15 Naomi said, “Look, your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and to her god. Follow your sister-in-law.”
16 But Ruth replied:Do not persuade me to leave youor go back and not follow you.For wherever you go, I will go,and wherever you live, I will live;your people will be my people,and your God will be my God.
17 Where you die, I will die,and there I will be buried.May Yahweh punish me, and do so severely,if anything but death separates you and me.
18 When Naomi saw that Ruth was determined to go with her, she stopped trying to persuade her.
19 The two of them traveled until they came to Bethlehem. When they entered Bethlehem, the whole town was excited about their arrival and the local women exclaimed, “Can this be Naomi? ”
20 “Don’t call me Naomi. Call me Mara,” she answered, “for the Almighty has made me very bitter.
21 I went away full, but the Lord has brought me back empty. Why do you call me Naomi, since the Lord has pronounced judgment on me, and the Almighty has afflicted me? ”