Tobit 2

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

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

3And 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:

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

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

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

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

8Now 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?

9But 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.

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

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

12Now 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.

13For 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,

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

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

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

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

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

19Now 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.

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

21And 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.

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

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

1Post hæc vero, cum esset dies festus Domini, et factum esset prandium bonum in domo Tobiæ,

2dixit filio suo: Vade, et adduc aliquos de tribu nostra, timentes Deum, ut epulentur nobiscum.

3Cumque abiisset, reversus nuntiavit ei unum ex filiis Israël jugulatum jacere in platea. Statimque exiliens de accubitu suo, relinquens prandium, jejunus pervenit ad corpus:

4tollensque illud portavit ad domum suam occulte, ut dum sol occubuisset, caute sepeliret eum.

5Cumque occultasset corpus, manducavit panem cum luctu et tremore,

6memorans illum sermonem, quem dixit Dominus per Amos prophetam: Dies festi vestri convertentur in lamentationem et luctum.

7Cum vero sol occubuisset, abiit, et sepelivit eum.

8Arguebant autem eum omnes proximi ejus, dicentes: Jam hujus rei causa interfici jussus es, et vix effugisti mortis imperium, et iterum sepelis mortuos?

9Sed Tobias plus timens Deum quam regem, rapiebat corpora occisorum, et occultabat in domo sua, et mediis noctibus sepeliebat ea.

10Contigit autem ut quadam die fatigatus a sepultura, veniens in domum suam, jactasset se juxta parietem, et obdormisset,

11et ex nido hirundinum dormienti illi calida stercora inciderent super oculos ejus, fieretque cæcus.

12Hanc autem tentationem ideo permisit Dominus evenire illi, ut posteris daretur exemplum patientiæ ejus, sicut et sancti Job.

13Nam cum ab infantia sua semper Deum timuerit, et mandata ejus custodierit, non est contristatus contra Deum quod plaga cæcitatis evenerit ei,

14sed immobilis in Dei timore permansit, agens gratias Deo omnibus diebus vitæ suæ.

15Nam sicut beato Job insultabant reges, ita isti parentes et cognati ejus irridebant vitam ejus, dicentes:

16Ubi est spes tua, pro qua eleemosynas et sepulturas faciebas?

17Tobias vero increpabat eos, dicens: Nolite ita loqui:

18quoniam filii sanctorum sumus, et vitam illam expectamus, quam Deus daturus est his qui fidem suam numquam mutant ab eo.

19Anna vero uxor ejus ibat ad opus textrinum quotidie, et de labore manuum suarum victum quem consequi poterat, deferebat.

20Unde factum est ut hædum caprarum accipiens detulisset domi:

21cujus cum vocem balantis vir ejus audisset, dixit: Videte, ne forte furtivus sit: reddite eum dominis suis, quia non licet nobis aut edere ex furto aliquid, aut contingere.

22Ad hæc uxor ejus irata respondit: Manifeste vana facta est spes tua, et eleemosynæ tuæ modo apparuerunt.

23Atque his et aliis hujuscemodi verbis exprobrabat ei.

1In truth, after this, when there was a feast day of the Lord, and a good dinner had been prepared in the house of Tobit,

2he said to his son: “Go, and bring some others who fear God from our tribe to feast with us.”

3And after he had gone, returning, he reported to him that one of the sons of Israel, with his throat cut, was lying in the street. And immediately, he leapt from his place reclining at table, left behind his dinner, and went forth with fasting to the body.

4And taking it up, he carried it in secret to his house, so that, after the sun had set, he might bury him cautiously.

5And after he had hidden the body, he chewed his bread with mourning and fear,

6remembering the word that the Lord spoke through the prophet Amos: “Your feast days shall be turned into lamentation and mourning.”

7Truly, when the sun had set, he went out, and he buried him.

8Yet all his neighbors argued with him, saying: “Now, an order was given to execute you because of this matter, and you barely escaped a death sentence, and again you are burying the dead?”

9But Tobit, fearing God more than the king, stole away the bodies of the slain and concealed them in his house, and in the middle of the night, he buried them.

10But it happened one day, being tired from burying the dead, he came into his house, and he threw himself down next to the wall, and he slept.

11And, as he was sleeping, warm droppings from a swallow’s nest fell upon his eyes, and he was made blind.

12And so the Lord permitted this trial to befall him, in order that an example might be given to posterity of his patience, which is even like that of holy Job.

13For, even from his infancy, he had always feared God and kept his commandments, so he was not discouraged before God because of the scourge of blindness that had befallen him.

14But he remained immoveable in the fear of God, giving thanks to God all the days of his life.

15For just as kings have mocked blessed Job, so also his relatives and acquaintances ridiculed his life, saying:

16“Where is your hope, on behalf of which you gave alms and buried the dead?”

17In truth, Tobit corrected them, saying: “Do not speak in this way,

18for we are the sons of the holy ones, and we look forward to that life which God will give to those who never change in their faith before him.”

19In truth, his wife Anna went out to weaving work daily, and she brought back the provisions that she was able to obtain by the labor of her hands.

20Whereupon it happened that, having received a young goat, she brought it home.

21When her husband heard the sound of its bleating, he said, “Look, so that it might not be stolen, return it to its owners, for it is not lawful for us either to eat, or to touch, anything stolen.”

22At this, his wife, being angry, answered, “Clearly, your hope has become vanity, and the manner of your almsgiving has become apparent.”

23And with these and other similar such words, she reproached him.