Ruth

Ruth is the eighth book of the Bible and one of its shortest at only four chapters. It tells a quiet story set "in the days when the judges ruled," the same chaotic period covered by the book of Judges. But the events here are domestic rather than national. The book is traditionally attributed to Samuel, though the actual author is unknown.

The story opens with a famine in Israel. A family from Bethlehem moves to Moab to find food. The father and both sons die, leaving the mother, Naomi, and her two Moabite daughters-in-law. Naomi decides to return to Bethlehem and tells the women to go back to their own families. One does. The other, Ruth, refuses to leave, declaring that Naomi's people will be her people and Naomi's God will be her God.

Back in Bethlehem, Ruth gleans grain in the fields of a man named Boaz, a relative of Naomi's late husband. Boaz takes notice of her, treats her kindly, and eventually marries her under the laws governing family inheritance. Their son becomes the grandfather of King David. The book closes with a short genealogy that ties Ruth, a Moabite outsider, into the family line that will produce Israel's greatest king.