After having lived many years in the land of Moab, and suffering the death of her husband and two sons, Naomi was returning to her homeland in Israel. Traveling with her was Ruth, a young woman who had been the wife of one of Naomi’s sons.

Though Naomi had suggested to both of her daughters-in-law that they should stay in their own country of Moab, Ruth chose to go with Naomi to her home in Israel. “Do not ask me to leave you. Wherever you go, I will go. Your people will be my people and your God my God,” Ruth told Naomi.

After a long journey, Naomi and Ruth arrived in Bethlehem during the harvest season. Because they were poor, Ruth went to pick up grain left behind after the men had harvested the fields. There one day she met Boaz, a land owner and a relative of Naomi’s deceased husband.

Boaz and Ruth love each other and soon decide to be married. Together they had a son whom they named Obed, who was to be the grandfather of King David. This line of family members continued for many generations and had a special descendant, Jesus, God’s Son.

Read this beautiful story in the book of Ruth, chapters 1–4.