Chapter 87

13:12. And all Juda brought the tithe of the corn, and the wine, and the oil into the storehouses.

13:13. And we set over the storehouses Selemias the priest, and Sadoc the scribe, and of the Levites Phadaia, and next to them Hanan the son of Zachur, the son of Mathania: for they were approved as faithful, and to them were committed the portions of their brethren.

13:14. Remember me, O my God, for this thing, and wipe not out my kindnesses, which I have done relating to the house of my God and his ceremonies.

13:15. In those days I saw in Juda some treading the presses on the sabbath, and carrying sheaves, and lading asses with wine, and grapes, and figs, and all manner of burthens, and bringing them into Jerusalem on the sabbath day. And I charged them that they should sell on a day on which it was lawful to sell.

13:16. Some Tyrians also dwelt there, who brought fish, and all manner of wares: and they sold them on the sabbaths to the children of Juda in Jerusalem.

13:17. And I rebuked the chief men of Juda, and said to them: What is this evil thing that you are doing, profaning the sabbath day:

13:18. Did not our fathers do these things, and our God brought all this evil upon us, and upon this city? And you bring more wrath upon Israel by violating the sabbath.

13:19. And it came to pass, that when the gates of Jerusalem were at rest on the sabbath day, I spoke: and they shut the gates, and I commanded that they should not open them till after the sabbath: and I set some of my servants at the gates, that none should bring in burthens on the sabbath day.

13:20. So the merchants, and they that sold all kinds of wares, stayed without Jerusalem, once or twice.

13:21. And I charged them, and I said to them: Why stay you before the wall? if you do so another time, I will lay hands on you. And from that time they came no more on the sabbath.

13:22. I spoke also to the Levites that they should be purified, and should come to keep the gates, and to sanctify the sabbath day: for this also remember me, O my God, and spare me according to the multitude of thy tender mercies.

13:23. In those days also I saw Jews that married wives, women of Azotus, and of Ammon, and of Moab.

13:24. And their children spoke half in the speech of Azotus, and could not speak the Jews' language, but they spoke according to the language of this and that people.

13:25. And I chid them, and laid my curse upon them. And I beat some of them, and shaved off their hair, and made them swear by God that they would not give their daughters to their sons, nor take their daughters for their sons, nor for themselves, saying:

13:26. Did not Solomon king of Israel sin in this kind of thing: and surely among many nations, there was not a king like him, and he was beloved of his God, and God made him king over all Israel: and yet women of other countries brought even him to sin.

13:27. And shall we also be disobedient and do all this great evil to transgress against our God, and marry strange women:

13:28. And one of the sons of Joiada the son of Eliasib the high priest, was son in law to Sanaballat the Horonite, and I drove him from me.

13:29. Remember them, O Lord my God, that defile the priesthood, and the law of priests and Levites.

13:30. So I separated from them all strangers, and I appointed the courses of the priests and the Levites, every man in his ministry:

13:31. And for the offering of wood at times appointed, and for the firstfruits: remember me, O my God, unto good. Amen.

THE BOOK OF TOBIAS

This Book takes its name from the holy man Tobias, whose wonderful virtues are herein recorded. It contains most excellent documents of great piety, extraordinary patience, and of a perfect resignation to the will of God. His humble prayer was heard, and the angel Raphael was sent to relieve him: he is thankful and praises the Lord, calling on the children of Israel to do the same. Having lived to the age of one hundred and two years, he exhorts his son and grandsons to piety, foretells the destruction of Ninive and the rebuilding of Jerusalem: he dies happily.

Tobias Chapter 1

Tobias's early piety: his works of mercy, particularly in burying the dead.

1:1. Tobias of the tribe and city of Nephtali, (which is in the upper parts of Galilee above Naasson, beyond the way that leadeth to the west, having on the right hand the city of Sephet,)

1:2. When he was made captive in the days of Salmanasar king of the Assyrians, even in his captivity, forsook not the way of truth,

1:3. But every day gave all he could get to his brethren his fellow captives, that were of his kindred.

1:4. And when he was younger than any of the tribe of Nephtali, yet did he no childish thing in his work.

