Message: What Does Love Look Like? #2

1:1 In the days when the judges ruled there was a fam­ine in the land, and a man of Beth­le­hem in Judah went to sojourn in the coun­try of Moab, he and his wife and his two sons. 2 The name of the man was Elimelech and the name of his wife Naomi, and the names of his two sons were Mahlon and Chilion. They were Eph­rath­ites from Beth­le­hem in Judah. They went into the coun­try of Moab and remained there. 3 But Elimelech, the hus­band of Naomi, died, and she was left with her two sons. 4 These took Moabite wives; the name of the one was Orpah and the name of the other Ruth. They lived there about ten years, 5 and both Mahlon and Chilion died, so that the woman was left without her two sons and her husband.

6 Then she arose with her daughters-​​in-​​law to return from the coun­try of Moab, for she had heard in the fields of Moab that the Lord had vis­ited his people and given them food. 7 So she set out from the place where she was with her two daughters-​​in-​​law, and they went on the way to return to the land of Judah. 8 But 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. 9 The Lord grant 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. 10 And they said to her, “No, we will return with you to your people.” 11 But Naomi said, “Turn back, my daugh­ters; why will you go with me? Have I yet sons in my womb that they may become your hus­bands? 12 Turn back, my daugh­ters; go your way, for I am too old to have a hus­band. If I should say I have hope, even if I should have a hus­band this night and should bear sons, 13 would you there­fore wait till they were grown? Would you there­fore refrain from mar­ry­ing? No, my daugh­ters, for it is exceed­ingly bit­ter to me for your sake that the hand of the Lord has gone out against me.” 14 Then they lif­ted up their voices and wept again. And Orpah kissed her mother-​​in-​​law, but Ruth clung to her.

15 And she said, “See, your sister-​​in-​​law has gone back to her people and to her gods; return after your sister-​​in-​​law.” 16 But Ruth said, “Do not urge me to leave you or to return from fol­low­ing you. For where you go I will go, and where you lodge I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God my God. 17 Where you die I will die, and there will I be bur­ied. May the Lord do so to me and more also if any­thing but death parts me from you.” 18 And when Naomi saw that she was determ­ined to go with her, she said no more.

19 So the two of them went on until they came to Beth­le­hem. And when they came to Beth­le­hem, the whole town was stirred because of them. And the women said, “Is this Naomi?” 20 She said to them, “Do not call me Naomi; call me Mara, for the Almighty has dealt very bit­terly with me. 21 I went away full, and the Lord has brought me back empty. Why call me Naomi, when the Lord has test­i­fied against me and the Almighty has brought calam­ity upon me?”

22 So Naomi returned, and Ruth the Moabite her daughter-​​in-​​law with her, who returned from the coun­try of Moab. And they came to Beth­le­hem at the begin­ning of bar­ley har­vest. (ESV)