’s husband Elimelech died, and she was left with her two sons, 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 Chilion also died, and Naomi was left without her two sons and without her husband.
Scene 3: The Road BackVerses 6 to 14
Then news reached Naomi. The LORD had given his people food again. LORD in capital letters stands for God's personal name. Jewish readers traditionally don't say it aloud, out of respect.
So Naomi started home to Judah. Orpah and Ruth went with her.
On the road, Naomi told them to go back to their mothers' homes. She said, "May the LORD show you loving devotion, as you have shown to your dead and to me" (1:8).
Loving devotion is loyal, faithful love. The Hebrew word is hesed. It is love that keeps its promises and stays. This word runs through the whole story.
Naomi kissed them, and they all cried out loud. "We will go with you to your people," they said.
Naomi said she was too old to have more sons for them to marry. She said, "the hand of the LORD has gone out against me" (1:13). "The hand of the LORD" is a figure of speech for God's power. Naomi felt that God himself was against her.
They cried again. Orpah kissed Naomi goodbye and went home, as Naomi had asked. But Ruth held on to Naomi.
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. 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. 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 enable each of you to find rest in the home of your new husband.” And she kissed them as they wept aloud 10and said, “Surely we will return with you to your people.” 11But Naomi replied, “Return home, my daughters. Why would you go with me? Are there still sons in my womb to become your husbands? 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? 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.” 14Again they wept aloud, and Orpah kissed her mother-in-law goodbye, but Ruth clung to her.
Scene 4: "Where You Go, I Will Go"Verses 15 to 18
Naomi told Ruth to follow Orpah back to her people and her gods.
Ruth answered, "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" (1:16).
"Where you die, I will die, and there I will be buried" (1:17). Ruth made a serious promise in the LORD's name.
Ruth was giving up her country, her family, and her gods. She chose a widow who had nothing to give her. Naomi saw that Ruth was determined to go with her. So Naomi stopped trying to change Ruth's mind.
15“Look,” said Naomi, “your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and her gods; follow her back home.” 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. 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 stopped trying to persuade her.
Scene 5: "Call Me Mara"Verses 19 to 22
The two women walked to Bethlehem. Everyone in town was talking about them. The women said, "Can this be Naomi?"
The name Naomi means "pleasant." The name Mara means "bitter."
Naomi said, "Call me Mara, because the Almighty has dealt quite bitterly with me. I went away full, but the LORD has brought me back empty" (1:20-21).
Naomi told the truth about her pain. The Bible does not scold her for it. Many psalms speak with the same honest pain.
Naomi said she came back empty. But she did not come back alone. Ruth the Moabite came with her. And they arrived at the beginning of the barley harvest.
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“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 back empty. Why call me Naomi? After all, the LORD has testified against me, and the Almighty has afflicted me.” 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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