141 And the words of Tobit’s thanksgiving were ended, and he died in peace being an hundred and twelve years old, and was buried magnificently in Nineveh. 2 And he was threescore and two years old when he became maimed in his eyes; and after he recovered his sight he lived in prosperity and gave alms, and he still continued to bless God, and to give thanks for the greatness of God.

2. TOBIT’S LAST WORDS AND HOPES FOR THE MESSIANIC AGE, VV. 3–11a.

THE FUTURE OF JERUSALEM, ISRAEL, AND THE HEATHEN, VV. 3–7.

3 And when he was dying he called Tobias his son, and charged him, saying, Child take thy children; and go into Media, 4 for I believe the word of God upon Nineveh, which Nahum spake, that all those things will be, and will befall Assyria and Nineveh. And all the things which the prophets of Israel spake, whom God sent, shall befall; and nothing shall be minished of all the words; and all things shall come to pass in their seasons. And in Media shall be deliverance more than among the Assyrians and in Babylon; wherefore I know and believe that all the things which God hath spoken will be accomplished and will be, and there will not fall to the ground a word of the prophecies. And as for our brethren which dwell in the land of Israel, against all of them will God devise evils, and they will be carried captive from the goodly land, and all the land of Israel will be desolate, and Samaria and Jerusalem will be desolate, 5 and the house of God will be in grief and be burned up for a time; and God will again have mercy on them, and God will bring them back into the land of Israel, and they will again build the house, but not like the first, until the time when the time of the seasons be fulfilled; and afterward they will return, all of them, from their captivity, and build up Jerusalem with honour, and the house of God shall be builded in her, even as the prophets of Israel spake concerning her. 6 And all the nations which are in the whole earth, all shall turn and fear God truly, and all shall leave their idols, who err after their false error. 7 And they shall bless the everlasting God in righteousness. All the children of Israel that are delivered in those days, remembering God in truth, shall be gathered together and come to Jerusalem and shall dwell for ever in the land of Abraham with security, and it shall be given over to them; and they that love God in truth shall rejoice, and they that do sin and unrighteousness shall cease from all the earth.

Special injunctions to his descendants, vv. 9–11a.

9 And now, children, I charge you, serve God in truth and do what is pleasing in his sight; and upon your children it shall be enjoined to do [ ] alms, and that they be mindful of God and bless his name at every season in truth and with all their strength. 8 And now, child, depart thou from Nineveh, and abide not here. 10 In what day soever thou buriest thy mother with me, in the self-same day abide not in the borders thereof; for I see that there is much unrighteousness therein, and much guile is wrought therein, and they are not ashamed. See, child, what things Nadab did unto Aḥiḳar that brought him up! Was he not brought down alive into the earth? and God recompensed the shame upon his face, and Aḥiḳar came forth into the light, and Nadab went into the eternal darkness, because he had sought to slay Aḥiḳar. Because I did alms, he came forth from the snare of death which Nadab had set for him, and Nadab fell into the snare of death, and it destroyed him. 11 And now, children, consider what alms-giving doeth, and what unrighteousness doeth, that it slayeth. And behold my soul fainteth.

3. TOBIAS’ PIETY TOWARDS HIS PARENTS AND HIS LONG LIFE, VV. 11B–14.

11b And they laid him upon his bed and he died; and he was buried magnificently. 12 And when his mother died, Tobias buried her with his father, and he and his wife departed to Media and dwelt in Ecbatana with Raguel his father-in-law. 13 And he sustained their old age in honour and buried them in Ecbatana of Media, and he inherited the house of Raguel and of Tobit his father. 14 And he died, being an hundred and seventeen years old, full of renown.

4. THE DAWN OF THE MESSIANIC AGE, V. 15.

15 And before he died he saw and heard of the destruction of Nineveh, and saw her captivity led into Media which Nebuchadnezzar the king of Media took captive. And he blessed God for all he did unto the children of Nineveh and Assyria; and before his death he rejoiced over Nineveh, and blessed the Lord God for ever and ever. Amen.