Tobit 7:1–12:22

1 When they reached Ecbatana and arrived at the house of Raguel, Sarah met them and greeted them. They returned her greeting, and she brought them into the house. 2 Then Raguel said to his wife Edna, “How much the young man resembles my cousin Tobit!” 3 And Raguel asked them, “Where are you from, brethren?” They answered him, “We belong to the sons of Naphtali, who are captives in Nineveh.” 4 So he said to them, “Do you know our brother Tobit?” And they said, “Yes, we do.” And he asked them, “Is he in good health?” 5 They replied, “He is alive and in good health.” And Tobias said, “He is my father.” 6 Then Raguel sprang up and kissed him and wept. 7 And he blessed him and exclaimed, “Son of that good and noble man!” When he heard that Tobit had lost his sight, he was stricken with grief and wept. 8 And his wife Edna and his daughter Sarah wept. They received them very warmly; and they killed a ram from the flock and set large servings of food before them.

Then Tobias said to Raphael, “Brother Azarias, speak of those things which you talked about on the journey, and let the matter be settled.” 9 So he communicated the proposal to Raguel. And Raguel said to Tobias, “Eat, drink, and be merry; 10 for it is your right to take my child. But let me explain the true situation to you. 11 I have given my daughter to seven husbands, and when each came to her he died in the night. But for the present be merry.” And Tobias said, “I will eat nothing here until you make a binding agreement with me.” 12 So Raguel said, “Take her right now, in accordance with the law. You are her relative, and she is yours. The merciful God will guide you both for the best.” 13 Then he called his daughter Sarah, and taking her by the hand he gave her to Tobias to be his wife, saying, “Here she is; take her according to the law of Moses, and take her with you to your father.” And he blessed them. 14 Next he called his wife Edna, and took a scroll and wrote out the contract; and they set their seals to it. 15 Then they began to eat.

16 And Raguel called his wife Edna and said to her, “Sister, make up the other room, and take her into it.” 17 so she did as he said, and took her there; and the girl began to weep. But the mother comforted her daughter in her tears, and said to her, 18 “Be brave, my child; the Lord of heaven and earth grant you joy in place of this sorrow of yours. Be brave, my daughter.”

Chapter 8

1 When they had finished eating, they escorted Tobias in to her. 2 As he went he remembered the words of Raphael, and he took the live ashes of incense and put the heart and liver of the fish upon them and made a smoke. 3 And when the demon smelled the odor he fled to the remotest parts of Egypt, and the angel bound him. 4 When the door was shut and the two were alone, Tobias got up from the bed and said, “Sister, get up, and let us pray that the Lord may have mercy upon us.” 5 And Tobias began to pray,

“Blessed art thou, O God of our fathers,

and blessed be thy holy and glorious name for ever.

Let the heavens and all thy creatures bless thee.

6 Thou madest Adam and gavest him Eve his wife

as a helper and support.

From them the race of mankind has sprung.

Thou didst say, ‘It is not good that the man should be alone;

let us make a helper for him like himself.’

7 And now, O Lord, I am not taking this sister of mine because of lust, but with sincerity. Grant that I may find mercy and may grow old together with her.” 8 And she said with him, “Amen.” 9 Then they both went to sleep for the night.

But Raguel arose and went and dug a grave, 10 with the thought, “Perhaps he too will die.” 11 Then Raguel went into his house 12 and said to his wife Edna, “Send one of the maids to see whether he is alive; and if he is not, let us bury him without any one knowing about it.” 13 So the maid opened the door and went in, and found them both asleep. 14 And she came out and told them that he was alive. 15 Then Raguel blessed God and said,

“Blessed art thou, O God, with every pure and holy blessing.

Let thy saints and all thy creatures bless thee;

let all thy angels and thy chosen people bless thee for ever.

16 Blessed art thou, because thou hast made me glad.

It has not happened to me as I expected;

but thou hast treated us according to thy great mercy.

17 Blessed art thou, because thou hast had compassion on two only children.

Show them mercy, O Lord;

and bring their lives to fulfilment in health and happiness and mercy.”

18 Then he ordered his servants to fill in the grave.

19 After this he gave a wedding feast for them which lasted fourteen days. 20 And before the days of the feast were over, Raguel declared by oath to Tobias that he should not leave until the fourteen days of the wedding feast were ended, 21 that then he should take half of Raguel’s property and return in safety to his father, and that the rest would be his “when my wife and I die.”

