1And it came to pass in the days when the judges judged, that there was a famine in the land. And a man (ish) went from Bethlehem in Judah to sojourn in the fields of Moab, he and his wife (ishah) and his two sons.
2And the name of the man (ish) was Elimelech, and the name of his wife (ishah) Naomi, and the name of his two sons Mahlon and Chilion, Ephrathites from Bethlehem in Judah. And they came to the fields of Moab and were there.
3And Elimelech, the man (ish) of Naomi, died; and she was left, she and her two sons.
4And they took for themselves wives (ishah), Moabite women; the name of the one was Orpah, and the name of the second Ruth; and they dwelt there about ten years.
5And the two of them also died, Mahlon and Chilion; and the woman (ishah) was left of her two children and of her husband (ish).
6And she arose, she and her daughters-in-law, and returned from the fields of Moab; for she had heard in the field of Moab that YHWH had visited his people to give them bread.
7And she went out from the place where she was, and her two daughters-in-law with her; and they went on the way to return to the land of Judah.
8And Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law: "Go, return each woman (ishah) to the house of her mother. May YHWH do kindness with you, as you have done with the dead and with me.
9May YHWH grant to you that you find rest, each woman (ishah) in the house of her husband (ish)." Then she kissed them, and they lifted up their voice and wept.
10And they said to her: "Surely with you we will return to your people."
11And Naomi said: "Return, my daughters; why would you go with me? Do I yet have sons in my womb, that they should become husbands (ish) for you?
12Return, my daughters, go; for I am too old to belong to a man (ish). If I should say, 'I have hope,' even if I should be tonight to a man (ish), and also should bear sons,
13would you therefore wait until they were grown? would you therefore shut yourselves off, not to belong to a man (ish)? No, my daughters; for it is very bitter to me for your sakes, for the hand of YHWH has gone forth against me."
14And they lifted up their voice and wept again; and Orpah kissed her mother-in-law, but Ruth clung to her.
15And she said: "Behold, your sister-in-law has returned to her people and to her gods; return after your sister-in-law."
16And Ruth said: "Do not urge me to leave you, to turn back from following after you; for wherever you go I will go, and wherever you lodge I will lodge; your people shall be my people, and your God my God;
17where you die I will die, and there I will be buried. So may YHWH do to me, and more also, if death separates between me and you."
18And when she saw that she was determined to go with her, she ceased speaking to her.
19And the two of them went until they came to Bethlehem. And it came to pass, when they came to Bethlehem, that all the city was stirred concerning them, and they said: "Is this Naomi?"
20And she said to them: "Do not call me Naomi; call me Mara, for Shaddai has dealt very bitterly with me.
21I went out full, and YHWH has brought me back empty. Why do you call me Naomi, when YHWH has testified against me, and Shaddai has done evil to me?"
22So Naomi returned, and Ruth the Moabitess, her daughter-in-law, with her, who returned from the fields of Moab; and they came to Bethlehem at the beginning of the barley harvest.