1. And it came to pass in the days when the judges ruled, that there was a famine in the land. And a certain man went from Bethlehem-Judah, to sojourn in the country of Moab, he, and his wife, and his two sons.
2. And the name of the man was Elimelech, and the name of his wife Naomi, and the name of his two sons Mahlon and Chilion, Ephrathites of Bethlehem-Judah. And they came into the country of Moab, and continued there.
3. And Elimelech Naomi's husband died; and she was left, and her two sons.
4. And they took them Moabitish wives; the name of the one was Orpah, and the name of the second Ruth: and they abode there about ten years.
5. And Mahlon and Chilion died also, both of them; and the woman was left of her two children and of her husband.
6. And she arose, she and her daughters-in-law, and returned from the fields of Moab; for she had heard in the fields of Moab how that Jehovah had visited his people to give them bread.