Ruth loved her mother-in-law and had great compassion

[Mary Naeem]

Ruth loved her mother-in-law and had great compassion for her, seeing that she had lost not only her husband but both of her sons. Ruth’s sister-in-law, Orpah, made the choice to stay with her people in Moab, but Ruth could not bear to part from Naomi or from the God of Israel that she had come to know. Together, Ruth and Naomi made the journey back to Judah to the city of Bethlehem, where they decided to settle. Ruth’s testimony spread, and Boaz, the owner of a nearby field, heard of her faithfulness, as recorded in Ruth 2:11–12: “Boaz replied, ‘I've been told all about what you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband—how you left your father and mother and your homeland and came to live with a people you did not know before. May the LORD repay you for what you have done. May you be richly rewarded by the LORD, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge.’”