Naomi was an Israelite woman who lost her husband and two sons in Moab. She returned to Bethlehem in bitterness, but her daughter-in-law Ruth's loyalty led to new blessing. Through Naomi's wise counsel, Ruth married Boaz, and Naomi became the nurse for their son Obed.
1In the days when the judges ruled, there was a famine in the land, and a man from Bethlehem in Judah went to live for a time in the country of Moab, he and his wife and his two sons.
2The man's name was Elimelech, his wife's name was Naomi, and the names of his two sons were Mahlon and Chilion. They were Ephrathites from Bethlehem in Judah. They came to the country of Moab and settled there.
6Then she set out with her daughters-in-law to return from the country of Moab, for she had heard there that the LORD had come to the aid of his people and given them food.
8But Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, "Go back, each of you, to your mother's house. May the LORD show you kindness, as you have shown to the dead and to me.
16But Ruth said, "Do not urge me to leave you or to turn back from following 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.
19So the two of them went on until they came to Bethlehem. And when they arrived in Bethlehem, the whole town was stirred, and the women said, "Can this be Naomi?"
20"Do not call me Naomi," she told them. "Call me Mara,* because the Almighty has made my life very bitter.
*Footnote: Naomi means "pleasant"; Mara means "bitter."
21I went away full, but the LORD has brought me back empty. Why call me Naomi? The LORD has afflicted me;* the Almighty has brought misfortune upon me."
*Footnote: Or "the LORD has testified against me."
3So wash and anoint yourself, put on your best clothes, and go down to the threshing floor. But do not let him know you are there until he has finished eating and drinking.