Tobit 2
Douay-Rheims 1899 American Edition
2 But after this, when there was a festival of the Lord, and a good dinner was prepared in Tobias's house,
2 He said to his son: Go, and bring some of our tribe that fear God, to feast with us.
3 And 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:
4 And taking it up carried it privately to his house, that after the sun was down, he might bury him cautiously.
5 And when he had hid the body, he ate bread with mourning and fear,
6 Remembering the word which the Lord spoke by Amos the prophet: Your festival days shall be turned into lamentation and mourning.
7 So when the sun was down, he went and buried him.
8 Now 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?
9 But 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.
10 Now it happened one day, that being wearied with burying, he came to his house, and cast himself down by the wall and slept,
11 And as he was sleeping, hot dung out of a swallow's nest fell upon his eyes, and he was made blind.
12 Now 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.
13 For 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,
14 But continued immoveable in the fear of God, giving thanks to God all the days of his life.
15 For as the kings insulted over holy Job: so his relations and kinsmen mocked at his life, saying:
16 Where is thy hope, for which thou gavest alms, and buriedst the dead?
17 But Tobias rebuked them, saying: Speak not so:
18 For 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.
19 Now 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.
20 Whereby it came to pass, that she received a young kid, and brought it home:
21 And 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.
22 At these words his wife being angry answered: It is evident thy hope is come to nothing, and thy alms now appear.
23 And with these, and other such like words she upbraided him.
Tobit 2
New Catholic Bible
Chapter 2
His Neighbors Deride Tobit’s Generosity. 1 During the reign of Esarhaddon, therefore, I returned home, and my wife Anna and my son Tobiah were restored to me. At our festival of Pentecost, the Feast of Weeks, an excellent dinner was prepared for me, and I reclined to eat. 2 The table was set for me, and an abundance of food was placed before me. I said to my son Tobiah, “Go out, my child, and find some poor man among our people exiled here in Nineveh. If he is wholeheartedly devoted to God, bring him back with you to share my meal. I will wait for you, my son, until you return.”
3 And so Tobiah went out to search for some poor person of our people. When he returned, he said, “Father!” I replied, “What is it, my son?” “Father,” he answered, “one of our people has been murdered and thrown into the marketplace, and he is still lying there strangled.” 4 I sprang up at once, leaving my dinner without having even tasted it; and I removed the body from the marketplace and put it in one of the rooms until sunset when I would be able to bury it. 5 When I returned, I bathed myself and ate my dinner in sorrow, 6 recalling the words pronounced by the prophet Amos against Bethel:
“I will turn your religious feasts into mourning,
and all your singing into weeping.”
7 And I wept. When the sun had set, I went out, dug a grave, and buried him. 8 My neighbors jeered at me, saying, “Is he still unafraid? Once previously he had been hunted down under the penalty of death for this identical offense; yet here he is, after his escape, once again burying the dead.”
In the Heat of the Trial. 9 That same night, after bathing, I went into the courtyard and lay down to sleep by the courtyard wall, with my face uncovered because of the heat. 10 [a]I was not aware that sparrows were poised on the wall above me. Their warm droppings fell into my eyes, causing white patches to form, and I had to go to the doctors for a cure. But the more they treated my eyes with their ointment, the more my vision was impaired by the white patches, until at last I became completely blind. For four years I remained sightless. All my kindred grieved at my situation, and Ahiqar took care of me for two years, until he departed for Elymais.[b]
11 At that time my wife Anna used to earn money by working in her rooms for payment, spinning wool and weaving cloth. 12 When she delivered what she had made to those who had ordered the work, they would pay her. On the seventh day of the month Dystros,[c] she completed a particular job of weaving and delivered it to her employers. They not only paid her the agreed-upon wages in full but also gave her a young goat for a meal. 13 When the goat entered my house, it began to bleat. I called to my wife and asked, “Where did you get this goat? Perhaps it was stolen. Return it to its owners. We have no right to eat anything stolen.” 14 But she reassured me, “It was given to me as a bonus in addition to my wages.” However, I did not believe her, and I insisted that she return it to its owners. I became very angry over this. She replied, “Where is your almsgiving? Where are your good deeds? Everyone can now see the kind of person you really are!”
Footnotes
- Tobit 2:10 Elymais was the Greek name for Elam, which lay between Persia and Babylonia.
- Tobit 2:10 At this point the Vulgate has an additional seven verses that begin as follows: “12The Lord permitted that [Tobit] should undergo this trial so that his patience might be an example to his posterity, like the patience of holy Job. 13For although he had always feared God from his infancy, and kept his commandments, he did not complain against God because the evil of blindness had befallen him. 14Rather, he continued immovable in the fear of God, giving thanks to God all the days of his life. 15For as the kings [i.e., fellow chieftains] taunted holy Job, so his relations and kindred mocked at Tobit’s life, saying: 16‘Where is your hope, for which you gave alms and buried the dead?’ 17But Tobit rebuked them, saying, ‘Do not speak this way; 18for we are children of saints and we await that life that God will give to those who never lack faith in him.’ ”
- Tobit 2:12 The Macedonian month of Dystros corresponded to the Jewish month of Shebat (January–February). For a meal: literally, “for the hearth.” The gift may have been given at the time of some feast in the spring like the Jewish Feast of Purim.
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