1:5. Moreover when all went to the golden calves which Jeroboam king of Israel had made, he alone fled the company of all,

1:6. And went to Jerusalem to the temple of the Lord, and there adored the Lord God of Israel, offering faithfully all his firstfruits, and his tithes,

1:7. So that in the third year he gave all his tithes to the proselytes, and strangers.

1:8. These and such like things did he observe when but a boy according to the law of God.

1:9. But when he was a man, he took to wife Anna of his own tribe, and had a son by her, whom he called after his own name,

1:10. And from his infancy he taught him to fear God, and to abstain from all sin.

1:11. And when by the captivity he with his wife and his son and all his tribe was come to the city of Ninive,

1:12. (When all ate of the meats of the Gentiles) he kept his soul and never was defiled with their meats.

1:13. And because he was mindful of the Lord with all his heart, God gave him favour in the sight of Salmanasar the king.

1:14. And he gave him leave to go whithersoever he would, with liberty to do whatever he had a mind.

1:15. He therefore went to all that were in captivity, and gave them wholesome admonitions.

1:16. And when he was come to Rages a city of the Medes, and had ten talents of silver of that with which he had been honoured by the king:

1:17. And when amongst a great multitude of his kindred, he saw Gabelus in want, who was one of his tribe, taking a note of his hand he gave him the aforesaid sum of money.

1:18. But after a long time, Salmanasar the king being dead, when Sennacherib his son, who reigned in his place, had a hatred for the children of Israel:

1:19. Tobias daily went among all his kindred and comforted them, and distributed to every one as he was able, out of his goods:

1:20. He fed the hungry, and gave clothes to the naked, and was careful to bury the dead, and they that were slain.

1:21. And when king Sennacherib was come back, fleeing from Judea by reason of the slaughter that God had made about him for his blasphemy, and being angry slew many of the children of Israel, Tobias buried their bodies.

1:22. But when it was told the king, he commanded him to be slain, and took away all his substance.

1:23. But Tobias fleeing naked away with his son and with his wife, lay concealed, for many loved him.

1:24. But after forty-five days, the king was killed by his own sons.

1:25. And Tobias returned to his house, and all his substance was restored to him.

Tobias Chapter 2

Tobias leaveth his dinner to bury the dead: he loseth his sight by God's permission, for manifestation of his patience.

2:1. But after this, when there was a festival of the Lord, and a good dinner was prepared in Tobias's house,

2:2. He said to his son: Go, and bring some of our tribe that fear God, to feast with us.

2:3. And when he had gone, returning he told him, that one of the children of Israel lay slain in the street. And he forthwith leaped up from his place at the table, and left his dinner, and came fasting to the body.

2:4. And taking it up carried it privately to his house, that after the sun was down, he might bury him cautiously.

2:5. And when he had hid the body, he ate bread with mourning and fear,

2:6. Remembering the word which the Lord spoke by Amos the prophet: Your festival days shall be turned into lamentation and mourning.

2:7. So when the sun was down, he went and buried him.

2:8. Now all his neighbours blamed him, saying: once already commandment was given for thee to be slain because of this matter, and thou didst scarce escape the sentence of death, and dost thou again bury the dead?

2:9. But Tobias fearing God more than the king, carried off the bodies of them that were slain, and hid them in his house, and at midnight buried them.

2:10. Now it happened one day that being wearied with burying, he came to his house, and cast himself down by the wall and slept,

2:11. And as he was sleeping, hot dung out of a swallow's nest fell upon his eyes, and he was made blind.

2:12. Now this trial the Lord therefore permitted to happen to him, that an example might be given to posterity of his patience, as also of holy Job.

2:13. For whereas he had always feared God from his infancy, and kept his commandments, he repined not against God because the evil of blindness had befallen him,

2:14. But continued immoveable in the fear of God, giving thanks to God all the days of his life.

2:15. For as the kings insulted over holy Job: so his relations and kinsmen mocked at his life, saying:

Kings. . .So Job's three friends are here called, because they were princes in their respective territories.

2:16. Where is thy hope, for which thou gavest alms, and buriedst the dead?

2:17. But Tobias rebuked them, saying: Speak not so:

2:18. For we are the children of saints, and look for that life which God will give to those that never change their faith from him.

