Ruth Stays with Naomi
Ruth 1
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Naomi lived far away from where she was born.
She had two sons, and they had wives.
One of the wives was called Ruth.
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Naomi had left her home town of Bethlehem years before, when the harvests failed, and had settled in the country of Moab with her husband and her two sons. The boys grew up there and married Moabite girls, Orpah and Ruth. It was a long way from home, but it was a family, and they were happy enough.
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Then some very sad things happened.
Naomi lost her husband and both her sons.
She was left with her two sons' wives.
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Then, over a few hard years, Naomi lost her husband, and then both of her sons. There is no gentle way to tell that part. She was left in a foreign country with nothing at all except her two daughters in law, and she was so sad that she said her own name did not fit her any more.
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Naomi decided to go home to Bethlehem.
Go back to your own families, she told the girls.
You should not have to come with me.
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Word reached her that there was food again in Bethlehem, so she decided to go home. On the road she stopped and turned to the two young women walking with her. Go back, she said. Go home to your mothers. You are young, and you have your whole lives, and I have nothing to give either of you.
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They all cried.
Orpah kissed Naomi and went home.
Ruth stayed standing in the road.
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All three of them stood in the road and wept. In the end Orpah kissed her mother in law goodbye and turned back, and nobody should think badly of her. Naomi had told her to go and she went. But when Naomi looked round, Ruth was still standing there, and she had not moved an inch.
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Go on, said Naomi. Go with her.
And Ruth said no.
Where you go, I will go.
Your people will be my people.
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Look, said Naomi, your sister has gone back to her family and her home. Go with her. And Ruth said the words people have been repeating for three thousand years. Do not ask me to leave you. Where you go, I will go. Where you stay, I will stay. Your people will be my people, and your God will be my God.
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So Naomi stopped asking.
The two of them walked to Bethlehem together.
An old woman and a young one, side by side.
And it turned out well in the end.
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When Naomi saw that Ruth had absolutely made up her mind, she stopped trying to send her away. And the two of them walked the long road to Bethlehem together and arrived just as the barley harvest was beginning. Ruth worked in the fields to feed them both, and in time she married a good man named Boaz, and Naomi held a baby again. It all began with a young woman who would not go home.
