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Wednesday, July 16th, 2025
the Week of Proper 10 / Ordinary 15
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Updated Bible Version

Ruth 1:20

And she said to them, Don't call me Naomi, call me Mara; for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me.

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Afflictions and Adversities;   Bereavement;   Readings, Select;   Women;   Thompson Chain Reference - Afflictions;   Blessings-Afflictions;   Dead, the;   Grief;   Joy-Sorrow;   Mourning;   Trials;  

Dictionaries:

- American Tract Society Bible Dictionary - Mahlon;   Marah;   Names;   Baker Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology - Call, Calling;   Widow;   Easton Bible Dictionary - Bitter;   Mara;   Naomi;   Holman Bible Dictionary - Mara;   Poetry;   Ruth;   Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible - Mara;   Naomi;   Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament - Paronomasia ;   Morrish Bible Dictionary - Almighty;   Bethlehem ;   Mara ;   The Hawker's Poor Man's Concordance And Dictionary - Certain;   Smith Bible Dictionary - Ma'ra;   Wilson's Dictionary of Bible Types - Naomi;   Watson's Biblical & Theological Dictionary - Name;  

Encyclopedias:

- Kitto Biblical Cyclopedia - Bitter;   The Jewish Encyclopedia - Ashes;   Salvation;  

Devotionals:

- Every Day Light - Devotion for July 29;  

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
“Don’t call me Naomi. Call me Mara,” she answered, “for the Almighty has made me very bitter.
Hebrew Names Version
She said to them, "Don't call me Na`omi, call me Mara; for Shaddai has dealt very bitterly with me.
King James Version
And she said unto them, Call me not Naomi, call me Mara: for the Almighty hath dealt very bitterly with me.
Lexham English Bible
And she said to them, "You should not call me Naomi; call me Mara, for Shaddai has caused me to be very bitter.
English Standard Version
She said to them, "Do not call me Naomi; call me Mara, for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me.
New Century Version
Naomi answered the people, "Don't call me Naomi. Call me Mara, because the Almighty has made my life very sad.
New English Translation
But she replied to them, "Don't call me ‘Naomi'! Call me ‘Mara' because the Sovereign One has treated me very harshly.
Amplified Bible
She said to them, "Do not call me Naomi (sweetness); call me Mara (bitter), for the Almighty has caused me great grief and bitterness.
New American Standard Bible
But she said to them, "Do not call me Naomi; call me Mara, for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me.
Geneva Bible (1587)
And she answered them, Call me not Naomi, but call me Mara: for the Almightie hath giuen me much bitternes.
Legacy Standard Bible
She said to them, "Do not call me Naomi; call me Mara, for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me.
Contemporary English Version
Then she told them, "Don't call me Naomi any longer! Call me Mara, because God has made my life bitter.
Complete Jewish Bible
"Don't call me Na‘omi [pleasant]," she answered them; "call me Marah [bitter], because Shaddai has made my life very bitter.
Darby Translation
And she said to them, Call me not Naomi—call me Mara; for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me.
Easy-to-Read Version
But Naomi told the people, "Don't call me Naomi; call me Marah. Use this name because God All-Powerful has made my life very sad.
George Lamsa Translation
And she said to them, Do not call me Naomi, but call me Bitter of Soul; for the Almighty has dealt bitterly with me.
Good News Translation
"Don't call me Naomi," she answered; "call me Marah, because Almighty God has made my life bitter.
Literal Translation
And she said to them, Do not call me Naomi. Call me Bitterness, for the Almighty has dealt bitterly with me.
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
Neuerthelesse she sayde vnto them: call me not Naemi, but Mara: for the Allmightie hath made me very sory.
American Standard Version
And she said unto them, Call me not Naomi, call me Mara; for the Almighty hath dealt very bitterly with me.
Bible in Basic English
And she said to them, Do not let my name be Naomi, but Mara, for the Ruler of all has given me a bitter fate.
Bishop's Bible (1568)
And she annswered them: Cal me not Naomi: but call me Mara, for the almightie hath made me verie bitter.
JPS Old Testament (1917)
And she said unto them: 'Call me not Naomi, call me Marah; for the Almighty hath dealt very bitterly with me.
King James Version (1611)
And she said vnto them, Call me not Naomi; call mee Mara: for the Almightie hath dealt very bitterly with me.
Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
And she said to them, Nay, do not call me Noemin; call me ‘Bitter,’ for the Mighty One has dealt very bitterly with me.
English Revised Version
And she said unto them, Call me not Naomi, call me Mara: for the Almighty hath dealt very bitterly with me.
Berean Standard Bible
"Do not call me Naomi," she replied. "Call me Mara, because the Almighty has dealt quite bitterly with me.
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
To whiche sche seide, Clepe ye not me Noemy, that is, fair, but `clepe ye me Mara, that is, bittere; for Almyyti God hath fillid me greetli with bitternesse.
Young's Literal Translation
And she saith unto them, `Call me not Naomi; call me Mara, for the Almighty hath dealt very bitterly to me,
Webster's Bible Translation
And she said to them, Call me not Naomi, call me Mara: for the Almighty hath dealt very bitterly with me.
World English Bible
She said to them, "Don't call me Naomi, call me Mara; for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me.
New King James Version
But she said to them, "Do not call me Naomi; [fn] call me Mara, [fn] for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me.
New Living Translation
"Don't call me Naomi," she responded. "Instead, call me Mara, for the Almighty has made life very bitter for me.
New Life Bible
She said to them, "Do not call me Naomi. Call me Mara. For the All-powerful has brought much trouble to me.
New Revised Standard
She said to them, "Call me no longer Naomi, call me Mara, for the Almighty has dealt bitterly with me.
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
And she said unto them, Do not call me Naomi, - call me Mara, for the Almighty hath dealt very bitterly with me:
Douay-Rheims Bible
But she said to them: Call me not Noemi (that is, beautiful,) but call me Mara (that is, bitter), for the Almighty hath quite filled me with bitterness.
Revised Standard Version
She said to them, "Do not call me Na'omi, call me Mara, for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me.
THE MESSAGE
But she said, "Don't call me Naomi; call me Bitter. The Strong One has dealt me a bitter blow. I left here full of life, and God has brought me back with nothing but the clothes on my back. Why would you call me Naomi? God certainly doesn't. The Strong One ruined me."
New American Standard Bible (1995)
She said to them, "Do not call me Naomi; call me Mara, for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me.