2:19. Now Anna his wife went daily to weaving work, and she brought home what she could get for their living by the labour of her hands.

2:20. Whereby it came to pass, that she received a young kid, and brought it home:

2:21. And when her husband heard it bleating, he said: Take heed, lest perhaps it be stolen: restore ye it to its owners, for it is not lawful for us either to eat or to touch any thing that cometh by theft.

2:22. At these words his wife being angry answered: It is evident the hope is come to nothing, and thy alms now appear.

2:23. And with these and other, such like words she upbraided him.

Tobias Chapter 3

The prayer of Tobias, and of Sara, in their several afflictions, are heard by God, and the angel Raphael is sent to relieve them.

3:1. Then Tobias sighed, and began to pray with tears,

3:2. Saying, Thou art just, O Lord, and all thy judgments are just, and all thy ways mercy, and truth, and judgment:

3:3. And now, O Lord, think of me, and take not revenge of my sins, neither remember my offences, nor those of my parents.

3:4. For we have not obeyed thy commandments, therefore are we delivered to spoil and to captivity, and death, and are made a fable, and a reproach to all nations, amongst which thou hast scattered us.

3:5. And now, O Lord, great are thy judgments, because we have not done according to thy precepts, and have not walked sincerely before thee.

3:6. And now, O Lord, do with me according to thy will, and command my spirit to be received in peace: for it is better for me to die, than to live.

3:7. Now it happened on the same day, that Sara daughter of Raguel, in Rages a city of the Medes, received a reproach from one of her father's servant maids,

Rages. . .In the Greek it is Ecbatana, which was also called Rages. For there were two cities in Media of the name of Rages. Raguel dwelt in one of them, and Gabelus in the other.

3:8. Because she had been given to seven husbands and a devil named Asmodeus had killed them, at their first going in unto her.

3:9. So when she reproved the maid for her fault, she answered her, saying: May we never see son, or daughter of thee upon the earth, thou murderer of thy husbands.

3:10. Wilt thou kill me also, as thou hast already killed seven husbands? At these words, she went into an upper chamber of her house: and for three days and three nights did neither eat nor drink:

3:11. But continuing in prayer with tears besought God, that he would deliver her from this reproach.

3:12. And it came to pass on the third day when she was making an end of her prayer, blessing the Lord,

3:13. She said: Blessed is thy name, O God of our fathers, who when thou hast been angry, wilt shew mercy, and in the time of tribulation forgivest the sins of them that call upon thee.

3:14. To thee, O Lord, I turn my face, to thee I direct my eyes.

3:15. I beg, O Lord, that thou loose me from the bond of this reproach, or else take me away from the earth.

3:16. Thou knowest, O Lord, that I never coveted a husband, and have kept my soul clean from all lust.

3:17. Never have I joined myself with them that play: neither have I made myself partaker with them that walk in lightness.

3:18. But a husband I consented to take, with thy fear, not with my lust.

3:19. And either I was unworthy of them, or they perhaps were not worthy of me: because perhaps thou hast kept me for another man,

3:20. For thy counsel is not in man's power.

3:21. But this every one is sure of that worshippeth thee, that his life, if it be under trial, shall be crowned and if it be under tribulation, it shall be delivered: and if it be under correction, it shall be allowed to come to thy mercy.

3:22. For thou art not delighted in our being lost, because after a storm thou makest a calm, and after tears and weeping thou pourest in joyfulness.

3:23. Be thy name, O God of Israel, blessed for ever,

3:24. At that time the prayers of them both were heard in the sight of the glory of the most high God:

3:25. And the holy angel of the Lord, Raphael was sent to heal them both, whose prayers at one time were rehearsed in the sight of the Lord.

Tobias Chapter 4

Tobias thinking he shall die, giveth his son godly admonitions: and telleth him of money he had lent to a friend.

4:1. Therefore when Tobias thought that his prayer was heard that he might die, he called to him Tobias his son,

4:2. And said to him: Hear, my son, the words of my mouth, and lay them as a foundation in thy heart.

4:3. When God shall take my soul, thou shalt bury my body: and thou shalt honour thy mother all the days of her life:

4:4. For thou must be mindful what and how great perils she suffered for thee in her womb.

