The story of Ruth, described in the Book of Ruth (one of the few books in the Bible named after a woman) is set in the same time period as the book of Judges. A famine struck Bethlehem, forcing a man named Elimelech to leave his hometown and take his wife, Naomi, and sons Mahlon and Chilion to the country of the Moabites. Elimelech died, whereupon Mahlon and Chilion both married local women. Mahlon chose a young woman named Ruth, but he also died shortly thereafter. Heartbroken, Naomi prepared to move back to Bethlehem and told Ruth to return to her own family. Ruth decided to stay with her, saying, “Where you go, I will go” (Ruth 1:16).