# Lord, bless this house.



## icapelliperte

Greetings all!

I want to paint this phrase "Lord, bless this house" on a small blank of wood. I think I might have figured it out, but I don't entirely trust myself yet. What I think it may be is "主家を恵みて," but I cannot say for sure. I am gladly open to correction. Thanks in advance!

Regards,
Andrew


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## wathavy

Hi, Andrew.
Your translation is actually perfect as the straight translation.
And most of us natives could tell that was done so.

But in reality, as you know, Japanese are not Christian. So what one might alter the Japanese sentence may, perhaps, be....
"福は内"
"家内安全"
These are some and I hope you could get what they mean.
Cheers.


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## Wishfull

icapelliperte said:


> Greetings all!
> 
> I want to paint this phrase "Lord, bless this house" on a small blank of wood. I think I might have figured it out, but I don't entirely trust myself yet. What I think it may be is "主家を恵みて," but I cannot say for sure. I am gladly open to correction. Thanks in advance!
> 
> Regards,
> Andrew



Hi.
I can't understand "主家を恵みて”. As Wathavy mentioned, it might be OK, because the Bible's Japanese is often odd and incomprehensible to me.

But I think usual literal translation would be;
*主よ、この家に恵みあれ*

I think my translation is not bad, because I went to Christian kindergarten when I was a kid and used to listen to these kinds of strange Japanese in a sence.


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## Flaminius

Hello,

While translating the verb _bless_ is difficult, I don't think the Japanese language cannot naturally express oration to a monotheistic God.

神がこの家を祝福してくださいますように

Edit:
Oh, I quite understand that this may too long for a sign.  An attempt at something more concise is:
この家に神の祝福あれ


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## lammn

Flaminius said:


> 神がこの家を祝福してくださいますように


 
I think your translation is more understandable to the ordinary Japanese people. (I meant non-Christians.)
Correct me if I am wrong, but it does not sound like a direct address to God.
I think the original English phrase "Lord, bless this house" is a direct prayer to God.



Wishfull said:


> But I think usual literal translation would be;
> *主よ、この家に恵みあれ*
> 
> I think my translation is not bad, because I went to Christian kindergarten when I was a kid and used to listen to these kinds of strange Japanese in a sence.


 
Your translation is very _biblical_ style indeed.  
I can't think of any word other than 主よ that will best translate the idea "Lord!".
However, I have to admit that ordinary Japanese people may not understand the "Lord" concept.

If the thread-starter is willing to change the phrase to "*God*, bless this house", then 神よ、この家に恵みあれ or 神よ、この家を祝福してくださいますように might work.


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## Wishfull

lammn said:


> I can't think of any word other than 主よ that will best translate the idea "Lord!".
> However, I have to admit that ordinary Japanese people may not understand the "Lord" concept.



Hi. Thank you for your post.
I want to talk about "主” a little bit more.
I think not a few Japanese understand　” 主”　because of Christmas songs.
For example;
*モロビトコゾリテ・・・・・・
シュワキマセリ　シュワキマセリ　シューワーアー　シュワーキマセリ*　

http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/もろびとこぞりて

Do you understand the phrase?
Many children can't even understand that it is Japanese, I think.

諸人こぞりて、主は来ませり。
It is written in old Japanese grammar, and I can't translate it correctly into today's Japanese sentence.
Yet, I　（We）　know "主” means Jesus Christ.


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## Uebersetzer

How about 「主よ、この家庭を祝福して」or 「主よ、この家を祝福して」with the first meaning "Lord bless this home" and the latter meaning "Lord, bless this house". This is the way it is said at church and I think works just fine.

God bless!!! 祝福あれ！


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## Flaminius

lammn said:


> Flaminius said:
> 
> 
> 
> 神がこの家を祝福してくださいますように
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I think your translation is more understandable to the ordinary Japanese people. (I meant non-Christians.)
> Correct me if I am wrong, but it does not sound like a direct address to God.
> I think the original English phrase "Lord, bless this house" is a direct prayer to God.
Click to expand...

