Ruth 1

NEW JERUSALEM	CATHOLIC PUBLIC DOMAIN
1 In the days when the Judges were governing, a famine occurred in the country and a certain man fromBethlehem of Judah went-he, his wife and his two sons -- to live in the Plains of Moab.	1 In the days of one of the judges, when the judges ruled, there was a famine in the land. And a man from Bethlehem in Judah departed to sojourn in the region of the Moabites with his wife and two children.
2 The man was called Elimelech, his wife Naomi and his two sons Mahlon and Chilion; they wereEphrathites from Bethlehem of Judah. Going to the Plains of Moab, they settled there.	2 He called himself Elimelech, and his wife Naomi, and his two sons, the one Mahlon, and the other Chilion, Ephrathites from Bethlehem in Judah. And entering into the region of the Moabites, they stayed there.
3 Elimelech, Naomi's husband, died, and she and her two sons were left.	3 And Elimelech the husband of Naomi died; and she remained with her sons.
4 These married Moabite women: one was called Orpah and the other Ruth. They lived there for aboutten years.	4 They took wives from among the Moabites, of whom one was called Orpah, and the other Ruth. And they lived there ten years.
5 Mahlon and Chilion then both died too, and Naomi was thus bereft of her two sons and her husband.	5 And they both died, namely Mahlon and Chilion, and the woman was left alone, bereaved of her two children and her husband.
6 She then decided to come back from the Plains of Moab with her daughters-in-law, having heard in thePlains of Moab that God had visited his people and given them food.	6 And she arose so that she might journey to her native land, with both her daughters-in-law, from the region of the Moabites. For she had heard that the Lord had provided for his people and had given them food.
7 So, with her daughters-in-law, she left the place where she was living and they took the road back toJudah.	7 And so she departed from the place of her sojourn, with both her daughters-in-law, and having set out upon the way, she was about to return to the land of Judah.
8 Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, 'Go back, each of you to your mother's house.	8 She said to them, “Go to the home of your mother. May the Lord deal mercifully with you, just as you have dealt with the dead and with me.
9 May Yahweh show you faithful love, as you have done to those who have died and to me. Yahweh grantthat you may each find happiness with a husband!' She then kissed them, but they began weeping loudly,	9 May he grant you to find rest in the houses of the husbands, whom you will obtain by lot.” And she kissed them. They lifted up their voice, and began to weep,
10 and said, 'No, we shal go back with you to your people.'	10 and to say, “We will journey with you to your people.”
11 'Go home, daughters,' Naomi replied. 'Why come with me? Have I any more sons in my womb to makehusbands for you?	11 But she answered them, “Return, my daughters. Why come with me? Do I have any more sons in my womb, so that you could hope for husbands from me?
12 Go home, daughters, go, for I am now too old to marry again. Even if I said, "I stil have a hope: I shalltake a husband this very night and shal bear more sons,"	12 Return, my daughters, go forth. For I am now exhausted by old age, and not fit for the bond of marriage. Even if I were to conceive on this night, and bear sons,
13 would you be prepared to wait for them until they were grown up? Would you refuse to marry for theirsake? No, daughters, I am bitterly sorry for your sakes that the hand of Yahweh should have been raised againstme.'	13 if you were willing to wait until they were grown and had completed the years of adolescence, you would be elderly before you could marry. Do not do so, I beg you, my daughters. For your difficulties weigh upon me greatly, and the hand of the Lord has been set against me.”
14 They started weeping loudly al over again; Orpah then kissed her mother-in-law and went back to herpeople. But Ruth stayed with her.	14 In response, they lifted up their voice and began to weep again. Orpah kissed her mother-in-law, and then turned back. Ruth clung to her mother-in-law.
15 Naomi then said, 'Look, your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and to her god. Go home, too;fol ow your sister-in-law.'	15 Naomi said to her, “See, your kinswoman returns to her people, and to her gods. Hurry after her.”
16 But Ruth said, 'Do not press me to leave you and to stop going with you, for wherever you go, I shalgo, wherever you live, I shal live. Your people will be my people, and your God wil be my God.	16 She answered, “Do not be against me, as if I would abandon you and go away; for wherever you will go, I will go, and where you will stay, I also will stay with you. Your people are my people, and your God is my God.
17 Where you die, I shall die and there I shal be buried. Let Yahweh bring unnameable il s on me andworse il s, too, if anything but death should part me from you!'	17 Whichever land will receive you dying, in the same I will die, and there I will have the place of my burial. May God cause these things to happen to me, and add more also, if anything except death alone should separate you and I.”
18 Seeing that Ruth was determined to go with her, Naomi said no more.	18 Therefore, Naomi saw that Ruth, being firmly resolved in her soul, was determined to go with her, and that she was unwilling to be dissuaded, and that nothing further could convince her to return to her own.
19 The two of them went on until they came to Bethlehem. Their arrival set the whole town astir, and thewomen said, 'Can this be Naomi?'	19 And so they set out together, and they came to Bethlehem. When they had entered the city, the news quickly spread among them all. And the women said, “This is that Naomi.”
20 To this she replied, 'Do not cal me Naomi, cal me Mara, for Shaddai has made my lot bitter.	20 But she said to them, “Do not call me Naomi (that is, beautiful), but call me Mara (that is, bitter). For the Almighty has greatly filled me with bitterness.
21 I departed ful , and Yahweh has brought me home empty. Why, then, call me Naomi, since Yahwehhas pronounced against me and Shaddai has made me wretched?'	21 I went out full and the Lord led me back empty. So then, why call me Naomi, whom the Lord has humbled and the Almighty has afflicted?”
22 This was how Naomi came home with her daughter-in-law, Ruth the Moabitess, on returning from thePlains of Moab. They arrived in Bethlehem at the beginning of the barley harvest.	22 Therefore, Naomi went with Ruth, the Moabite, her daughter-in-law, from the land of her sojourn, and returned to Bethlehem, at the time of the first reaping of the barley.