Day 128: Tobit 1 - 4

Chapter 1

1: This book tells the story of Tobit son of Tobiel son of Hananiel son of Aduel son of Gabael son of Raphael of the descendants of Asiel, of the tribe of Naphtali, 

2: who in the days of King Shalmaneser of the Assyrians was taken into captivity from Thisbe, which is to the south of Kedesh Naphtali in Upper Galilee, above Asher towards the west, and north of Phogor.

3:  I, Tobit, walked in the ways of truth and righteousness all the days of my life. I performed many acts of charity for my kindred and my people who had gone with me in exile to Nineveh in the land of the Assyrians.

4: When I was in my own country, in the land of Israel, while I was still a young man, the whole tribe of my ancestor Naphtali deserted the house of David and Jerusalem. This city had been chosen from among all the tribes of Israel, where all the tribes of Israel should offer sacrifice and where the temple, the dwelling of God, had been consecrated and established for all generations for ever.

5: All my kindred and our ancestral house of Naphtali sacrificed to the calf* that King Jeroboam of Israel had erected in Dan and on all the mountains of Galilee. 

6: But I alone went often to Jerusalem for the festivals, as it is prescribed for all Israel by an everlasting decree. I would hurry off to Jerusalem with the first fruits of the crops and the firstlings of the flock, the tithes of the cattle, and the first shearings of the sheep. 

7: I would give these to the priests, the sons of Aaron, at the altar; likewise the tenth of the grain, wine, olive oil, pomegranates, figs, and the rest of the fruits to the sons of Levi who ministered at Jerusalem. Also, for six years I would save up a second tenth in money and go and distribute it in Jerusalem. 

8: A third tenth I would give to the orphans and widows and to the converts who had attached themselves to Israel. I would bring it and give it to them in the third year, and we would eat it according to the ordinance decreed concerning it in the law of Moses and according to the instructions of Deborah, the mother of my father Tobiel, for my father had died and left me an orphan. 

9: When I became a man I married a woman, a member of our own family, and by her I became the father of a son whom I named Tobias.

10: After I was carried away captive to Assyria and came as a captive to Nineveh, everyone of my kindred and my people ate the food of the Gentiles, 

11: but I kept myself from eating the food of the Gentiles.

12: Because I was mindful of God with all my heart, 

13: the Most High gave me favour and good standing with Shalmaneser, and I used to buy everything he needed. 

14: Until his death I used to go into Media, and buy for him there. While in the country of Media I left bags of silver worth ten talents in trust with Gabael, the brother of Gabri. 

15: But when Shalmaneser died, and his son Sennacherib reigned in his place, the highways into Media became unsafe and I could no longer go there.

16: In the days of Shalmaneser I performed many acts of charity to my kindred, those of my tribe. 

17: I would give my food to the hungry and my clothing to the naked; and if I saw the dead body of any of my people thrown out behind the wall of Nineveh, I would bury it. 

18: I also buried any whom King Sennacherib put to death when he came fleeing from Judea in those days of judgment that the king of heaven executed upon him because of his blasphemies. For in his anger he put to death many Israelites; but I would secretly remove the bodies and bury them. So when Sennacherib looked for them he could not find them. 

19: Then one of the Ninevites went and informed the king about me, that I was burying them; so I hid myself. But when I realized that the king knew about me and that I was being searched for to be put to death, I was afraid and ran away. 

20: Then all my property was confiscated; nothing was left to me that was not taken into the royal treasury, except my wife Anna and my son Tobias.

21:  But not forty days passed before two of Sennacherib’s  sons killed him, and they fled to the mountains of Ararat, and his son Esar-haddon reigned after him. He appointed Ahikar, the son of my brother Hanael over all the accounts of his kingdom, and he had authority over the entire administration. 

22: Ahikar interceded for me, and I returned to Nineveh. Now Ahikar was chief cupbearer, keeper of the signet and in charge of administration of the accounts under King Sennacherib of Assyria; so Esar-haddon reappointed him. He was my nephew and so a close relative.

Chapter 2

1: Then during the reign of Esar-haddon I returned home and my wife Anna and my son Tobias were restored to me. At our festival of Pentecost, which is the sacred festival of weeks, a good dinner was prepared for me and I reclined to eat. 

