In the days when the judges were leading the tribes of Israel, there was a famine. Because of this crisis, Elimelech, a man from Bethlehem in Judah, moved to Moab with his wife, Naomi, and his two sons, Mahlon and Chilion. There Elimelech died, and the two sons married Moabite women, Ruth and Orpah. They lived for about ten years in Moab, before Mahlon and Chilion died, too.
–Wikipedia