Well, it's the insidious comma that I overlooked.    I thought the text is "[May] Lord bless this house" and I took the structure from Shinkyōdōyaku Bible.




Uebersetzer said:


> How about 「主よ、この家庭を祝福して」or 「主よ、この家を祝福して」with the first meaning "Lord bless this home" and the latter meaning "Lord, bless this house". This is the way it is said at church and I think works just fine.


No.  Unfortunately, 祝福して sounds very childish.  A formal adjuration such as prayers must end with ください.  I suggest the following rewrites:
主よ、この家庭を祝福してください。
主よ、この家を祝福してください。


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## Uebersetzer

Flaminius said:


> Well, it's the insidious comma that I overlooked.    I thought the text is "[May] Lord bless this house" and I took the structure from Shinkyōdōyaku Bible.
> 
> 
> 
> No.  Unfortunately, 祝福して sounds very childish.  A formal adjuration such as prayers must end with ください.  I suggest the following rewrites:
> 主よ、この家庭を祝福してください。
> 主よ、この家を祝福してください。



Sorry but I disagree from you because that's the way it's used at church and I'm also worried about the space for writing the sentence. In addition to that language used at church mustn't ALWAYS be formal. Japanese people are usually formal but that's not absolute when as far as expressing one's faith and praying. As a matter of fact my pastor prays in 大阪弁　：）

If you REALLY want to sound formal and also want the sentence to fit in a CHRISTIAN environment, I would suggest the following:

「主がこの家庭を祝福されますように」
「主がこの家を祝福されますように」


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## Flaminius

Uebersetzer said:


> As a matter of fact my pastor prays in 大阪弁


I think you have given a clue here.  It may be that adjurations ending with the _te_-form is not so uncommon in serious speeches in and around Osaka.  It seems that your church has selected a wording that gets closer to the heart of its congregants.  How do they like it?

When it comes to the modern standard Japanese (which is meant by the simple term "Japanese" in these forums), however, the absence of ください means that God is one's junior or at least a peer; thus bordering on mockery.


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## lammn

Flaminius said:


> No. Unfortunately, 祝福して sounds very childish. A formal adjuration such as prayers must end with ください. I suggest the following rewrites:
> 主よ、この家庭を祝福してください。
> 主よ、この家を祝福してください。


 


Flaminius said:


> When it comes to the modern standard Japanese (which is meant by the simple term "Japanese" in these forums), however, the absence of ください means that God is one's junior or at least a peer; thus bordering on mockery.


 
I also prefer 主よ、この家庭を祝福してください to 主よ、この家庭を祝福して. 

However, I would not say that 主よ、この家庭を祝福して is wrong.
The choice of politeness level depends very much upon one's relationship with God.
See how Jesus calls his disciples (and followers) "friends" in John 15:14-15:


> You are my friends if you do what I command. I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master's business.


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## Flaminius

Uhm, friends of Jesus.  Based on the doctrine that man was created as _imago Dei_ —though I find it very difficult to swallow— requests ending in _te_-forms do not sound as impudent as they once did to me.

I think I'd just point out that this construction is usually used between intimate persons or to those who have less social prestige than the speaker; such as servants of whom you have reminded me (not that I have a servant to take care of my chores).


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## lammn

Flaminius said:


> I think I'd just point out that this construction is usually used between intimate persons...


 
That is the point.
The relationship between God and the Church (believers of Jesus) *is* very intimate.
The Bible often uses "husband and wife" to describe the relationship between God and the Church:



> "For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh." This is a profound mystery—but I am talking about Christ and the church. (Ephesians 5:31-32)


Similar parables are also used in Revelation.
It is also said that the whole book of Song of Solomon, which describes the intimate relationship between a groom and a bride, is actually describing the relationship between God and the Church.


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