2: When the table was set for me and an abundance of food placed before me, I said to my son Tobias, ‘Go, my child, and bring whatever poor person you may find of our people among the exiles in Nineveh, who is wholeheartedly mindful of God, and he shall eat together with me. I will wait for you, until you come back.’ 

3: So Tobias went to look for some poor person of our people. When he had returned he said, ‘Father!’ And I replied, ‘Here I am, my child.’ Then he went on to say, ‘Look, father, one of our own people has been murdered and thrown into the market-place, and now he lies there strangled.’

 4: Then I sprang up, left the dinner before even tasting it, and removed the body from the square and laid it in one of the rooms until sunset when I might bury it. 

5: When I returned, I washed myself and ate my food in sorrow. 

6: Then I remembered the prophecy of Amos, how he said against Bethel,   ‘Your festivals shall be turned into mourning, and all your songs into lamentation.’ And I wept.

7:  When the sun had set, I went and dug a grave and buried him. 

8: And my neighbours laughed and said, ‘Is he still not afraid? He has already been hunted down to be put to death for doing this, and he ran away; yet here he is again burying the dead!’ 

9: That same night I washed myself and went into my courtyard and slept by the wall of the courtyard; and my face was uncovered because of the heat. 

10: I did not know that there were sparrows on the wall; their fresh droppings fell into my eyes and produced white films. I went to physicians to be healed, but the more they treated me with ointments the more my vision was obscured by the white films, until I became completely blind. For four years I remained unable to see. All my kindred were sorry for me, and Ahikar took care of me for two years before he went to Elymais.

11:  At that time, also, my wife Anna earned money at women’s work.

12: She used to send what she made to the owners and they would pay wages to her. One day, the seventh of Dystrus, when she cut off a piece she had woven and sent it to the owners; they paid her full wages and also gave her a kid for a meal. 

13: When she returned to me, the kid began to bleat. So I called her and said, ‘Where did you get this kid? It is surely not stolen, is it? Return it to the owners; for we have no right to eat anything stolen.’ 

14: But she said to me, ‘It was given to me as a gift in addition to my wages.’ But I did not believe her, and told her to return it to the owners. I became flushed with anger against her over this. Then she replied to me, ‘Where are your acts of charity? Where are your righteous deeds? These things are known about you!

Chapter 3

1: Then with much grief and anguish of heart I wept, and with groaning began to pray:
2:  ‘You are righteous, O Lord, and all your deeds are just; all your ways are mercy and truth; you judge the world.
3: And now, O Lord, remember me and look favourably upon me. Do not punish me for my sins and for my unwitting offences and those that my ancestors committed before you. They sinned against you,
4: and disobeyed your commandments. So you gave us over to plunder, exile, and death, to become the talk, the byword, and an object of reproach, among all the nations among whom you have dispersed us.
5: And now your many judgements are true in exacting penalty from me for my sins. For we have not kept your commandments and have not walked in accordance with truth before you.
6: So now deal with me as you will; command my spirit to be taken from me, so that I may be released from the face of the earth and become dust. For it is better for me to die than to live, because I have had to listen to undeserved insults, and great is the sorrow within me.
Command, O Lord, that I be released from this distress; release me to go to the eternal home, and do not, O Lord, turn your face away from me. For it is better for me to die than to see so much distress in my life and to listen to insults.’ 

7: On the same day, at Ecbatana in Media, it also happened that Sarah, the daughter of Raguel, was reproached by one of her father’s maids.

8: For she had been married to seven husbands, and the wicked demon Asmodeus had killed each of them before they had been with her as is customary for wives. So the maid said to her, ‘You are the one who kills your husbands! See, you have already been married to seven husbands and have not borne the name of a single one of them. 

9: Why do you beat us? Because your husbands are dead? Go with them! May we never see a son or daughter of yours!’

10: On that day she was grieved in spirit and wept. When she had gone up to her father’s upper room, she intended to hang herself. But she thought it over and said, ‘Never shall they reproach my father, saying to him, “You had only one beloved daughter but she hanged herself because of her distress.” And I shall bring my father in his old age down in sorrow to Hades. It is better for me not to hang myself, but to pray the Lord that I may die and not listen to these reproaches anymore.’

