⁴ Then Naomi's sons married women from Moab. Mahlon married a woman called Ruth. Kilion married a woman called Orpah.

¹⁴ Ruth and Orpah wept loudly again. Orpah kissed Naomi and she said ‘goodbye’. But Ruth would not leave Naomi. She held on to her. ¹⁵ Naomi said to Ruth, ‘Look! Orpah has returned to her family. She has returned to serve the gods of Moab. Go back home with her.’

¹⁶ Ruth said to Naomi, ‘Do not say that I must leave you. I will go with you, wherever you go. I will live wherever you live. You belong to Israel's people. I will belong to them too. Your God will be my God. ¹⁷ I will die in the same place that you die. That is where people will bury me. I will stay beside you until death makes us separate. If I ever leave you, the Lord should punish me.’

¹⁸ Then Naomi understood that Ruth would not agree to return to her own country. So she stopped saying that Ruth should leave her.

Naomi and Ruth arrive in Bethlehem

¹⁹ Naomi and Ruth travelled together to Bethlehem. When they arrived there, the people were very surprised. The women from the town said, ‘Is this really Naomi?’

²⁰ Naomi said to them, ‘Do not call me Naomi. Call me Mara, instead.^[a] The Almighty God has made my life very sad. ²¹ I left here with everything that I needed. Now the Lord has brought me back here with nothing. The Almighty Lord has turned against me, so that I have suffered. It is not right for you to call me Naomi.’

²² That is how Naomi returned from Moab with Ruth. Ruth was from Moab. She was the wife of Naomi's son Mahlon. Naomi and Ruth arrived in Bethlehem when the harvest of barley was beginning.