Tobit 14
Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition
Tobit’s Final Counsel
14 Here Tobit ended his words of praise. 2 He was fifty-eight years old when he lost his sight, and after eight years he regained it. He gave alms, and he continued to fear the Lord God and to praise him. 3 When he had grown very old he called his son and grandsons, and said to him, “My son, take your sons; behold, I have grown old and am about to depart this life. 4 Go to Media, my son, for I fully believe what Jonah the prophet said about Nin′eveh, that it will be overthrown. But in Media there will be peace for a time. Our brethren will be scattered over the earth from the good land, and Jerusalem will be desolate. The house of God in it will be burned down and will be in ruins for a time. 5 But God will again have mercy on them, and bring them back into their land; and they will rebuild the house of God,[a] though it will not be like the former one until the times of the age are completed. After this they will return from the places of their captivity, and will rebuild Jerusalem in splendor. And the house of God will be rebuilt there with a glorious building for all generations for ever, just as the prophets said of it. 6 Then all the Gentiles will turn to fear the Lord God in truth, and will bury their idols. 7 All the Gentiles will praise the Lord, and his people will give thanks to God, and the Lord will exalt his people. And all who love the Lord God in truth and righteousness will rejoice, showing mercy to our brethren.
8 “So now, my son, leave Nin′eveh, because what the prophet Jonah said will surely happen. 9 But keep the law and the commandments, and be merciful and just, so that it may be well with you. 10 Bury me properly, and your mother with me. And do not live in Nin′eveh any longer. See, my son, what Nadab[b] did to Ahi′kar who had reared him, how he brought him from light into darkness, and with what he repaid him. But Ahi′kar was saved, and the other received repayment as he himself went down into the darkness. Ahi′kar[c] gave alms and escaped the deathtrap which Nadab[d] had set for him; but Nadab[e] fell into the trap and perished. 11 So now, my children, consider what almsgiving accomplishes and how righteousness delivers.” As he said this he died in his bed. He was a hundred and fifty-eight years old; and Tobi′as[f] gave him a magnificent funeral. 12 And when Anna died he buried her with his father.
Death of Tobit and Anna
Then Tobi′as returned with his wife and his sons to Ecbat′ana, to Rag′uel his father-in-law. 13 He grew old with honor, and he gave his father-in-law and mother-in-law magnificent funerals. He inherited their property and that of his father Tobit. 14 He died in Ecbat′ana of Media at the age of a hundred and twenty-seven years. 15 But before he died he heard of the destruction of Nin′eveh, which Nebuchadnez′zar and Ahasu-e′rus had captured. Before his death he rejoiced over Nin′eveh.
Footnotes
- Tobit 14:5 Gk house
- Tobit 14:10 Other authorities read Aman
- Tobit 14:10 Other authorities read Manasses
- Tobit 14:10 Gk he
- Tobit 14:10 Other authorities read Aman
- Tobit 14:11 Gk he
Tobit 14
New Catholic Bible
Tobit’s Prophecy
Chapter 14[a]
1 So ended Tobit’s words of praise. He died peacefully at the age of one hundred and twelve and was buried with much honor in Nineveh. 2 He was sixty-two years old when he lost his eyesight, and after he was cured he lived a happy life, gave alms, and continually blessed God and proclaimed his greatness.
3 Prior to his death, he summoned his son Tobiah and Tobiah’s seven sons, and issued these instructions: 4 “My son, take your children and hasten to Media, for I believe the word of God that Nahum spoke about Nineveh. It will all take place. Everything will happen to Assyria and Nineveh that was spoken by the prophets of Israel sent by God. None of their words will be unfulfilled; everything will occur at the appointed time. You will be safer in Media than in Assyria or Babylon. For I know and believe that whatever God has said will be accomplished. Not a single word of the prophecies will remain unfulfilled.
“All of our kindred who dwell in Israel will be scattered and carried off in exile out of that good land. The whole territory of Israel, even Samaria and Jerusalem, will be desolate. The temple of God there will be burned to the ground, and for a period of time it will be abandoned.[b] 5 However, God will once again have mercy on them and bring them back to the land of Israel. They will rebuild the temple of God, but it will not be comparable to the first one until the period when the appointed times will come. Then they will all return from their captivity and rebuild Jerusalem in splendor. And the temple of God will be rebuilt there, as the prophets of Israel have foretold.
