Tobit 12
Douay-Rheims 1899 American Edition
12 Then Tobias called to him his son, and said to him: What can we give to this holy man, that is come with thee?
2 Tobias answering, said to his father: Father, what wages shall we give him? or what can be worthy of his benefits?
3 He conducted me and brought me safe again, he received the money of Gabelus, he caused me to have my wife, and he chased from her the evil spirit, he gave joy to her parents, myself he delivered from being devoured by the fish, thee also he hath made to see the light of heaven, and we are filled with all good things through him. What can we give him sufficient for these things?
4 But I beseech thee, my father, to desire him, that he would vouchsafe to accept one half of all things that have been brought.
5 So the father and the son, calling him, took him aside: and began to desire him that he would vouchsafe to accept of half of all things that they had brought.
6 Then he said to them secretly: Bless ye the God of heaven, give glory to him in the sight of all that live, because he hath shewn his mercy to you.
7 For it is good to hide the secret of a king: but honourable to reveal and confess the works of God.
8 Prayer is good with fasting and alms more than to lay up treasures of gold:
9 For alms delivereth from death, and the same is that which purgeth away sins, and maketh to find mercy and life everlasting.
10 But they that commit sin and iniquity, are enemies to their own soul.
11 I discover then the truth unto you, and I will not hide the secret from you.
12 When thou didst pray with tears, and didst bury the dead, and didst leave thy dinner, and hide the dead by day in thy house, and bury them by night, I offered thy prayer to the Lord.
13 And because thou wast acceptable to God, it was necessary that temptation should prove thee.
14 And now the Lord hath sent me to heal thee, and to deliver Sara thy son's wife from the devil.
15 For I am the angel Raphael, one of the seven, who stand before the Lord.
16 And when they had heard these things, they were troubled, and being seized with fear they fell upon the ground on their face.
17 And the angel said to them: Peace be to you, fear not.
18 For when I was with you, I was there by the will of God: bless ye him, and sing praises to him.
19 I seemed indeed to eat and to drink with you: but I use an invisible meat and drink, which cannot be seen by men.
20 It is time therefore that I return to him that sent me: but bless ye God, and publish all his wonderful works.
21 And when he had said these things, he was taken from their sight, and they could see him no more.
22 Then they lying prostrate for three hours upon their face, blessed God: and rising up, they told all his wonderful works.
Tobit 12
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
VII. Raphael Reveals His Identity
Chapter 12
Raphael’s Wages.[a] 1 When the wedding celebration came to an end, Tobit called his son Tobiah and said to him, “Son, see to it that you pay his wages to the man who made the journey with you and give him a bonus too.” 2 Tobiah said: “Father, how much shall I pay him? It would not hurt to give him half the wealth he brought back with me.(A) 3 He led me back safe and sound, healed my wife, brought the money back with me, and healed you. How much should I pay him?” 4 Tobit answered, “It is only fair, son, that he should receive half of all that he brought back.” 5 So Tobiah called Raphael and said, “Take as your wages half of all that you have brought back, and farewell!”
Exhortation.[b] 6 Raphael called the two of them aside privately and said to them: “Bless God and give him thanks before all the living for the good things he has done for you, by blessing and extolling his name in song. Proclaim before all with due honor the deeds of God, and do not be slack in thanking him.[c] 7 A king’s secret should be kept secret, but one must declare the works of God and give thanks with due honor. Do good, and evil will not overtake you. 8 Prayer with fasting is good. Almsgiving with righteousness is better than wealth with wickedness. It is better to give alms than to store up gold,(B) 9 for almsgiving saves from death, and purges all sin. Those who give alms will enjoy a full life,(C) 10 but those who commit sin and do evil are their own worst enemies.
Raphael’s Identity. 11 “I shall now tell you the whole truth and conceal nothing at all from you. I have already said to you, ‘A king’s secret should be kept secret, but one must declare the works of God with due honor.’ 12 (D)Now when you, Tobit, and Sarah prayed, it was I who presented the record of your prayer before the Glory of the Lord; and likewise whenever you used to bury the dead.[d] 13 When you did not hesitate to get up and leave your dinner in order to go and bury that dead man, 14 I was sent to put you to the test. At the same time, however, God sent me to heal you and your daughter-in-law Sarah. 15 I am Raphael, one of the seven angels who stand and serve before the Glory of the Lord.”(E)
16 Greatly shaken, the two of them fell prostrate in fear. 17 But Raphael said to them: “Do not fear; peace be with you! Bless God now and forever. 18 As for me, when I was with you, I was not acting out of any favor on my part, but by God’s will. So bless God every day; give praise with song. 19 Even though you saw me eat and drink, I did not eat or drink anything; what you were seeing was a vision. 20 So now bless the Lord on earth and give thanks to God. Look, I am ascending to the one who sent me. Write down all that has happened to you.”(F) And he ascended. 21 They stood up but were no longer able to see him. 22 They kept blessing God and singing his praises, and they continued to give thanks for these marvelous works that God had done, because an angel of God appeared to them.
Footnotes
- 12:1–5 Tobit and his son generously agree to give Raphael far more than the wages agreed upon in 5:15–16.
- 12:6–10 In the fashion of a wisdom teacher, Raphael gives the two men a short exhortation similar to the one Tobit gave his son in 4:3–19.
- 12:6–7 The faithful considered the praise of God their most esteemed privilege. Without it, life was meaningless; cf. Is 38:16–20.
- 12:12 Raphael is one of the seven Angels of the Presence, specially designated intercessors who present prayers to God. Angelology was developing in this period. The names of two other of these seven angels are given in the Bible: Gabriel (Dn 8:16; 9:21; Lk 1:19, 26) and Michael (Dn 10:13, 21; 12:1; Jude 9; Rev 12:7). See 1 Enoch for the names of the rest.
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