Contextual Overview

19 So they both went until they came to Bethlehem. And it came to pass, when they had come to Bethlehem, that all the city was moved about them, and [the women] said, Is this Naomi? 20 And she said to them, Don't call me Naomi, call me Mara; for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me. 21 I went out full, and Yahweh has brought me home again empty; why do you call me Naomi, seeing Yahweh has testified against me, and the Almighty has afflicted me? 22 So Naomi returned, and Ruth the Moabitess, her daughter-in-law, with her, who returned out of the country of Moab: and they came to Bethlehem in the beginning of barley harvest.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

Naomi: that is, Pleasant

Mara: that is, Bitter

the Almighty: Genesis 17:1, Genesis 43:14, Job 5:17, Job 11:7, Revelation 1:8, Revelation 21:22

dealt: Job 6:4, Job 19:6, Psalms 73:14, Psalms 88:15, Isaiah 38:13, Lamentations 3:1-20, Hebrews 12:11

Reciprocal: Exodus 1:14 - their lives Exodus 15:23 - Marah Ruth 1:2 - Naomi 1 Samuel 1:10 - in bitterness of soul Job 13:26 - writest Job 23:16 - Almighty Job 27:2 - vexed my soul Psalms 107:39 - they are Isaiah 22:4 - Look Isaiah 47:9 - these two Lamentations 3:15 - filled Lamentations 4:8 - they Micah 1:12 - Maroth Revelation 8:11 - Wormwood

Cross-References

Genesis 1:7
And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so.
Genesis 1:14
And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days and years:
Genesis 1:22
And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.
Genesis 1:24
And God said, Let the earth bring forth living creatures after their kind, cattle, and creeping things, and beasts of the earth after their kind: and it was so.
Genesis 1:25
And God made the beasts of the earth after their kind, and the cattle after their kind, and everything that creeps on the ground after its kind: and God saw that it was good.
Genesis 1:30
and to every beast of the earth, and to every bird of the heavens, and to everything that creeps on the earth, wherein there is life, [I have given] every green herb for food: and it was so.
Genesis 2:19
And out of the ground Yahweh God formed every beast of the field, and every bird of the heavens; and brought them to the man to see what he would call them: and whatever the man called every living creature, that was the name thereof.
Genesis 8:17
Bring forth with you every living thing that is with you of all flesh, both birds, and cattle, and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth; that they may breed abundantly in the earth, and be fruitful, and multiply on the earth.
1 Kings 4:33
And he spoke of trees, from the cedar that is in Lebanon even to the hyssop that springs out of the wall; he spoke also of beasts, and of birds, and of creeping things, and of fish.
Psalms 148:10
Beasts and all cattle; Creeping things and flying birds;

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And she said, call me not Naomi, call me Mara,.... The one signifying "prosperity", according to Josephus m, and the other "grief"; but he is not always correct in his interpretation of Hebrew words, or to be depended on; by this indeed her different states are well enough expressed, and he rightly observes, that she might more justly be called the one than the other; but the words signify, the one "sweet" and pleasant, and the other "bitter", see Exodus 15:23, and the reason she gives confirms it:

for the Almighty hath dealt very bitterly with me; had wrote bitter things against her, brought bitter afflictions on her, which were very disagreeable to the flesh, as the loss of her husband, her children, and her substance; see Lamentations 3:15.

m Antiqu. l. 5. c. 9. sect. 2.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

See the margin. Similar allusions to the meaning of names are seen in Genesis 27:36; Jeremiah 20:3.

The Almighty - שׁדי shadday (see the Genesis 17:1 note). The name “Almighty” is almost unique to the Pentateuch and to the Book of Job. It occurs twice in the Psalms, and four times in the Prophets.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Ruth 1:20. Call me not Naomi — That is, beautiful or pleasant.

Call me Mara — That is, bitter; one whose life is grievous to her.

The Almighty — שדי Shaddai, He who is self-sufficient, has taken away the props and supports of my life.


 
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