Old Testament · Ruth 1:1–22Ruth 2:1–23Ruth 4:9–17
Ruth and Naomi — Bible Story for Kids
Ruth stayed loyal to her mother-in-law Naomi. In Bethlehem, kind Boaz took care of them, and Ruth became the great-grandmother of King David.
This is a retelling for children, written by BibleKenya from the Bible passages shown on each picture. It is not a Bible translation.
and her family moved to the land of Moab because there was no food. Sadly, her husband and her two sons died.
In the days of the judges there was a , so a man from moved to Moab with his wife and their two sons. The sons married Moabite women, Orpah and . Then Naomi's husband and both her sons died.
decided to go home. said, "Where you go, I will go. Your people will be my people, and your God will be my God."
decided to return to and told her daughters-in-law to go back to their families. Orpah kissed her goodbye, but held on to her. Ruth said, "Where you go, I will go; and where you stay, I will stay. Your people will be my people, and your God my God."
In it was harvest time. went to pick up leftover grain in the fields so they would have food.
They arrived in at the beginning of the barley harvest. went to glean, picking up the leftover grain behind the harvesters. She happened to come to the field of , a relative of 's husband.
Bible explorer God's law told farmers to leave some grain for the poor and for foreigners to gather (Leviticus 19:9-10).
was kind to . He said, "Stay in my field. Drink from our water jars." He had heard how kind she had been to .
said to , "Stay close to my young women. When you are thirsty, drink from the vessels." He said, "I have heard all that you have done for your mother-in-law. May the LORD repay your work."
married . They had a baby named Obed. Obed became the grandfather of King David!
the family land and married . The LORD gave her a son, and the women said to , "Blessed be the LORD, who has not left you today without a near kinsman." They named him Obed. He was the father of Jesse, the father of David.
Bible explorer Ruth is one of the women named in Jesus' family line in Matthew 1:5.
The end of the story
Read it in the Bible
This is the Bible text itself, from the version shown. Scripture in WEBWorld English Bible — Protestant Edition
Ruth 1:1–22 WEB
1In the days when the judges judged, there was a famine in the land. A certain man of Bethlehem Judah went to live in the country of Moab with his wife and his two sons. 2The name of the man was Elimelech, and the name of his wife Naomi. The names of his two sons were Mahlon and Chilion, Ephrathites of Bethlehem Judah. They came into the country of Moab and lived there. 3Elimelech, Naomi’s husband, died; and she was left with her two sons. 4They took for themselves wives of the women of Moab. The name of the one was Orpah, and the name of the other was Ruth. They lived there about ten years. 5Mahlon and Chilion both died, and the woman was bereaved of her two children and of her husband. 6Then she arose with her daughters-in-law, that she might return from the country of Moab; for she had heard in the country of Moab how the LORD had visited his people in giving them bread. 7She went out of the place where she was, and her two daughters-in-law with her. They went on the way to return to the land of Judah. 8Naomi 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. 9May the LORD grant you 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. 10They said to her, “No, but we will return with you to your people.” 11Naomi said, “Go back, my daughters. Why do you want to go with me? Do I still have sons in my womb, that they may be your husbands? 12Go back, my daughters, go your way; for I am too old to have a husband. If I should say, ‘I have hope,’ if I should even have a husband tonight, and should also bear sons, 13would you then wait until they were grown? Would you then refrain from having husbands? No, my daughters, for it grieves me seriously for your sakes, for the LORD’s hand has gone out against me.” 14They lifted up their voices and wept again; then Orpah kissed her mother-in-law, but Ruth stayed with her. 15She said, “Behold, your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and to her god. Follow your sister-in-law.” 16Ruth said, “Don’t urge me to leave you, and to return from following you, for where you go, I will go; and where you stay, I will stay. Your people will be my people, and your God my God. 17Where you die, I will die, and there I will be buried. May the LORD do so to me, and more also, if anything but death parts you and me.” 18When Naomi saw that she was determined to go with her, she stopped urging her. 19So they both went until they came to Bethlehem. When they had come to Bethlehem, all the city was excited about them, and they asked, “Is this Naomi?” 20She said to them, “Don’t call me Naomi. Call me Mara, for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me. 21I went out full, and the LORD has brought me home again empty. Why do you call me Naomi, since the LORD has testified against me, and the Almighty has afflicted me?” 22So Naomi returned, and Ruth the Moabitess, her daughter-in-law, with her, who returned out of the country of Moab. They came to Bethlehem in the beginning of barley harvest.