Chapter 9

1 Then Tobias called Raphael and said to him, 2 “Brother Azarias, take a servant and two camels with you and go to Gabael at Rages in Media and get the money for me; and bring him to the wedding feast. 3 For Raguel has sworn that I should not leave; 4 but my father is counting the days, and if I delay long he will be greatly distressed.” 5 So Raphael made the journey and stayed over night with Gabael. He gave him the receipt, and Gabael brought out the money bags with their seals intact and gave them to him. 6 In the morning they both got up early and came to the wedding feast. And Gabael blessed Tobias and his wife.

Chapter 10

1 Now his father Tobit was counting each day, and when the days for the journey had expired and they did not arrive, 2 he said, “Is it possible that he has been detained? Or is it possible that Gabael has died and there is no one to give him the money?” 3 And he was greatly distressed. 4 And his wife said to him, “The lad has perished; his long delay proves it.” Then she began to mourn for him, and said, 5 “Am I not distressed, my child, that I let you go, you who are the light of my eyes?” 6 But Tobit said to her, “Be still and stop worrying; he is well.” 7 And she answered him, “Be still and stop deceiving me; my child has perished.” And she went out every day to the road by which they had left; she ate nothing in the daytime, and throughout the nights she never stopped mourning for her son Tobias, until the fourteen days of the wedding feast had expired which Raguel had sworn that he should spend there.

At that time Tobias said to Raguel, “Send me back, for my father and mother have given up hope of ever seeing me again.” 8 But his father-in-law said to him, “Stay with me, and I will send messengers to your father, and they will inform him how things are with you.” 9 Tobias replied, “No, send me back to my father.” 10 So Raguel arose and gave him his wife Sarah and half of his property in slaves, cattle, and money. 11 And when he had blessed them he sent them away, saying, “The God of heaven will prosper you, my children, before I die.” 12 He said also to his daughter, “Honor your father-in-law and your mother-in-law; they are now your parents. Let me hear a good report of you.” And he kissed her. And Edna said to Tobias, “The Lord of heaven bring you back safely, dear brother, and grant me to see your children by my daughter Sarah, that I may rejoice before the Lord. See, I am entrusting my daughter to you; do nothing to grieve her.”

Chapter 11

1 After this Tobias went on his way, praising God because he had made his journey a success. And he blessed Raguel and his wife Edna.

So he continued on his way until they came near to Nineveh. 2 Then Raphael said to Tobias, “Are you not aware, brother, of how you left your father? 3 Let us run ahead of your wife and prepare the house. 4 And take the gall of the fish with you.” So they went their way, and the dog went along behind them.

5 Now Anna sat looking intently down the road for her son. 6 And she caught sight of him coming, and said to his father, “Behold, your son is coming, and so is the man who went with him!”

7 Raphael said, “I know, Tobias, that your father will open his eyes. 8 You therefore must anoint his eyes with the gall; and when they smart he will rub them, and will cause the white films to fall away, and he will see you.”

9 Then Anna ran to meet them, and embraced her son, and said to him, “I have seen you, my child; now I am ready to die.” And they both wept. 10 Tobit started toward the door, and stumbled. But his son ran to him 11 and took hold of his father, and he sprinkled the gall upon his father’s eyes, saying, “Be of good cheer, father.” 12 And when his eyes began to smart he rubbed them, 13 and the white films scaled off from the corners of his eyes. 14 Then he saw his son and embraced him, and he wept and said, “Blessed art thou, O God, and blessed is thy name for ever, and blessed are all thy holy angels. 15 For thou hast afflicted me, but thou hast had mercy upon me; here I see my son Tobias!” And his son went in rejoicing, and he reported to his father the great things that had happened to him in Media.

16 Then Tobit went out to meet his daughter-in-law at the gate of Nineveh, rejoicing and praising God. Those who saw him as he went were amazed because he could see. 17 And Tobit gave thanks before them that God had been merciful to him. When Tobit came near to Sarah his daughter-in-law, he blessed her, saying, “Welcome, daughter! Blessed is God who has brought you to us, and blessed are your father and your mother.” So there was rejoicing among all his brethren in Nineveh. 18 Ahikar and his nephew Nadab came, 19 and Tobias’ marriage was celebrated for seven days with great festivity.

Chapter 12

1 Tobit then called his son Tobias and said to him, “My son, see to the wages of the man who went with you; and he must also be given more.” 2 He replied, “Father, it would do me no harm to give him half of what I have brought back. 3 For he has led me back to you safely, he cured my wife, he obtained the …