Ruth answered: Speake not to me thereof, that I shulde forsake thee, and turne backe from the: whither so euer thou goest, thither wil I go also: and loke where thou abydest, there wil I abide also: Thy people is my people, and thy God is my God. Loke where thou diest, there wil I dye, and euen there wil I also be buried. The Lorde do this and that unto me, death onely shal departe vs.

Now whan she sawe, that she was stedfastly mynded to go with her, she spake nomore to her therof. So they wente on both together, till they came vnto Bethleem.

(Miles Coverdale: 1536)

And Ruth answered, Intreate mee not to leaue thee, nor to depart from thee: for whither thou goest, I will goe: and where thou dwellest, I will dwell: thy people shalbe my people, and thy God my God. Where thou diest, will I die, and there will I be buried. The Lord do so to me and more also, if ought but death depart thee and me.

When she saw yt she was stedfastly minded to goe with her, shee left speaking vnto her. So they went both vntill they came to Beth-lehem …

(The Geneva Bible: 1560)

She answered: Be not against me, to desire that I should leave thee and depart: for whithersoever thou shalt go, I will go: and where thou shalt dwell, I also will dwell. Thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God. The land that shall receive thee dying, in the same will I die: and there will I be buried. The Lord do so and so to me, and add more also, if aught but death part me and thee.

Then Noemi seeing, that Ruth was steadfastly determined to go with her, would not be against it, nor persuade her any more to return to her friends: So they went together and came to Bethlehem.

(The Douai Bible: 1609)

And Ruth said, Entreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following after thee: for whither thou goest, I will go: and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God: Where thou diest, will I die, and there will I be buried: the Lord do so to me, and more also, if ought but death part thee and me.

When she saw that she was stedfastly minded to go with her, then she left speaking unto her. So they two went until they came to Bethlehem …

(Authorized Version: 1611)

It is a lesson in much more than mere word-craft to consider each of these in turn. In one, the lovely simplicity of ‘that I forsake thee, and go away’; in another, ‘that Ruth had deemed with steadfast soul to go with her’; in another, ‘She spake no more to her thereof. So they went on both together’; and then, the sovran ‘Intreat me not to leave thee’, and ‘the Lord do so to me and more also’; and last, in the Douai translation, ‘if aught but death part me and thee’.

Here also is but a fragment from the second chapter of Genesis:

And the Lord God brought forthe of the erthe eche tree fayre in sight, and swete to ete.

(Wycliffe)

And the Lorde God caused to sprynge out of the earth all maner trees, pleasant to loke upon, and good to eate.

(Miles Coverdale: 1536)