Ruth 2:1–23 WEB
1Naomi had a relative of her husband’s, a mighty man of wealth, of the family of Elimelech, and his name was Boaz. 2Ruth the Moabitess said to Naomi, “Let me now go to the field, and glean among the ears of grain after him in whose sight I find favor.” She said to her, “Go, my daughter.” 3She went, and came and gleaned in the field after the reapers; and she happened to come to the portion of the field belonging to Boaz, who was of the family of Elimelech. 4Behold, Boaz came from Bethlehem, and said to the reapers, “May the LORD be with you.” They answered him, “May the LORD bless you.” 5Then Boaz said to his servant who was set over the reapers, “Whose young lady is this?” 6The servant who was set over the reapers answered, “It is the Moabite lady who came back with Naomi out of the country of Moab. 7She said, ‘Please let me glean and gather after the reapers among the sheaves.’ So she came, and has continued even from the morning until now, except that she rested a little in the house.” 8Then Boaz said to Ruth, “Listen, my daughter. Don’t go to glean in another field, and don’t go from here, but stay here close to my maidens. 9Let your eyes be on the field that they reap, and go after them. Haven’t I commanded the young men not to touch you? When you are thirsty, go to the vessels, and drink from that which the young men have drawn.” 10Then she fell on her face and bowed herself to the ground, and said to him, “Why have I found favor in your sight, that you should take knowledge of me, since I am a foreigner?” 11Boaz answered her, “I have been told all about what you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband, and how you have left your father, your mother, and the land of your birth, and have come to a people that you didn’t know before. 12May the LORD repay your work, and a full reward be given to you from the LORD, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge.” 13Then she said, “Let me find favor in your sight, my lord, because you have comforted me, and because you have spoken kindly to your servant, though I am not as one of your servants.” 14At meal time Boaz said to her, “Come here, and eat some bread, and dip your morsel in the vinegar.” She sat beside the reapers, and they passed her parched grain. She ate, was satisfied, and left some of it. 15When she had risen up to glean, Boaz commanded his young men, saying, “Let her glean even among the sheaves, and don’t reproach her. 16Also pull out some for her from the bundles, and leave it. Let her glean, and don’t rebuke her.” 17So she gleaned in the field until evening; and she beat out that which she had gleaned, and it was about an ephah of barley. 18She took it up, and went into the city. Then her mother-in-law saw what she had gleaned; and she brought out and gave to her that which she had left after she had enough. 19Her mother-in-law said to her, “Where have you gleaned today? Where have you worked? Blessed be he who noticed you.” She told her mother-in-law with whom she had worked, “The man’s name with whom I worked today is Boaz.” 20Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, “May he be blessed by the LORD, who has not abandoned his kindness to the living and to the dead.” Naomi said to her, “The man is a close relative to us, one of our near kinsmen.” 21Ruth the Moabitess said, “Yes, he said to me, ‘You shall stay close to my young men until they have finished all my harvest.’” 22Naomi said to Ruth her daughter-in-law, “It is good, my daughter, that you go out with his maidens, and that they not harm you in any other field.” 23So she stayed close to the maidens of Boaz, to glean to the end of barley harvest and of wheat harvest; and she lived with her mother-in-law.
Ruth 4:9–17 WEB
9Boaz said to the elders and to all the people, “You are witnesses today, that I have bought all that was Elimelech’s, and all that was Chilion’s and Mahlon’s, from the hand of Naomi. 10Moreover, Ruth the Moabitess, the wife of Mahlon, I have purchased to be my wife, to raise up the name of the dead on his inheritance, that the name of the dead may not be cut off from among his brothers and from the gate of his place. You are witnesses today.” 11All the people who were in the gate, and the elders, said, “We are witnesses. May the LORD make the woman who has come into your house like Rachel and like Leah, which both built the house of Israel; and treat you worthily in Ephrathah, and be famous in Bethlehem. 12Let your house be like the house of Perez, whom Tamar bore to Judah, of the offspring which the LORD will give you by this young woman.” 13So Boaz took Ruth and she became his wife; and he went in to her, and the LORD enabled her to conceive, and she bore a son. 14The women said to Naomi, “Blessed be the LORD, who has not left you today without a near kinsman. Let his name be famous in Israel. 15He shall be to you a restorer of life and sustain you in your old age; for your daughter-in-law, who loves you, who is better to you than seven sons, has given birth to him.” 16Naomi took the child, laid him in her bosom, and became nurse to him. 17The women, her neighbors, gave him a name, saying, “A son is born to Naomi”. They named him Obed. He is the father of Jesse, the father of David.
Who is in the story?
Words to learn
- Bethlehem
- Bethlehem is a small town. King David was born there, and Jesus was born there too.
- Famine
- A famine is a time when there is not enough food. When famine came, God used Joseph to save food for many people.
- Hesed (loving kindness)
- A Hebrew word for loyal, committed love and kindness, especially God's faithful love to his people. English versions translate it many ways.
- Redemption
- To redeem means to buy something back or set someone free. Boaz bought back Naomi's family land, and God set his people free from Egypt.
What can we learn from this passage?
Ruth's loyalty to Naomi and Boaz's kindness are at the heart of this story. Through ordinary acts of faithfulness, God provided for Naomi and brought about the family of King David. Ruth 1:16Ruth 2:12Ruth 4:14–17