1
In the days when the judges ruled, there was a famine in the land of Israel. So a man from Bethlehem in Judah went with his wife and his two sons to the land of Moab to live there as a foreigner.
2
The man’s name was Elimelech, his wife’s name Naomi, and the names of his two sons were Mahlon and Chilion; they were Ephrathites from Bethlehem in Judah. After they came to the land of Moab, they stayed there.
3
Then Elimelech, Naomi’s husband, died, and the woman was left with her two sons.
4
Both of them took Moabite women as wives; the name of the first was Orpah, and the name of the second was Ruth. They lived there about ten years.
5
Then both of them also died, Mahlon and Chilion, so that the woman was left without her two sons and her husband.
6
Then she set out with her two daughters-in-law and returned from the land of Moab, because in the land of Moab she had heard that the LORD had looked upon his people and given them food.
7
So she left the place where she had been living, together with her two daughters-in-law. While they were on the way to return to the land of Judah,
8
Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, “Go, return each of you to your mother’s house. May the LORD show you kindness, as you have shown to the dead and to me;
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may the LORD grant you rest, each of you in the house of her husband.” Then she kissed them, and they lifted up their voices and wept
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and said to her, “No, we will return with you to your people.”
11
But Naomi said, “Return, my daughters. Why should you go with me? Do I still have sons in my womb to become your husbands?
12
Return, my daughters, go your way, for I am too old to have a husband. Even if I thought there was hope for me, and even if I were to have a husband tonight, and even if I were to bear sons,
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would you wait until they were grown? Would you therefore keep yourselves from marrying? No, my daughters; for it is far more bitter for me than for you, because the hand of the LORD has gone out against me.”
14
Then they lifted up their voices and wept again. Orpah kissed her mother-in-law goodbye, but Ruth clung to her.
15
And Naomi said, “Look, your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and to her gods; return after your sister-in-law.”
16
But Ruth said, “Do not urge me to leave you and return without following you; for where you go, I will go, and where you lodge, I will lodge: your people shall be my people, and your God my God;”
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where you die, there I will die, and there I will be buried. May the LORD do so to me, and more also, if anything but death parts me from you!”
18
When Naomi saw that Ruth was determined to go with her, she stopped speaking to her.
19
So the two of them went on until they came to Bethlehem. And when they entered Bethlehem, the whole town was stirred because of them, and the women said, “Is this Naomi?”
20
But she said to them, “Do not call me Naomi; call me Mara, for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me.
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I went away full, but the LORD has brought me back empty. Why do you call me Naomi, since the LORD has testified against me and the Almighty has brought calamity upon me.”
22
So Naomi returned with Ruth the Moabite, her daughter-in-law, who returned with her from the land of Moab. And they came to Bethlehem at the beginning of the barley harvest.
🌾👩👩👧👦🚶♀️ Summary of Ruth 1 – Ruth’s Loyalty to Naomi
The Book of Ruth begins in the same period as the Book of Judges: a time of moral and social turmoil. Yet, unlike the violent stories before it, this book highlights loyalty, family love, and God’s provision in small things.
📌 1. Elimelech Moves to Moab (verses 1–5)
- Because famine struck Bethlehem, Elimelech took his wife Naomi and their two sons to Moab (a foreign land, Israel’s traditional enemy).
- His two sons married Moabite women: Orpah and Ruth.
- However, Elimelech and both of his sons died, leaving Naomi alone with her two foreign daughters-in-law.
🎯 Sometimes crisis brings us to strange and difficult places — but God works even in the midst of suffering.
📌 2. Naomi Hears Good News and Prepares to Return (verses 6–14)
- Naomi heard that the LORD had blessed His people and given food in Bethlehem.
- She decided to return home, and at first both of her daughters-in-law went with her.
- Along the way, Naomi told them to go back to their homes and their former lives.
- After weeping and embracing, Orpah returned to her home, but Ruth refused to go.
🎯 True loyalty is tested not when life is comfortable, but when the choice is hard and the future uncertain.
📌 3. Ruth’s Beautiful Commitment (verses 15–18)
- Ruth answered Naomi with the most famous words in this book:
“Where you go, I will go; and where you stay, I will stay; your people shall be my people, and your God my God.”
(Ruth 1:16)
- Ruth chose to leave her people, her gods, and her comfortable future, in order to accompany Naomi.
🎯 Ruth is a picture of true conversion — not because she was forced, but because of love and faith.
📌 4. Return to Bethlehem (verses 19–22)
- When they arrived in Bethlehem, the whole town was stirred because of Naomi’s arrival.
- Naomi said:
“Do not call me Naomi (meaning: pleasant); call me Mara (meaning: bitter), because the Lord has made my life bitter.”
- This chapter closes with a note of hope:
“They arrived in Bethlehem at the beginning of the barley harvest.”
🎯 The harvest season speaks not only of grain being gathered, but also of the harvest of grace and God’s plan soon to be fulfilled.
📖 Main Lessons
- The Lord is still at work behind the scenes of suffering and loss.
- Faithfulness and personal love can open the way for God’s great work.
- Ruth teaches the meaning of sacrifice, courage, and faith in darkness.
- Naomi shows how bitterness does not prevent God’s sweet plan.
✨ Spiritual Meaning (New Testament)
“Whoever does not hate his father… and does not take up his cross, cannot be My disciple.”
“Everyone who wants to follow Me must deny himself…”
“God works in all things for good…”
🎯 Ruth is a picture of a disciple of Christ — leaving everything behind to follow a path of faith that is uncertain, yet faithful.
“The Lord has attended to His people and given them food.” – Ruth 1:6
“Where you go, there I will go…” – Ruth 1:16
“Do not call me Naomi; call me Mara…” – Ruth 1:20
