떠나지 않은 여인

A Family Far From Home

Long ago, when a harsh famine spread across the land of Judah, a family left the small town of Bethlehem. A man named Elimelech traveled east with his wife, Naomi, and their two sons, hoping to escape the hunger and survive. They settled in Moab, a foreign country to the east whose people spoke another language and worshiped different gods. There the sons grew into young men and married two Moabite women, named Orpah and Ruth. For a while life seemed steady, and the family slowly put down quiet roots in that borrowed foreign land. Then, one by one, sorrow arrived without warning. Elimelech died, and later both sons died as well, leaving three grieving widows with no protection. This account is retold in my own words from the book of Ruth, found in the Hebrew Scriptures.

The Road Between Two Countries

After many long years in Moab, Naomi heard that the famine in Judah had finally ended. Grieving and worn down by loss, she decided to return to her distant homeland. Her two daughters-in-law set out beside her, walking the dusty road that led toward Bethlehem. But Naomi soon stopped and gently urged them to turn back to their own mothers' homes. She wanted them to find new husbands and safer futures among their own familiar people. Weeping, Orpah finally kissed Naomi goodbye and turned back toward Moab. Ruth, however, refused to leave, and clung tightly to the older woman's side.