Ruth 1

In the days when the judges judged, there was a famine in the land. A certain man of Bethlehem Judah went to live in the country of Moab with his wife and his two sons.

The name of the man was Elimelech, and the name of his wife Naomi. The names of his two sons were Mahlon and Chilion, Ephrathites of Bethlehem Judah. They came into the country of Moab and lived there.

Elimelech, Naomi’s husband, died; and she was left with her two sons.

They took for themselves wives of the women of Moab. The name of the one was Orpah, and the name of the other was Ruth. They lived there about ten years.

Mahlon and Chilion both died, and the woman was bereaved of her two children and of her husband.

Then she arose with her daughters-in-law, that she might return from the country of Moab; for she had heard in the country of Moab how the LORD had visited his people in giving them bread.

She went out of the place where she was, and her two daughters-in-law with her. They went on the way to return to the land of Judah.

Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, “Go, return each of you to her mother’s house. May the LORD deal kindly with you, as you have dealt with the dead and with me.

May the LORD grant you that you may find rest, each of you in the house of her husband.” Then she kissed them, and they lifted up their voices, and wept.

They said to her, “No, but we will return with you to your people.”

Naomi said, “Go back, my daughters. Why do you want to go with me? Do I still have sons in my womb, that they may be your husbands?

Go back, my daughters, go your way; for I am too old to have a husband. If I should say, ‘I have hope,’ if I should even have a husband tonight, and should also bear sons,

would you then wait until they were grown? Would you then refrain from having husbands? No, my daughters, for it grieves me seriously for your sakes, for the LORD’s hand has gone out against me.”

They lifted up their voices and wept again; then Orpah kissed her mother-in-law, but Ruth stayed with her.

She said, “Behold, your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and to her god. Follow your sister-in-law.”

Ruth said, “Don’t urge me to leave you, and to return from following you, for where you go, I will go; and where you stay, I will stay. Your people will be my people, and your God my God.

Where you die, I will die, and there I will be buried. May the LORD do so to me, and more also, if anything but death parts you and me.”

When Naomi saw that she was determined to go with her, she stopped urging her.

So they both went until they came to Bethlehem. When they had come to Bethlehem, all the city was excited about them, and they asked, “Is this Naomi?”

She said to them, “Don’t call me Naomi. Call me Mara, for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me.

I went out full, and the LORD has brought me home again empty. Why do you call me Naomi, since the LORD has testified against me, and the Almighty has afflicted me?”

So Naomi returned, and Ruth the Moabitess, her daughter-in-law, with her, who returned out of the country of Moab. They came to Bethlehem in the beginning of barley harvest.

Chapter overviewAI-generated

Overview. This chapter introduces the book of Ruth by setting a narrative in the period of the judges, marked by famine, death, and displacement. It traces Naomi’s tragic journey from Bethlehem to Moab and back, now widowed and childless, yet accompanied by her devoted daughter-in-law Ruth, a Moabitess whose loyalty signals the beginning of a surprising reversal.

Flow.

Begins with a famine in Judah that drives Elimelech’s family to Moab, where he and his two sons later die.
Naomi’s daughters-in-law, Orpah and Ruth, respond to her urging to return to their own families; Orpah departs, but Ruth clings to Naomi, declaring allegiance to her people and God.
The two women return to Bethlehem at the start of the barley harvest, where Naomi, grieving, renames herself Mara, testifying to her sense of divine affliction.

Connections. Following the dark backdrop of the book of Judges, where “there was no king in Israel” and chaos prevailed (), this chapter opens with a story of personal and national desolation, yet hints at hope through providential timing—“the beginning of barley harvest” (v. 22). The return of Naomi and Ruth to Bethlehem sets the stage for chapter 2, where Ruth’s loyalty is met with kindness in Boaz’s field, and God’s hidden faithfulness begins to unfold.

What it teaches. This chapter reveals God’s providence even in times of judgment and loss. Though famine and death reflect the brokenness of a world under sin (WCF 6.1), God is at work in the ordinary movements of return and loyalty. Ruth’s confession (vv. 16–17) exemplifies true conversion and covenant embrace, not out of obligation but love for God’s people (cf. HC LD 32). Naomi’s lament (vv. 20–21) expresses the reality of suffering, yet unknowingly sets the horizon for God’s redemption, consistent with the pattern seen in God’s use of unlikely means to fulfill his purposes (WCF 5.7).

Apply. A foreign woman, Ruth, leaves everything to cling to the covenant people of God, showing that belonging to God’s story often begins with costly loyalty.

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