1. In the days of one of the judges, when the judges ruled, there was a famine in the land. And a man from Bethlehem in Judah departed to sojourn in the region of the Moabites with his wife and two children.
2. He called himself Elimelech, and his wife Naomi, and his two sons, the one Mahlon, and the other Chilion, Ephrathites from Bethlehem in Judah. And entering into the region of the Moabites, they stayed there.
3. And Elimelech the husband of Naomi died; and she remained with her sons.
4. They took wives from among the Moabites, of whom one was called Orpah, and the other Ruth. And they lived there ten years.
5. And they both died, namely Mahlon and Chilion, and the woman was left alone, bereaved of her two children and her husband.
6. And she arose so that she might journey to her native land, with both her daughters-in-law, from the region of the Moabites. For she had heard that the Lord had provided for his people and had given them food.