Session 2 · When Everything Is Lost

¹During the time of the judges, there was a famine in the land of Judah. So a man from Bethlehem in Judah went to live as a resident foreigner in the region of Moab, along with his wife and two sons.

²(Now the man’s name was Elimelech, his wife was Naomi, and his two sons were Mahlon and Kilion. They were of the clan of Ephrath from Bethlehem in Judah.) They entered the region of Moab and settled there.

³Sometime later Naomi’s husband Elimelech died, so she and her two sons were left alone.

⁴Both her sons married Moabite women. (One was named Orpah and the other Ruth.) And they continued to live there about 10 years.

⁵Then Naomi’s two sons, Mahlon and Kilion, also died. So the woman was left all alone—bereaved of her two children as well as her husband!

⁶So she decided to return home from the region of Moab, accompanied by her daughters-in-law, because while she was living in Moab she had heard that the Lord had shown concern for his people, reversing the famine by providing abundant crops.

⁷Now as she and her two daughters-in-law began to leave the place where she had been living to return to the land of Judah,

⁸Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, “Listen to me! Each of you should return to your mother’s home. May the Lord show you the same kind of devotion that you have shown to your deceased husbands and to me.

⁹May the Lord enable each of you to find security in the home of a new husband.” Then she kissed them goodbye, and they wept loudly.

¹⁰But they said to her, “No! We will return with you to your people.”

¹¹But Naomi replied, “Go back home, my daughters! There is no reason for you to return to Judah with me. I am no longer capable of giving birth to sons who might become your husbands!

¹²Go back home, my daughters! For I am too old to get married again. Even if I thought that there was hope that I could get married tonight and conceive sons,

¹³surely you would not want to wait until they were old enough to marry. Surely you would not remain unmarried all that time! No, my daughters, you must not return with me. For my intense suffering is too much for you to bear. For the Lord is afflicting me!”

¹⁴Again they wept loudly. Then Orpah kissed her mother-in-law goodbye, but Ruth clung tightly to her.

¹⁵So Naomi said, “Look, your sister-in-law is returning to her people and to her god. Follow your sister-in-law back home!”

¹⁶But Ruth replied, “Stop urging me to abandon you! For wherever you go, I will go. Wherever you live, I will live. Your people will become my people, and your God will become my God.

¹⁷Wherever you die, I will die—and there I will be buried. May the Lord punish me severely if I do not keep my promise! Only death will be able to separate me from you!”

¹⁸When Naomi realized that Ruth was determined to go with her, she stopped trying to dissuade her.

¹⁹So the two of them journeyed together until they arrived in Bethlehem.When they entered Bethlehem, the whole village was excited about their arrival. The women of the village said, “Can this be Naomi?”

²⁰But she replied to them, “Don’t call me ‘Naomi’! Call me ‘Mara’ because the Sovereign One has treated me very harshly.

²¹I left here full, but the Lord has caused me to return empty-handed. Why do you call me ‘Naomi,’ seeing that the Lord has opposed me, and the Sovereign One has caused me to suffer?”

²²So Naomi returned, accompanied by her Moabite daughter-in-law Ruth, who came back with her from the region of Moab. (Now they arrived in Bethlehem at the beginning of the barley harvest.)

¹In 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, he, and his wife, and his two sons.

²The 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.

³Elimelech, Naomi’s husband, died; and she was left with her two sons.

⁴They 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.

⁵Mahlon and Chilion both died, and the woman was bereaved of her two children and of her husband.

⁶Then 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 Yahweh had visited his people in giving them bread.

⁷She 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.

⁸Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, “Go, return each of you to her mother’s house. May Yahweh deal kindly with you, as you have dealt with the dead, and with me.

⁹May Yahweh 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.

¹⁰They said to her, “No, but we will return with you to your people.”

¹¹Naomi 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?

¹²Go 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;

¹³would 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 Yahweh’s hand has gone out against me.”

¹⁴They lifted up their voices, and wept again; then Orpah kissed her mother-in-law, but Ruth joined with her.

¹⁵She said, “Behold, your sister-in-law has gone back to her people, and to her god. Follow your sister-in-law.”

¹⁶Ruth 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.

¹⁷Where you die, I will die, and there I will be buried. May Yahweh do so to me, and more also, if anything but death parts you and me.”

¹⁸When she saw that she was determined to go with her, she stopped urging her.

¹⁹So 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?”

²⁰She said to them, “Don’t call me Naomi. Call me Mara; for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me.

²¹I went out full, and Yahweh has brought me home again empty. Why do you call me Naomi, since Yahweh has testified against me, and the Almighty has afflicted me?”

²²So 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.

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