1:17 Wherever you die, I will die – and there I will be buried.
May the Lord punish me severely if I do not keep my promise! 1
Only death will be able to separate me from you!” 2
1:18 When Naomi 3 realized that Ruth 4 was determined to go with her, she stopped trying to dissuade her. 5 1:19 So the two of them 6 journeyed together until they arrived in Bethlehem. 7
When they entered 8 Bethlehem, 9 the whole village was excited about their arrival. 10 The women of the village said, 11 “Can this be Naomi?” 12 1:20 But she replied 13 to them, 14 “Don’t call me ‘Naomi’! 15 Call me ‘Mara’ 16 because the Sovereign One 17 has treated me very harshly. 18 1:21 I left here full, 19 but the Lord has caused me to return empty-handed. 20 Why do you call me ‘Naomi,’ seeing that 21 the Lord has opposed me, 22 and the Sovereign One 23 has caused me to suffer?” 24 1:22 So Naomi returned, accompanied by her Moabite daughter-in-law Ruth, who came back with her from the region of Moab. 25 (Now they 26 arrived in Bethlehem at the beginning of the barley harvest.) 27