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.
