Ruth and Naomi

Naomi had gone with her husband and two sons from Israel to live in Moab. There, her sons married Moabite women — Ruth and Orpah. Then tragedy struck: Naomi's husband and both sons died. Naomi was heartbroken and decided to return to her homeland of Bethlehem. She told both daughters-in-law to go back to their own families.

Orpah wept and left. But Ruth clung to Naomi and spoke words that echo through history: "Where you go, I will go. Where you stay, I will stay. Your people shall be my people, and your God shall be my God." Ruth left her homeland, her gods, and her people — for love of Naomi and faith in the living God.

In Bethlehem, Ruth humbly gleaned grain behind the harvesters in the fields of a kind and wealthy man named Boaz. Boaz noticed her faithfulness and protected her. He eventually married Ruth. Their great-grandson would be King David — and from that line, Jesus Himself was born. Ruth, a foreigner, became part of the family of the Messiah because of her love, loyalty, and faith. The Coptic Church honors this story of God's grace reaching beyond borders.