< 路得記 3 >

1 路得的婆婆拿俄米對她說:「女兒啊,我不當為你找個安身之處,使你享福嗎?
One day, Naomi said to Ruth, “My daughter, I think that I should [RHQ] try to arrange for you to have a husband [MTY] who will (take care of/provide for) you.
2 你與波阿斯的使女常在一處,波阿斯不是我們的親族嗎?他今夜在場上簸大麥;
Boaz, the man with whose [servant] girls you have been [gathering grain], is a close relative [of our dead husbands]. Listen [carefully]. Tonight he will be at the ground where [the barley has] been threshed. He will be separating the barley grain from the chaff.
3 你要沐浴抹膏,換上衣服,下到場上,卻不要使那人認出你來。你等他吃喝完了,
Bathe yourself and put on some perfume. Put on your [best] clothes. Then go down to the ground where they have threshed [the grain]. But do not let Boaz know that you are there while he is eating [supper] and drinking.
4 到他睡的時候,你看準他睡的地方,就進去掀開他腳上的被,躺臥在那裏,他必告訴你所當做的事。」
[When he has finished eating], notice where he lies down to sleep. Then [when he is asleep], take the blanket off his feet and lie [close to his feet]. [When he wakes up], he will tell you what to do.”
5 路得說:「凡你所吩咐的,我必遵行。」
Ruth replied, “I will do everything that you have told me [to do].”
6 路得就下到場上,照她婆婆所吩咐她的而行。
So she went down to the ground where they had threshed [the barley grain]. There she did everything that her mother-in-law had told her [to do].
7 波阿斯吃喝完了,心裏歡暢,就去睡在麥堆旁邊。路得便悄悄地來掀開他腳上的被,躺臥在那裏。
When Boaz finished eating [supper] and drinking [wine], he felt happy. Then he went over to the far end of the pile of grain. He lay down [and went to sleep]. Then Ruth approached him quietly. She took the blanket off his feet and lay down [there].
8 到了夜半,那人忽然驚醒,翻過身來,不料有女子躺在他的腳下。
In the middle of the night, he suddenly awoke. He sat up and saw that a woman was lying at his feet.
9 他就說:「你是誰?」回答說:「我是你的婢女路得。求你用你的衣襟遮蓋我,因為你是我一個至近的親屬。」
He asked her, “Who are you?” She replied, “I am your servant, Ruth. Since you are the one who has a responsibility to take care of [someone like me whose dead husband was] your close relative, spread the corner of your cloak over my [feet to show that you will marry me].”
10 波阿斯說:「女兒啊,願你蒙耶和華賜福。你末後的恩比先前更大;因為少年人無論貧富,你都沒有跟從。
Boaz replied, “Young lady, I hope that Yahweh will (bless/be kind to) you! You have acted kindly [toward your mother-in-law], and now you are acting even more kindly [toward me by wanting to marry me, instead of wanting to marry a young man]. You have not looked for either a rich young man or a poor young man, [to marry him].
11 女兒啊,現在不要懼怕,凡你所說的,我必照着行;我本城的人都知道你是個賢德的女子。
Now, young lady, I will do everything you ask. Don’t worry [that people in this town might think I am doing wrong by marrying you because you are a woman from Moab]. All the people in this town know that you are an honorable woman.
12 我實在是你一個至近的親屬,只是還有一個人比我更近。
But [there is one problem]. Although it is true that I am a close relative [of your mother-in-law’s dead husband], there is another man who is a closer relative [than I am], and therefore he should be the one to [marry you and] take care of you.
13 你今夜在這裏住宿,明早他若肯為你盡親屬的本分,就由他吧!倘若不肯,我指着永生的耶和華起誓,我必為你盡了本分,你只管躺到天亮。」
You stay here for the rest of this night. Tomorrow morning [I will tell this man about you]. If he says that he will [marry you and] take care of you, fine, [we will] let him do that. But if he is not willing [to do that], I solemnly promise that as surely as Yahweh lives, I will [marry you and] take care of you. So lie/sleep here until it is morning.”
14 路得便在他腳下躺到天快亮,人彼此不能辨認的時候就起來了。波阿斯說:「不可使人知道有女子到場上來」;
So she lay at his feet until morning. But she got up and left before it was light enough that people would be able to recognize her, because Boaz said, “I do not want anyone to know that a woman was here.”
15 又對路得說:「打開你所披的外衣。」她打開了,波阿斯就撮了六簸箕大麥,幫她扛在肩上,她便進城去了。
He also said to her, “Bring to me your cloak and spread it out.” When she did that, he poured into it six measures/24 liters/50 pounds of barley, and put in on her back. Then he (OR, she) went back to the town.
16 路得回到婆婆那裏,婆婆說:「女兒啊,怎麼樣了?」路得就將那人向她所行的述說了一遍,
When Ruth arrived home, her mother-in-law asked her, “My daughter, how did (things go/Boaz act toward you)?” Then Ruth told her everything that Boaz had done for her [and said to her].
17 又說:「那人給了我六簸箕大麥,對我說:『你不可空手回去見你的婆婆。』」
She also said [to Naomi], “He gave me all this barley, saying ‘I do not want you to return to your mother-in-law empty-handed.’”
18 婆婆說:「女兒啊,你只管安坐等候,看這事怎樣成就,因為那人今日不辦成這事必不休息。」
Then Naomi said, “My daughter, just wait until we see what happens. [I am sure that] Boaz will take care of [LIT] the matter [of your marriage]. [LIT]”

< 路得記 3 >