[[📚 Explore the Bible Books]] [[Ruth Overview]] | [[Judges 21]] | [[Ruth 02]] # Ruth 01 📖 > [!info] Table of Contents > [[#📜 Scripture Text (NET)]] [[#📖 Verse-by-Verse Commentary]] [[#🧠 Chapter Summary]] [[#🔎 Key Observations / 🛟 Life Application]] [[#✍️ Key Verses to Remember]] [[#🔗 Related Passages]] [[#🙏 Devotional Reflection]] >[[Ruth Overview]] ## 📜 Scripture Text ## Elimelech Moves His Family to Moab [[#Verse 01.]] In the days when the judges ruled in Israel, a severe famine came upon the land. So a man from [[Bethlehem]] in Judah left his home and went to live in the country of Moab, taking his wife and two sons with him.  [[#Verse 02.]] The man’s name was Elimelech, and his wife was Naomi. Their two sons were Mahlon and Kilion. They were Ephrathites from Bethlehem in the land of Judah. And when they reached Moab, they settled there. [[#Verse 03.]] Then Elimelech died, and Naomi was left with her two sons.  [[#Verse 04.]] The two sons married Moabite women. One married a woman named [[Orpah]], and the other a woman named Ruth. But about ten years later, [[#Verse 05.]] both Mahlon and Kilion died. This left Naomi alone, without her two sons or her husband. ## Naomi and Ruth Return [[#Verse 06.]] Then Naomi heard in Moab that the Lord had blessed his people in Judah by giving them good crops again. So Naomi and her daughters-in-law got ready to leave Moab to return to her homeland.  [[#Verse 07.]] With her two daughters-in-law she set out from the place where she had been living, and they took the road that would lead them back to Judah. [[#Verse 08.]] But on the way, Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, “Go back to your mothers’ homes. And may the Lord reward you for your kindness to your husbands and to me.  [[#Verse 09.]] May the Lord bless you with the security of another marriage.” Then she kissed them good-bye, and they all broke down and wept. [[#Verse 10.]] “No,” they said. “We want to go with you to your people.” [[#Verse 11.]] But Naomi replied, “Why should you go on with me? Can I still give birth to other sons who could grow up to be your husbands?  [[#Verse 12.]] No, my daughters, return to your parents’ homes, for I am too old to marry again. And even if it were possible, and I were to get married tonight and bear sons, then what?  [[#Verse 13.]] Would you wait for them to grow up and refuse to marry someone else? No, of course not, my daughters! Things are far more bitter for me than for you, because the Lord himself has raised his fist against me.” [[#Verse 14.]] And again they wept together, and Orpah kissed her mother-in-law good-bye. But Ruth clung tightly to Naomi.  [[#Verse 15.]] “Look,” Naomi said to her, “your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and to her gods. You should do the same.” [[#Verse 16.]] But Ruth replied, “Don’t ask me to leave you and turn back. Wherever you go, I will go; wherever you live, I will live. Your people will be my people, and your God will be my God.  [[#Verse 17.]] Wherever you die, I will die, and there I will be buried. May the Lord punish me severely if I allow anything but death to separate us!”  [[#Verse 18.]] When Naomi saw that Ruth was determined to go with her, she said nothing more. [[#Verse 19.]] So the two of them continued on their journey. When they came to Bethlehem, the entire town was excited by their arrival. “Is it really Naomi?” the women asked. [[#Verse 20.]] “Don’t call me Naomi,” she responded. “Instead, call me Mara, for the Almighty has made life very bitter for me. [[#Verse 21.]] I went away full, but the Lord has brought me home empty. Why call me Naomi when the Lord has caused me to suffer and the Almighty has sent such tragedy upon me?” [[#Verse 22.]] So Naomi returned from Moab, accompanied by her daughter-in-law Ruth, the young Moabite woman. They arrived in Bethlehem in late spring, at the beginning of the barley harvest. ## 📖 ==Verse-by-Verse Commentary== ###### Overall. **Meanings of names**: Elimelech- “My God is King” Naomi- Sweetness Mahlon- sickly Kilion- frail Bethlehem- “House of Bread” Moab- From Lot’s incestuous relationship with his daughter. (Genesis 20) **Meanings of names**: Elimelech- “My God is King” Naomi- Sweetness Mahlon- sickly Kilion- frail Bethlehem- “House of Bread” Moab- From Lot’s incestuous relationship with his daughter. [[Genesis 19]] ###### Verse 01. - Ruth happens during the time of the Judges. This was known as the darkest season in Israel’s history. It is amazing to realize that, in the middle of darkness, there were people still living for God and doing the right thing. That speaks to us today. ###### Verse 02. ###### Verse 03. ###### Verse 04. ###### Verse 05. ###### Verse 06. ###### Verse 07. ###### Verse 08. ###### Verse 09. ###### Verse 10. ###### Verse 11. ###### Verse 12. ###### Verse 13. ###### Verse 14. ###### Verse 15. ###### Verse 16. ###### Verse 17. ###### Verse 18. ###### Verse 19. ###### Verse 20. ###### Verse 21. ###### Verse 22. ## 🧠 Chapter Summary - coming soon %%Write a short paragraph (3–5 sentences) summarizing what happens in this chapter. - What is the main event or teaching? - How does this chapter fit the book’s overall story? - What stands out immediately? Anything Apologetic to point out? %% ## 🔎 Key Observations / 🛟Life Application **Today, I can apply this chapter by:** - ✅ Realize that great stories often have devastating beginnings. - ✅ God can do great things through ordinary acts of faithfulness. ## ✍️ Key Verses to Remember - 📖 verse 16-18: Ruth’s declaration of loyalty to Naomi. - 📖 verse 20: Naomi feels she her life is over. What she doesn’t realize is she is right where she needs to be. ## 🔗 Related Passages - 🔗 [[Genesis 19]] - Beginning of Moab. - 🔗 Judges 21. ## 🙏 Devotional Reflection - coming soon %%Write 3–6 sentences reflecting on: - How this chapter encourages your faith, - Convicts your heart, - Reveals God's character. Optional format: "In light of this chapter, I am challenged to..." or "I am comforted by..."%% ## 📂 Tags