In the days the judges wandered And the land was hard and dry Naomi left her home in Bethlehem With sorrow waiting on the other side Oh, I've held the years that broke her Took her husband, took her sons And the silence fell around her Before the healing had begun So she turned her face for home again When the Lord gave bread once more One went back, but Ruth stayed with her On that long and bitter road Where you go, I will go now Where you stay, I will remain Your people will be my people You'll guide my hope through every pain Through the hunger and the harvest Through the sorrow and the storm The Lord walks with the broken And He'll lead the exile home Through the empty and the waiting Through the night so cold and long Mercy gathers in the body And redemption carries on Back in Bethlehem the fields were wakened Ruth bent low to glean the grain Though I saw her faithful labor And covered her with grace On the threshing floor at midnight Hope was laid before the gate What was lost was not forgotten Love and mercy would not wait Through the hunger and the harvest Through the sorrow and the storm The Lord walks with the broken And He leads the exile home Through the empty and the waiting Through the night so cold and long Mercy gathers in the barley And redemption carries on At the gate the word was spoken At the gate the price was paid What stood empty was restored there What was bitter changed by grace Through the hunger and the harvest Through the sorrow and the storm The Lord walks with the broken And He leads the exile home Through the empty and the waiting Through the night so cold and long From the field came royal mercy And redemption carried on