OET INT FRT GEN EXO LEV NUM DEUT JOB YEHO (JOS) HERO (JDG) RUTH 1 SAM 2 SAM PSA AMOS HOS 1 KI 2 KI 1 CHR 2 CHR PROV ECC SNG YOEL (JOEL) MIC ISA ZEP HAB YIR (JER) LAM YNA (JNA) NAH OBAD DAN EZEK EZRA EST NEH HAG ZEC MAL 2 PS WIS TOB MAN BAR G DAN G ESD L ESD ESG JDT 3 MAC SIR 1 MAC 2 MAC 4 MAC YHN (JHN) MARK MAT LUKE ACTs YAC (JAM) GAL 1 TH 2 TH 1 COR 2 COR ROM COL LAOD PHM EPH PHP 1 TIM TIT 1 PET 2 PET 2 TIM HEB YUD (JUD) 1 YHN (1 JHN) 2 YHN (2 JHN) 3 YHN (3 JHN) REV
This is still an early look into the drafted text of the Open English Translation of the Bible. Please double-check the text in advance before using in public.
1:1 Elimelek goes to Moav during a famine
1 Back in the time when the tribal leaders ruled Yisrael (Israel), there was a drought which caused a shortage of food, so a man from the town of Beyt-Lehem (Bethlehem) in the Yehudah (Judah) region went to live in the country of Moav (Moab) for a while, taking his wife and their two sons. 2 The man’s name was Elimelek and he was married to No’omi (Naomi), and their sons’ names were Mahlon and Kilyon. (They were part of the Efratah clan from Beyt-Lehem in Yehudah.) They travelled to the Moav countryside and lived there. 3 Then No’omi’s husband Elimelek died, and she was left with her two sons. 4 Eventually they married women from there in Moav—Orpah and Ruth. But after No’omi and her sons had lived in Moav for about then years, 5 Mahlon and Kilyon both also died, and No’omi was left without her husband or her two sons.
Ruth 1-4
The story of Ruth is set in the time of the Judges, a few generations before the birth of King David. While much animosity often existed between Israel and Moab (Judges 3:12-30; 10:6-12:7; 2 Samuel 8:2; 10; 2 Kings 3:4-27; 2 Chronicles 20; see also Nations across the Jordan River map), other times the two nations appear to have enjoyed a somewhat congenial relationship, as is demonstrated by Naomi’s willingness to relocate to Moab to seek relief from a famine. Later Naomi’s sons also marry Moabite women, and Ruth’s devotion to Naomi and her God no doubt speaks highly of the character of many Moabites. Many years later Ruth’s great-grandson David placed his parents in the care of the king of Moab while he was on the run from King Saul (1 Samuel 22:3-4).