11: At that same time, with hands outstretched towards the window, she prayed and said, ‘Blessed are you, merciful God! Blessed is your name for ever; let all your works praise you forever.
12: And now, Lord, I turn my face to you, and raise my eyes towards you.
13: Command that I be released from the earth and not listen to such reproaches any more.
14: You know, O Master, that I am innocent of any defilement with a man,
15: and that I have not disgraced my name or the name of my father in the land of my exile. I am my father’s only child; he has no other child to be his heir; and he has no close relative or other kindred for whom I should keep myself as wife.
Already seven husbands of mine have died. Why should I still live?
But if it is not pleasing to you, O Lord, to take my life, hear me in my disgrace.’

16: At that very moment, the prayers of both of them were heard in the glorious presence of God. 

17: So Raphael was sent to heal both of them: Tobit, by removing the white films from his eyes, so that he might see God’s light with his eyes; and Sarah daughter of Raguel, by giving her in marriage to Tobias son of Tobit, and by setting her free from the wicked demon Asmodeus. For Tobias was entitled to have her before all others who had desired to marry her. At the same time that Tobit returned from the courtyard into his house, Sarah daughter of Raguel came down from her upper room.

Chapter 4

1: That same day Tobit remembered the money that he had left in trust with Gabael at Rages in Media, 

2: and he said to himself, ‘Now I have asked for death. Why do I not call my son Tobias and explain to him about the money before I die?’ 

3: Then he called his son Tobias, and when he came to him he said, ‘My son, when I die, give me a proper burial. Honour your mother and do not abandon her all the days of her life. Do whatever pleases her, and do not grieve her in anything.

4: Remember her, my son, because she faced many dangers for you while you were in her womb. And when she dies, bury her beside me in the same grave.

5: ‘Revere the Lord all your days, my son, and refuse to sin or to transgress his commandments. Live uprightly all the days of your life, and do not walk in the ways of wrongdoing; 

6: for those who act in accordance with truth will prosper in all their activities. To all those who practice righteousness 

7: give alms from your possessions, and do not let your eye begrudge the gift when you make it. Do not turn your face away from anyone who is poor and the face of God will not be turned away from you. 

8: If you have many possessions, make your gift from them in proportion; if few, do not be afraid to give according to the little you have. 

9: So you will be laying up a good treasure for yourself against the day of necessity. 

10: For almsgiving delivers from death and keeps you from going into the Darkness. 

11: Indeed, almsgiving, for all who practice it, is an excellent offering in the presence of the Most High.

12: ‘Beware, my son, of every kind of fornication. First of all, marry a woman from among the descendants of your ancestors; do not marry a foreign woman, who is not of your father’s tribe; for we are the descendants of the prophets. Remember, my son, that Noah, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, our ancestors of old, all took wives from among their kindred. They were blessed in their children, and their posterity will inherit the land. 

13: So now, my son, love your kindred, and in your heart do not disdain your kindred, the sons and daughters of your people, by refusing to take a wife for yourself from among them. For in pride there is ruin and great confusion. And in idleness there is loss and dire poverty, because idleness is the mother of famine.

14 ‘Do not keep over until the next day the wages of those who work for you, but pay them at once. If you serve God you will receive payment. Watch yourself, my son, in everything you do, and discipline yourself in all your conduct. 

15: And what you hate, do not do to anyone. Do not drink wine to excess or let drunkenness go with you on your way. 

16: Give some of your food to the hungry, and some of your clothing to the naked. Give all your surplus as alms, and do not let your eye begrudge your giving of alms. 

17Place your bread on the grave of the righteous, but give none to sinners. 

18: Seek advice from every wise person and do not despise any useful counsel. 

19: At all times bless the Lord God, and ask him that your ways may be made straight and that all your paths and plans may prosper. For none of the nations has understanding, but the Lord himself will give them good counsel; but if he chooses otherwise, he casts down to deepest Hades. So now, my child, remember these commandments, and do not let them be erased from your heart.

20: ‘And now, my son, let me explain to you that I left ten talents of silver in trust with Gabael son of Gabrias, at Rages in Media. 

21: Do not be afraid, my son, because we have become poor. You have great wealth if you fear God and flee from every sin and do what is good in the sight of the Lord your God.’