Elimelek naangandjawo taa tembukile kuMoab
1-2 Konalenale manga muIsrael kaamwa li omukwaniilwa, oshilongo osha adhika kondjala. MuBetlehem shaJuda omwa li omusamane Omuefrata, edhina lye Elimelek. Pamwe nomukadhi Naemi noyanamati Maklon naKilion Elimelek okwa tembukile kuMoab, ya kale ko. Manga nee ya li ko, 3 Elimelek okwa mana oondjenda, Naemi e ta kala noyana, 4 mboka ya li ya hokana aakadhona Aamoabi, Orpa naRut. Sho pwa piti omimvo omulongo, 5 Maklon naKilion oya mana wo oondjenda, Naemi e ta kala po kee na omulumentu noyana.
Naemi naRut taa yi kuBetlehem
6 Konima yethimbo Naemi okwa kundana kutya Omuwa okwa yambeke aantu ye muJuda e ya pe eloolo. Osho ngaaka okwa thigi po Moab e ta yi niitenya ye. 7 Oyi idhenge mela lyondjila, opo ya shune kuJuda, ihe mondjila 8 Naemi okwa ti kiitenya ye: “Shuneni kaandjeni. Omuwa ne mu pe uuwanawa, ngaashi mwa kala nawa nangame nonaasi yandje. 9 Omuwa na pe kehe gumwe ompolo yokuhokanwa, a mone egumbo.”
Osho ngaaka Naemi okwe ya laleke nohole. Ihe oya tameke okulila 10 taa ti kuye: “Aawe, kuku. Otatu yi nangoye koyaandjeni.”
11 Naemi okwe ya yamukula ta ti: “Shuneni, aamwandje. Omolwashike mwa hala okuya nangame? Omu shi, otandi mono we aamati, ye mu hokane? 12 Indeni kaandjeni, oshoka ngame onda kulupa, ite hokanwa we. Nonando nee ndi tye, ondi na etegameno lyehokano ongulohi ndjika, ndi mone aamati, 13 otamu ya tegelele tuu, ye mu adhe ye mu hokane? Aawe, aamwandje, omu shi shi kutya itashi vulika. Omuwa okwa fupipike ndje, ngame nondi na shili ohenda nane.”
14 Iitenya ye oya tameke okulila ishewe. Opo ihe Orpa a hupita yinamweno e ta shuna koyaandjawo, ihe Rut okwa tindile po puye. 15 Naemi okwa ti kuye: “Uutenyuukweni okwa yi koyaandjawo nokookalunga ke. Inda naye.”
16 Ndele Rut okwa yamukula: “Ino tya, nii ku thige po. Pitika ndje, ndi ye nangoye. Nankoka to yi, oko te yi wo, naankoka to kala, oko nda hala okukala wo. Aangandjoye otaa ka ninga aangandjetu, ngaashika Kalunga koye ota ka kala Kalunga kandje wo. 17 Mpoka to sile, nangame wo opo tii ka sila nopo wo pombila yandje. Omuwa na geele ndje nayi, ngele tandi ku etha, shila eso tali tu topola.”
18 Ano Naemi sho a mono kutya Rut a tindile metokolo lye okuya pamwe naye, okwa ti ashike thilu.
19 Oya yi sigo okuBetlehem. Sho ya thiki ko, omukunda aguhe ogwa tukuluka, aakulukadhi e taa igidha taa ti: “ONaemi tuu shili nguno?”
20 Nguka okwa yamukula: “Inamu tya ndje we Naemi, tyeni shila Mara, oshoka Kalunga Omunankondoawike okwa monitha ndje uululu. 21 Sho nda zile mpaka, onda li omuyamba, ihe Omuwa a galula ndje ndaa na noluthipathipa. Oshike tamu ithana ndje Naemi, Omuwa sho a pangula ndje, nOmunankondoawike sho u unzile ndje momupya?”
22 Osho ano ngaaka Naemi a zile kuMoab pamwe naRut, oshitenya she Oshimoabi. Sho ya thiki muBetlehem, eteyo lyiishokelya olya li opo lya tameke.
Elimelech and His Family Move to Moab
1-2 Long ago, in the days before Israel had a king, there was a famine in the land. So a man named Elimelech, who belonged to the clan of Ephrath and who lived in Bethlehem in Judah, went with his wife Naomi and their two sons Mahlon and Chilion to live for a while in the country of Moab. While they were living there, 3 Elimelech died, and Naomi was left alone with her two sons, 4 who married Moabite women, Orpah and Ruth. About ten years later 5 Mahlon and Chilion also died, and Naomi was left all alone, without husband or sons.
Naomi and Ruth Return to Bethlehem
6 Some time later Naomi heard that the Lord had blessed his people by giving them good crops; so she got ready to leave Moab with her daughters-in-law. 7 They started out together to go back to Judah, but on the way 8 she said to them, “Go back home and stay with your mothers. May the Lord be as good to you as you have been to me and to those who have died. 9 And may the Lord make it possible for each of you to marry again and have a home.”
So Naomi kissed them good-bye. But they started crying 10 and said to her, “No! We will go with you to your people.”
11 “You must go back, my daughters,” Naomi answered. “Why do you want to come with me? Do you think I could have sons again for you to marry? 12 Go back home, for I am too old to get married again. Even if I thought there was still hope, and so got married tonight and had sons, 13 would you wait until they had grown up? Would this keep you from marrying someone else? No, my daughters, you know that's impossible. The Lord has turned against me, and I feel very sorry for you.”
14 Again they started crying. Then Orpah kissed her mother-in-law good-bye and went back home, but Ruth held on to her. 15 So Naomi said to her, “Ruth, your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and to her god. Go back home with her.”
16 But Ruth answered, “Don't ask me to leave you! Let me go with you. Wherever you go, I will go; wherever you live, I will live. Your people will be my people, and your God will be my God. 17 Wherever you die, I will die, and that is where I will be buried. May the Lord's worst punishment come upon me if I let anything but death separate me from you!”
18 When Naomi saw that Ruth was determined to go with her, she said nothing more.
19 They went on until they came to Bethlehem. When they arrived, the whole town became excited, and the women there exclaimed, “Is this really Naomi?”
20 “Don't call me Naomi,” she answered; “call me Marah, because Almighty God has made my life bitter. 21 When I left here, I had plenty, but the Lord has brought me back without a thing. Why call me Naomi when the Lord Almighty has condemned me and sent me trouble?”
22 This, then, was how Naomi came back from Moab with Ruth, her Moabite daughter-in-law. When they arrived in Bethlehem, the barley harvest was just beginning.
