A long time ago, in a land called Bethlehem, lived a woman named Naomi. Because of a famine, she and her family moved to a distant place called Moab. There, her two sons married two young women from Moab: Orpah and Ruth.

But a great sadness happened. Naomi's husband died, and later, her two sons died too. Naomi was left alone, with only her two daughters-in-law, Orpah and Ruth, in a land that was not her own.