Ruth 1
The full text of Ruth 1 in the Trinity Bible Version — clear modern English, translated from the original Hebrew. Free to read.
1 In the days when the judges ruled, there was a famine in the land. So a man from Bethlehem in Judah, together with his wife and two sons, went to live for a while in the country of Moab.
2 The man's name was Elimelek, his wife's name was Naomi, and the names of his two sons were Mahlon and Kilion. They were Ephrathites from Bethlehem in Judah. And they went to Moab and lived there.
3 Now Elimelek, Naomi's husband, died, and she was left with her two sons.
4 They married Moabite women, one named Orpah and the other Ruth. After they had lived there about ten years,
5 both Mahlon and Kilion also died, and Naomi was left without her two sons and her husband.
6 When Naomi heard in Moab that the LORD had come to the aid of his people by providing food for them, she and her daughters-in-law prepared to return home from there.
7 With her two daughters-in-law she left the place where she had been living and set out on the road that would take them back to the land of Judah.
8 Then Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, "Go back, each of you, to your mother's home. May the LORD show you kindness, as you have shown kindness to your dead and to me.
9 May the LORD grant that each of you will find rest in the home of another husband." Then she kissed them goodbye and they wept aloud
10 and said to her, "We will go back with you to your people."
11 But Naomi said, "Return home, my daughters. Why would you come with me? Am I going to have any more sons, who could become your husbands?
12 Return home, my daughters; I am too old to have another husband. Even if I thought there was still hope for me—even if I had a husband tonight and then gave birth to sons—
13 would you wait until they grew up? Would you remain unmarried for them? No, my daughters. It is more bitter for me than for you, because the LORD's hand has turned against me!"
14 At this they wept aloud again. Then Orpah kissed her mother-in-law goodbye, but Ruth clung to her.
15 "Look," said Naomi, "your sister-in-law is going back to her people and her gods. Go back with her."
16 But Ruth replied, "Don't 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.
17 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."
18 When Naomi realized that Ruth was determined to go with her, she stopped urging her.
19 So the two women went on until they came to Bethlehem. When they arrived in Bethlehem, the whole town was stirred because of them, and the women exclaimed, "Can this be Naomi?"
20 "Don't call me Naomi," she told them. "Call me Mara, because the Almighty has made my life very bitter.
21 I 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."
22 So Naomi returned from Moab accompanied by Ruth the Moabite, her daughter-in-law, arriving in Bethlehem as the barley harvest was beginning.
Translation notes (10)
- Ruth 1:1a The phrase "In the days when the judges ruled" places the book's events against the chaotic background of the book of Judges. The famine that drives an Israelite family to Moab opens a story that moves in the opposite direction—toward faithfulness to God's covenant.
- Ruth 1:2a The names in this story carry symbolic meaning: Elimelek means "my God is king," Naomi means "pleasant," and Mahlon and Kilion suggest "sickness" and "wasting." The book plays on these names, especially Naomi's, as seen in Ruth 1:20.
- Ruth 1:8a The word "Kindness" translates the Hebrew word chesed, which means covenant loyalty and steadfast love. This is a key word in the book, appearing again in Ruth 2:20 and 3:10. Naomi blesses the women in the LORD's name even as she sends them back to Moab.
- Ruth 1:13a The phrase "The LORD's hand has turned against me" can also be understood as "because of you, the LORD's hand has gone out against me." The Hebrew grammar is ambiguous, and this translation does not resolve it. Naomi interprets her losses as God's doing, a complaint the book neither endorses nor condemns.
- Ruth 1:14a The phrase "Clung to her" translates the Hebrew verb davaq. This is the same word used in Genesis 2:24 to describe a man holding fast to his wife, indicating that Ruth's devotion to Naomi is described using language typically associated with covenant marriage.
- Ruth 1:16a Ruth's vow in verses 16-17 is the literary and theological core of the book. It shows a Moabite woman committing herself to Naomi, to Israel, and to the LORD through covenant terms. This translation preserves its rhythm, parallelism, and iconic phrasing.
- Ruth 1:17a The phrase "May the LORD deal with me, be it ever so severely" translates a Hebrew oath formula that involves a self-curse. The Hebrew literally says "thus may the LORD do to me, and more also." Ruth seals her vow with an oath in the LORD's name, marking the first time she names him.
- Ruth 1:20a 'Naomi' means 'pleasant'; 'Mara' means 'bitter.' The title 'The Almighty' translates the Hebrew word Shaddai, an ancient title for God, used here in Naomi's lament. The wordplay is important here and is explained in this note rather than being lost in translation.
- Ruth 1:21a The phrase "Has afflicted me" translates a Hebrew verb that can also mean "has testified against me," as in a legal case. The ambiguity—whether God is seen as an afflicter or an accuser—is preserved and not resolved in this translation. Naomi's bitter complaint is reported exactly as the text presents it, and this translation does not resolve its validity.
- Ruth 1:22a The phrase "As the barley harvest was beginning" is not a minor detail; it subtly shifts the story from emptiness toward provision and prepares for the gleaning described in chapter 2. Ruth is still specifically called "the Moabite."
About this translation
The Trinity Bible Version (TBV) is Trinity Bible's own modern English translation, worked directly from the original Hebrew and honest to the earliest manuscripts. It was completed in 2026 — the most modern English Bible translation — and is exclusive to Trinity Bible. Every chapter, including all of Ruth, is free to read here on the web.
Continue: Ruth 2 → · All of Ruth · About the TBV · Read Ruth 1 in the KJV
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