Ruth 1

All 22 verses in the Clear Bible Translation. Tap a verse to compare the KJV and read what it means.

Read Ruth 1 in the Bible reader, with audio →

1. 1Back when judges led Israel, a famine struck the land. A man from Bethlehem in Judah went to live temporarily in the country of Moab with his wife and two sons.
2. 2The man's name was Elimelech, his wife was Naomi, and their two sons were Mahlon and Chilion. They were Ephrathites from Bethlehem in Judah. They went to Moab and stayed there.
3. 3Then Elimelech, Naomi's husband, died, leaving her alone with her two sons.
4. 4The sons married Moabite women — one named Orpah and the other named Ruth. They lived there for about 10 years.
5. 5Then both Mahlon and Chilion died too, and Naomi was left without her husband or either of her sons.
6. 6Then she arose with her daughters-in-law to return from the country of Moab, for she had heard in Moab that the LORD had visited his people by giving them bread.
7. 7She left the place where she had been living, and her two daughters-in-law went with her. Together they set out on the road back to Judah.
8. 8Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, "Go, return each to your mother's house. May the LORD deal kindly with you, as you have dealt with the dead and with me."
9. 9May the LORD grant that each of you find rest in the house of her husband. Then she kissed them, and they lifted up their voices and wept.
10. 10And they said to her, "Surely we will return with you to your people."
11. 11But Naomi said, "Go home, my daughters. Why would you come with me? Do you think I can have more sons who could become your husbands?"
12. 12Go home, my daughters, and go your way. I'm too old to have a husband. Even if I said I have hope, and even if I married tonight and had sons—
13. 13Would you wait for them until they were grown? Would you stay unmarried for them? No, my daughters; it grieves me greatly for your sakes that the hand of the LORD has gone out against me.
14. 14They cried loudly again. Orpah kissed her mother-in-law, but Ruth clung to her.
15. 15Naomi said, "Look, your sister-in-law is going back to her people and her gods. Go with her."
16. 16But Ruth said, "Don't ask me to leave you or to turn back from following you. Wherever you go, I'll go. Wherever you stay, I'll stay. Your people will be my people, and your God will be my God.
17. 17Where 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.
18. 18When Naomi saw that Ruth was absolutely determined to go with her, she stopped trying to talk her out of it.
19. 19So the two of them traveled until they came to Bethlehem. When they arrived in Bethlehem, the whole city was stirred because of them, and they said, "Is this Naomi?"
20. 20She told them, "Don't call me Naomi. Call me Mara, because the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me."
21. 21I went out full, and the LORD has brought me back empty. Why call me Naomi, since the LORD has testified against me and the Almighty has afflicted me?
22. 22That is how Naomi came back from Moab, with her daughter-in-law Ruth the Moabitess at her side. They arrived in Bethlehem just as the barley harvest was beginning.