Ruth 1:1; Ruth 1:3; Ruth 1:5-6; Ruth 1:12; Ruth 1:21-22

1 Long ago, in the days before Israel had a king, there was a famine in the land. So a man named Elimelech, who belonged to the clan of Ephrath and who lived in Bethlehem in Judah, went with his wife Naomi and their two sons Mahlon and Chilion to live for a while in the country of Moab. While they were living there,

3 Elimelech died, and Naomi was left alone with her two sons,

5 Mahlon and Chilion also died, and Naomi was left all alone, without husband or sons.

6 Some time later Naomi heard that the Lord had blessed his people by giving them good crops; so she got ready to leave Moab with her daughters-in-law.

12 Go back home, for I am too old to get married again. Even if I thought there was still hope, and so got married tonight and had sons,

21 When I left here, I had plenty, but the Lord has brought me back without a thing. Why call me Naomi when the Lord Almighty has condemned me and sent me trouble?"

22 This, then, was how Naomi came back from Moab with Ruth, her Moabite daughter-in-law. When they arrived in Bethlehem, the barley harvest was just beginning.