4:5. And when she also shall have ended the time of her life, bury her by me.

4:6. And all the days of thy life have God in thy mind: and take heed thou never consent to sin, nor transgress the commandments of the Lord our God.

4:7. Give alms out of thy substance, and turn not away thy face from any poor person: for so it shall come to pass that the face of the Lord shall not be turned from thee.

4:8. According to thy ability be merciful.

4:9. If thou have much give abundantly: if thou have little, take care even so to bestow willingly a little.

4:10. For thus thou storest up to thyself a good reward for the day of necessity.

4:11. For alms deliver from all sin, and from death, and will not suffer the soul to go into darkness.

4:12. Alms shall be a great confidence before the most high God, to all them that give it.

4:13. Take heed to keep thyself, my son, from all fornication, and beside thy wife never endure to know a crime.

4:14. Never suffer pride to reign in thy mind, or in thy words: for from it all perdition took its beginning.

4:15. If any man hath done any work for thee, immediately pay him his hire, and let not the wages of thy hired servant stay with thee at all.

4:16. See thou never do to another what thou wouldst hate to have done to thee by another.

4:17. Eat thy bread with the hungry and the needy, and with thy garments cover the naked,

4:18. Lay out thy bread, and thy wine upon the burial of a just man, and do not eat and drink thereof with the wicked.

4:19. Seek counsel always of a wise man.

4:20. Bless God at all times: and desire of him to direct thy ways, and that all thy counsels may abide in him.

4:21. I tell thee also, my son, that I lent ten talents of silver, while thou wast yet a child, to Gabelus, in Rages a city of the Medes, and I have a note of his hand with me:

4:22. Now therefore inquire how thou mayst go to him, and receive of him the foresaid sum of money, and restore to him the note of his hand.

4:23. Fear not, my son: we lead indeed a poor life, but we shall have many good things if we fear God, and depart from all sin, and do that which is good.

Tobias Chapter 5

Young Tobias seeking a guide for his journey, the angel Raphael, in shape of a man, undertaketh this office.

5:1. Then Tobias answered his father, and said: I will do all things, father, which thou hast commanded me.

5:2. But how I shall get this money, I cannot tell; he knoweth not me, and I know not him: what token shall I give him? nor did I ever know the way which leadeth thither.

5:3. Then his father answered him, and said: I have a note of his hand with me, which when thou shalt shew him, he will presently pay it.

5:4. But go now, and seek thee out some faithful man, to go with thee for his hire: that thou mayst receive it, while I yet live.

5:5. Then Tobias going forth, found a beautiful young man, standing girded, and as it were ready to walk.

5:6. And not knowing that he was an angel of God, he saluted him, and said: From whence art thou, good young man?

5:7. But he answered: Of the children of Israel. And Tobias said to him: Knowest thou the way that leadeth to the country of the Medes?

5:8. And he answered: I know it: and I have often walked through all the ways thereof, and I have abode with Gabelus our brother, who dwelleth at Rages a city of the Medes, which is situate in the mount of Ecbatana.

5:9. And Tobias said to him: Stay for me, I beseech thee, till I tell these same things to my father.

5:10. Then Tobias going in told all these things to his father. Upon which his father being in admiration, desired that he would come in unto him.

5:11. So going in he saluted him, and said: Joy be to thee always.

5:12. And Tobias said: What manner of joy shall be to me, who sit in darkness and see not the light of heaven?

5:13. And the young man said to him: Be of good courage, thy cure from God is at hand.

5:14. And Tobias said to him: Canst thou conduct my son to Gabelus at Rages, a city of the Medes? and when thou shalt return, I will pay thee thy hire.

5:15. And the angel said to him: I will conduct him thither, and bring him back to thee.

5:16. And Tobias said to him: I pray thee, tell me, of what family, or what tribe art thou?

5:17. And Raphael the angel answered: Dost thou seek the family of him thou hirest, or the hired servant himself to go with thy son?

5:18. But lest I should make thee uneasy, I am Azarias the son of the great Ananias.

