1. In the days when the judges were ruling, there was a famine in the land. A man from Bethlehem in Judah went with his wife and two sons to live for a while in the country of Moab.
2. The man’s name was Elimelech, his wife’s name was Naomi, and the names of their two sons were Mahlon and Chilion. They were descendants of Ephrathah from Bethlehem in the territory of Judah. They went to the country of Moab and lived there.
3. Now, Naomi’s husband Elimelech died, and she was left alone with her two sons.
4. Each son married a woman from Moab. One son married a woman named Orpah, and the other son married a woman named Ruth. They lived there for about ten years.
5. Then both Mahlon and Chilion died as well. So Naomi was left alone, without her two sons or her husband.
6. Naomi and her daughters-in-law started on the way back from the country of Moab. (While they were still in Moab she heard that the Lord had come to help his people and give them food.
7. So she left the place where she had been living, and her two daughters-in-law went with her.) They began to walk back along the road to the territory of Judah.
8. Then Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, “Go back! Each of you should go back to your mother’s home. May the Lord be as kind to you as you were to me and to our loved ones who have died.
9. May the Lord repay each of you so that you may find security in a home with a husband.”When she kissed them goodbye, they began to cry loudly.