拿阿美頌歌

拿阿美頌歌

Song for Naomi        

                                                                     Written by Rev George Leslie Mackay

                                                                     Translated by Gary Lai

                                                                                                     2017／7／12

早有一人，名拿阿美；住在猶太，本國居住。

猶太饑荒，欠缺糧米，遷徙摩押，外邦閃避。

There was once a woman named Naomi; who was a Jew from Judah, and for want of food migrated to Moab to avoid a famine.

阿美丈夫，以利米勒，有子兩人，瑪倫基連，

瑪倫基連，娶摩押人，父子不幸，死在外邦。

Naomi and her husband, Elimelek, had two sons ,Mahlon and Kilion, who married Moabite women. Unfortunately the father and the sons died one after another in the foreign country.

阿美看來，世事了然，服事上帝，心有敬虔。

要歸本國，與主連結，想在摩押，外邦不便。

Now Naomi saw through the world , she devoted herself to serving God with all her heart. And she was thinking of going back to her home country to unite with her God, for it was inconvenient for her to stay in Moab, a foreign country.

阿美敬畏，上帝之人，想起子死，世間絕望，

勸她媳婦，改嫁別人，不可跟她，驚了空空。

Naomi was a God-fearing person. Because of her sons’ death, She lost all her hope of the world. And she tried hard to persuad her sons’ wives to remarry and not to be with her, lest they should do nothing in vain.

媳婦二人，一個路德，服事姑家，真有孝德。

丈夫過世，甘心受苦，與她姑家，不離半步。

One of her two daughter-in-laws was Ruth, who treated her with a lot of filial piety; who suffered mishaps quite willingly after her husband’s death and looked after her mother-in-law without moving even a half step from her.

路德為人，真有志氣，對她姑家，講亦要去，

聽她所說，話極詳細，妳的上帝，是我上帝。

Ruth was a determined person, and she told her mother-in-law that she too would go with her. Listen she said very clearly, your God is my God.’’

姑家媳婦，轉來本國，家中清淡，無時快樂，

路德親身，去拾麥穗，拿來奉養，照顧姑家。

So together they returned to the mother-in-law’s own country. Their house was quite bare and their life was full of unhappiness. Ruth had to go by herself into the field to glean the wheat, and in this way she supported and waited upon her mother-in-law.

咱聽阿美、路德聲音，詳細來想，使人傷心。

總是做好，得著現報，上帝施恩，有可依靠。

As we Listen to and think deeply about the tale of Naomi and Ruth, our hearts become sad and tender. But in any event we must do good so that by God’s grace we might have a retribution before our eyes.

要知路德，後來之事，阿美將她，嫁給波士。

波士家業，甚然大富，路德嫁他，有明憑據。

You see what happened to Ruth afterwards. Naomi married her off to Boaz, a man of great wealth. Ruth was legally and openly married to him.

看來路德，孝順可取，後來後裔，有出救主，

聖經所記，流傳極久，代代傳揚，講她孝婦。

As you know, Ruth was commendable for her filial piety and moreover, one of her descendants begot the Savior. Hence the story about this loyal daughter-in-law was written in the Bible and has been handed down generation upon generation.

勸你信主，子兒媳婦，當學路德，行孝故事，

敬順父母，是人本分，上帝五誡，真實應允。

Advise you to believe in God, and let your sons and daughter-in-laws emulate the filial piety behavior of Ruth. To honor your father and your mother is a duty which every one of you must do , and it is so true as God commanded with a promise in the fifth commandment .