今天我可以款待谁呢？

When a foreigner resides among you in your land, do not mistreat them...Love them as yourself, for you were foreigners in Egypt. Leviticus 19:33-34

若有外人在你们国中和你同居，就不可欺负他。……并要爱他如己，因为你们在埃及地也作过寄居的。-利未记19章33-34节

When my husband and I moved to Seattle to be near his sister, we didn’t know where we would live or work. A local church helped us find a place: a rental house with many bedrooms. We could live in one bedroom, and rent the others to international students. For the next three years, we were strangers welcoming strangers: sharing our home and meals with people from all over the world. We and our housemates also welcomed dozens of international students into our home every Friday night for Bible study.

我和丈夫为了能与小姑相互照应而搬到西雅图，起初我们还不知道要在何处谋生与落脚。一间当地的教会帮我们找到了一栋有很多房间可供分租的房子。我们可以住其中一间，并将其他的房间分租给国际学生。接下来的三年，我们这两个异乡人接待了许多异乡客，与来自世界各地的学生分享我们的居所与膳食。每周五晚上，我们和这些国际学生会在家中举行查经聚会，一起款待更多的异乡客。

God’s people know what it means to be far from home. For several hundred years, the Israelites were literal foreigners—and slaves—in Egypt. In Leviticus 19, alongside familiar instructions like “Respect your mother and father” and “Do not steal” (vv. 3, 11), God reminded His people to empathetically care for foreigners, because they knew what it was like to be foreigners and afraid (vv. 33–34).

上帝的子民知道远离家园的滋味。因为以色列民就曾在埃及当过异乡客，还沦为奴隶，达数百年之久。利未记19章不仅提到“当孝敬父母”及“不可偷盗”（3、11节）这些耳熟能详的教导，上帝还提醒祂的子民，要能将心比心地关顾异乡客，因为他们深知身为异乡客心中的恐惧（33-34节）。

While not all of us as followers of God today have experienced literal exile, we all know how it feels to be “foreigners” on earth (1 Peter 2:11)—people who feel like outsiders because our ultimate allegiance is to a heavenly kingdom. We are called to create a community of hospitality—strangers welcoming strangers into God’s family. The hospitable welcome my husband and I experienced in Seattle taught us to extend welcome to others—and that is at the heart of being the family of God (Romans 12:13).

虽然，并非所有跟随上帝的人都有离乡背井的经历，但却都知悉在世上为“客旅”的感受（彼得前书2章11节） 。因我们最终所向往的乃是天国，所以在世上俨然是个异乡人。上帝要我们建立一个好客的群体，我们原本都是异乡人，祂要我们带领异乡客进入上帝的家中。我和丈夫在西雅图受到了殷勤的款待，也让我们学习如此接待人。这是身为上帝家中的一员应尽的责任（罗马书12章13节） 。

上帝，感谢祢接待我们进入祢的家和相信祢的群体之中，请祢也赐给我们乐意接待他人的心和家。

Leviticus 19:1-9   NIV

19 The Lord said to Moses, 2 “Speak to the entire assembly of Israel and say to them: ‘Be holy because I, the Lord your God, am holy. 3 “‘Each of you must respect your mother and father, and you must observe my Sabbaths. I am the Lord your God. 4 “‘Do not turn to idols or make metal gods for yourselves. I am the Lord your God. 5 “‘When you sacrifice a fellowship offering to the Lord, sacrifice it in such a way that it will be accepted on your behalf. 6 It shall be eaten on the day you sacrifice it or on the next day; anything left over until the third day must be burned up. 7 If any of it is eaten on the third day, it is impure and will not be accepted. 8 Whoever eats it will be held responsible because they have desecrated what is holy to the Lord; they must be cut off from their people. 9 “‘When you reap the harvest of your land, do not reap to the very edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest.

Leviticus 19:33-34   NIV 

19 “‘When a foreigner resides among you in your land, do not mistreat them. 34 The foreigner residing among you must be treated as your native-born. Love them as yourself, for you were foreigners in Egypt. I am the Lord your God.

利未记 19:1-9 

19 耶和华对摩西说： 2 “你晓谕以色列全会众说：你们要圣洁，因为我耶和华你们的神是圣洁的。 3 你们各人都当孝敬父母，也要守我的安息日。我是耶和华你们的神。 4 你们不可偏向虚无的神，也不可为自己铸造神像。我是耶和华你们的神。 5 “你们献平安祭给耶和华的时候，要献得可蒙悦纳。 6 这祭物要在献的那一天和第二天吃，若有剩到第三天的，就必用火焚烧。 7 第三天若再吃，这就为可憎恶的，必不蒙悦纳。 8 凡吃的人必担当他的罪孽，因为他亵渎了耶和华的圣物，那人必从民中剪除。 9 “在你们的地收割庄稼，不可割尽田角，也不可拾取所遗落的；

利未记 19:33-34 

19 “若有外人在你们国中和你同居，就不可欺负他。 34 和你们同居的外人，你们要看他如本地人一样，并要爱他如己，因为你们在埃及地也做过寄居的。我是耶和华你们的神。

INSIGHT

灵粮透视

God promised the Israelites they would always have enough food to eat if they remained faithful to Him (Leviticus 26:3–5). Because God promised to provide for them, He commanded them to provide for the poor and the needy. God gave various harvest laws (Leviticus 19:9–10; 23:22; Deuteronomy 23:24–25; 24:19–22) to enable the poor to “work” for their food with dignity without having to resort to begging or stealing. We also see this compassionate law of gleaning in the story of Ruth (Ruth 2).

上帝应许以色列人，只要他们忠心听从上帝，他们就会有充足的食物（利未记26章3-5节）。上帝应许供应他们，祂也吩咐他们顾念穷人和有需要的人。上帝颁布各种有关收割的律例（利未记19章9-10节，23章22节；申命记23章24-25节，24章19-22节），是要让穷人能有尊严地以“劳力”获取食物，而无需乞讨或偷窃。在路得拾麦穗的故事中，我们也能看到这条充满怜悯的律例（路得记2章）。

整理：于姊妹