Azarias. . .The angel took the form of Azarias: and therefore might call himself by the name of the man whom he personated. Azarias, in Hebrew, signifies the help of God, and Ananias the grace of God.

5:19. And Tobias answered: Thou art of a great family. But I pray thee be not angry that I desired to know thy family.

5:20. And the angel said to him: I will lead thy son safe, and bring him to thee again safe.

5:21. And Tobias answering, said: May you have a good journey, and God be with you in your way, and his angel accompany you.

5:22. Then all things being ready, that were to be carried in their journey, Tobias bade his father and his mother farewell, and they set out both together.

5:23. And when they were departed, his mother began to weep, and to say: Thou hast taken the staff of our old age, and sent him away from us.

5:24. I wish the money for which thou hast sent him, had never been.

5:25. For our poverty was sufficient for us, that we might account it as riches, that we saw our son.

5:26. And Tobias said to her: Weep not, our son will arrive thither safe, and will return safe to us, and thy eyes shall see him.

5:27. For I believe that the good angel of God doth accompany him, and doth order all things well that are done about him, so that he shall return to us with joy.

5:28. At these words his mother ceased weeping, and held her peace.

Tobias Chapter 6

By the angel's advice young Tobias taketh hold on a fish that assaulteth him. Reserveth the heart, the gall, and the liver for medicines. They lodge at the house of Raguel, whose daughter Sara, Tobias is to marry; she had before been married to seven husbands, who were all slain by a devil.

6:1. And Tobias went forward, and the dog followed him, and he lodged the first night by the river of Tigris.

6:2. And he went out to wash his feet, and behold a monstrous fish came up to devour him.

6:3. And Tobias being afraid of him, cried out with a loud voice, saying: Sir, he cometh upon me.

6:4. And the angel said to him: Take him by the gill, and draw him to thee. And when he had done so, he drew him out upon the land, and he began to pant before his feet.

6:5. Then the angel said to him: Take out the entrails of this fish, and lay up his heart, and his gall, and his liver for thee: for these are necessary for useful medicines.

6:6. And when he had done so, he roasted the flesh thereof, and they took it with them in the way: the rest they salted as much as might serve them, till they came to Rages the city of the Medes.

6:7. Then Tobias asked the angel, and said to him: I beseech thee, brother Azarias, tell me what remedies are these things good for, which thou hast bid me keep of the fish?

6:8. And the angel, answering, said to him: If thou put a little piece of its heart upon coals, the smoke thereof driveth away all kind of devils, either from man or from woman, so that they come no more to them.

Its heart, etc. The liver (ver. 19). . .God was pleased to give these things a virtue against those proud spirits, to make them, who affected to be like the Most High, subject to such mean corporeal creatures as instruments of his power.

6:9. And the gall is good for anointing the eyes, in which there is a white speck, and they shall be cured.

6:10. And Tobias said to him: Where wilt thou that we lodge?

6:11. And the angel answering, said: Here is one whose name is Raguel, a near kinsman of thy tribe, and he hath a daughter named Sara, but he hath no son nor any other daughter beside her.

6:12. All his substance is due to thee, and thou must take her to wife.

6:13. Ask her therefore of her father, and he will give her thee to wife.

6:14. Then Tobias answered, and said: I hear that she hath been given to seven husbands, and they all died: moreover I have heard, that a devil killed them.

6:15. Now I am afraid, lest the same thing should happen to me also: and whereas I am the only child of my parents, I should bring down their old age with sorrow to hell.

Hell. . .That is, to the place where the souls of the good were kept before the coming of Christ.

6:16. Then the angel Raphael said to him: Hear me, and I will shew thee who they are, over whom the devil can prevail.

6:17. For they who in such manner receive matrimony, as to shut out God from themselves, and from their mind, and to give themselves to their lust, as the horse and mule, which have not understanding, over them the devil hath power.

6:18. But thou when thou shalt take her, go into the chamber, and for three days keep thyself continent from her, and give thyself to nothing else but to prayers with her.

6:19. And on that night lay the liver of the fish on the fire, and the devil shall be driven away.

6:20. But the second night thou shalt be admitted into the society of the holy Patriarchs.

6:21. And the third night thou shalt obtain a blessing that sound children may be born of you.