6 “All the nations of the entire world will be converted and offer sincere worship to God. They will all renounce their idols who have deceitfully led them into error, 7 and with justice they will praise the eternal God. All of the Israelites who are spared in those days and remain firmly mindful of God will be gathered together. They will go to Jerusalem and dwell in safety forever in the land of Abraham, which will be given over to them. Those who sincerely love God will rejoice, whereas those who are guilty of sin and wickedness will disappear from the earth.
8 “Now, my children, I give you this injunction. Serve God faithfully and do what is pleasing to him. Teach your children to do what is right and to give alms, to be mindful of God and at all times to bless his name sincerely and with all their strength.
9 “So now, my son, depart from Nineveh; do not remain here. 10 Once you have buried your mother next to me, do not spend even one more night within the confines of this city, where the people are without shame as they engage in wickedness and deceit. Recall, my son, what Nadab[c] did to Ahiqar who had raised him. While still alive, Ahiqar was forced to hide in a grave. However, God’s justice did not allow this disgraceful outrage to remain unpunished, inasmuch as Ahiqar came out again into the light of day, while Nadab descended into eternal darkness because of his attempt on Ahiqar’s life.
“Because Ahiqar gave alms, he managed to escape the deadly trap that Nadab had set for him. However, Nadab himself fell into that trap and was destroyed. 11 So, my children, you can see what almsgiving accomplishes, as well as what wickedness does—it leads to death. But now my breath fails me.”
12 They placed him on his bed, where he died, and he received an honorable burial.
The Last Days of Tobiah
When his mother died, Tobiah buried her beside his father. Then he and his wife and children returned to Media and settled in Ecbatana with his father-in-law Raguel. 13 He treated his wife’s aging parents with great care and respect, and later he buried them in Ecbatana in Media.
Tobiah inherited the estate of Raguel as well as that of his father Tobit. 14 Greatly respected, he died at the age of one hundred and seventeen. 15 Before his death he heard of the destruction of Nineveh and witnessed the exile of the city’s inhabitants whom King Cyaxares[d] of Media had taken captive.
Tobiah praised God for everything he had inflicted on the inhabitants of Nineveh and Assyria. Before his death he rejoiced over the fate of Nineveh, and he blessed the Lord God forever and ever. Amen.
Footnotes
- Tobit 14:1 The end of the Book takes on an apocalyptic tone. Assyria, the persecutor of the chosen people, had already fallen some centuries previously. The author presents the event as a prophecy in the mouth of Tobit whom he makes a contemporary of this time past. In the destruction of empires, he sees a pledge of the power of God capable of restoring his people. Moreover, he also sees the future coming of new times: all the nations will be converted and the Israelites reunited in their homeland, the Holy Land definitively renewed. This is why Tobit counsels his descendants to follow the example of Ahiqar, the celebrated wise man of the East.
- Tobit 14:4 See Nah 2–3; and also Isa 10:12-19. Nineveh fell in 612 B.C. at the hands of the Medes and Babylonians; Samaria, in 721 B.C.; Jerusalem, in 587 B.C. Note that the action of the Book is situated during the apogee of the Assyrian Empire (middle of the seventh century B.C.).
- Tobit 14:10 Nadab: in the Book of Ahiqar, the protagonist is the chancellor for the Assyrian kings Sennacherib and Esarhaddon. As his successor, he grooms his adopted nephew, Nadab, but the latter schemes to have his uncle disgraced and put to death. Ahiqar seeks asylum in a friend’s house and is ultimately vindicated when Nadab’s treachery is uncovered. Nadab is cast into a dungeon where he meets his death. The reason behind Ahiqar’s salvation was his almsgiving.
- Tobit 14:15 Cyaxares established the power of Media by teaming with Nabopolassar, king of Babylon, to subdue the power of Nineveh, which they destroyed in 612 B.C.
The Revised Standard Version of the Bible: Catholic Edition, copyright © 1965, 1966 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
