1. It came to pass in the days when judges were governing, there was a famine in the land. A man went from the town of Bethlehem in Judah to dwell in the region of Moab with his wife and his two sons.
2. The man’s name was Elimelech, his wife’s name was Naomi, and his two sons were named Mahlon and Chilion. They were Ephratites from Bethlehem in Judah. They came to the region of Moab and remained there.
3. Then Naomi’s husband Elimelech died, so she was left with her two sons.
4. They married Moabite women—one was named Orpah and the second was named Ruth, and they dwelt there about ten years.
5. Then those two, Mahlon and Chilion, also died. So the woman was left without her children and her husband.
6. Then she got up, along with her daughters-in-law to return from the region of Moab, because in the region of Moab she had heard that Adonai had taken note of His people and given them food.
7. So she left the place where she was, along with her two daughters-in-law, and they started out on the road to return to the land of Judah.