Ruth and Naomi

In the days when the judges ruled, there was a famine in the land. A man from Bethlehem named Elimelek, together with his wife Naomi and their two sons, went to live in Moab. There, Elimelek died, and Naomi was left with her two sons, who married Moabite women—one named Orpah and the other Ruth. After about ten years, both sons died, and Naomi was left without her two sons and her husband.

When Naomi heard in Moab that the Lord had come to the aid of his people by providing food for them, she decided to return to Judah. She urged her daughters-in-law to stay in Moab. Orpah kissed her goodbye, but Ruth clung to her. Naomi said, "Look, your sister-in-law is going back to her people and her gods. Go back with her." But Ruth replied, "Don't urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God. Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried. May the Lord deal with me, be it ever so severely, if even death separates you and me."

So Naomi and Ruth returned to Bethlehem. Ruth went to glean in the fields of a wealthy man named Boaz. Boaz noticed Ruth and treated her with kindness. Naomi encouraged Ruth to seek Boaz as a kinsman-redeemer. Boaz married Ruth, and they became the great-grandparents of King David.