Tobit 11-14

New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition

Homeward Journey

11 When they came near to Kaserin, which is opposite Nineveh, Raphael said,^{(A) 2} “You are aware of how we left your father. ³ Let us run ahead of your wife and prepare the house while they are still on the way.” ⁴ As they went on together, Raphael^[a] said to him, “Have the gall ready in your hand.” And the dog^[b] went along behind them.^(B)

⁵ Meanwhile Anna sat looking intently down the road by which her son would come.^{(C) 6} When she caught sight of him coming, she said to his father, “Look, your son is coming, and the man who went with him!”

Tobit’s Sight Restored

⁷ Raphael said to Tobias before he had approached his father, “I know that his eyes will be opened.^{(D) 8} Smear the gall of the fish on his eyes; the medicine will make the white films shrink and peel off from his eyes, and your father will regain his sight and see the light.”^(E)

⁹ Then Anna ran up to her son and threw her arms around her son, saying, “Now that I have seen you, my son, I am ready to die.” And she wept.^{(F) 10} Then Tobit got up and came stumbling out through the courtyard door. Tobias went up to him, ¹¹ with the gall of the fish in his hand, and blew it into his eyes, then took hold of him, saying, “Take courage, father.” With this he applied the medicine on his eyes,^{(G) 12} and it stung.^{[c] 13} Next, with both his hands he peeled off the white films from the corners of his eyes. Then Tobit^[d] threw his arms around him,^{(H) 14} and he wept and said to him, “I see you, my son, the light of my eyes!” Then he said,

So Tobit went in rejoicing and praising God at the top of his voice. Tobias reported to his father that his journey had been successful, that he had brought the money, that he had married Raguel’s daughter Sarah, and that she was, indeed, on her way there, very near to the gate of Nineveh.^(J)

¹⁶ Then Tobit,^[g] rejoicing and praising God, went out to meet his daughter-in-law at the gate of Nineveh. When the people of Nineveh saw him coming, walking along in full vigor and with no one leading him, they were amazed. ¹⁷ Before them all, Tobit acknowledged that God had been merciful to him and had restored his sight. When Tobit met Sarah the wife of his son Tobias, he blessed her, saying, “Come in, my daughter, and be welcome. Blessed be your God who has brought you to us, my daughter. Blessed be your father and your mother, blessed be my son Tobias, and blessed be you, my daughter. Come in now to your home, and be welcome, with blessing and joy. Come in, my daughter.” So on that day there was rejoicing among all the Jews who were in Nineveh.^{(K) 18} Ahikar and his nephew Nadab were also present to share Tobit’s joy.^[h](L)

Raphael’s Wages

12 When the wedding celebration was ended, Tobit called his son Tobias and said to him, “My son, see to paying the wages of the man who went with you, and give him a bonus as well.”^{(M) 2} He replied, “Father, how much shall I pay him? It would do me no harm to give him half of the possessions brought back with me.^{(N) 3} For he has led me back safely, cured my wife, brought the money back with me, and healed you. How much extra shall I give him as a bonus?”^{(O) 4} Tobit replied, “He deserves, my son, to receive half of all that he brought back.” ⁵ So Tobias^[i] called him and said, “Take for your wages half of all that you brought back, and farewell.”

Raphael’s Exhortation

⁶ Then Raphael^[j] called the two of them privately and said to them, “Bless God and acknowledge him in the presence of all the living for the good things he has done for you. Bless and sing praise to his name. With fitting honor declare to all people the deeds^[k] of God. Do not be slow to acknowledge him.^{(P) 7} It is good to conceal the secret of a king and to acknowledge and reveal the works of God with proper honor. Do good, and evil will not overtake you.^{(Q) 8} Prayer with fidelity is good, and almsgiving with righteousness is better than wealth with injustice. It is better to give alms than to lay up gold,^{(R) 9} for almsgiving saves from death and purges away every sin. Those who give alms will enjoy a full life,^{(S) 10} but those who commit sin and do wrong are their own enemies.^(T)

Raphael Discloses His Identity

¹¹ “I will now declare the whole truth to you and will conceal nothing from you. Already I have declared it to you when I said, ‘It is good to conceal the secret of a king but to reveal with due honor the works of God.’^{(U) 12} So now when you and Sarah prayed, it was I who brought the record of your prayers before the glory of the Lord, and likewise whenever you would bury the dead.^{(V) 13} And that time when you did not hesitate to get up and leave your dinner to go and lay out that corpse,^{(W) 14} I was sent to you to test you. And at the same time God sent me to heal you and Sarah your daughter-in-law.^{(X) 15} I am Raphael, one of the seven angels who stand ready and enter before the glory of the Lord.”^(Y)

¹⁶ The two of them were shaken and threw themselves face down, for they were afraid.^{(Z) 17} But he said to them, “Do not be afraid; peace be with you. Bless God forevermore. ¹⁸ As for me, when I was with you, I was not acting on my own will but by the will of God. Bless him each and every day; sing his praises. ¹⁹ When you were watching me, I was not really eating^[l] anything, but what you saw was a vision.^{(AA) 20} So now bless the Lord on the earth^[m] and acknowledge God. See, I am ascending to him who sent me. Write down all these things that have happened to you.” And he ascended.^{(AB) 21} Then they stood up and could see him no more. ²² They kept blessing God and singing his praises, and they acknowledged God for these marvelous deeds of his, that an angel of God had appeared to them.

Tobit’s Thanksgiving to God

13 Then Tobit^[n] said:

Tobit’s Final Counsel

14 So ended Tobit’s words of praise.

² He died in peace when he was one hundred twelve years old and was buried with great honor in Nineveh. He was fifty-eight^[z] years old when he lost his eyesight, and after regaining it he lived in prosperity, giving alms. He continued to bless God and to acknowledge God’s greatness.

³ When he was about to die, he called his son Tobias and his seven children^[aa] and gave this command: “My son, take your children ⁴ and escape off to Media, for I believe the word of God that Nahum spoke about Nineveh, that all these things will occur and will happen to Assyria and Nineveh. Indeed, everything that was spoken by the prophets of Israel whom God sent will occur. None of all their words will fail, but all will come true at their appointed times. So it will be safer in Media than among the Assyrians or in Babylon. For I know and believe that whatever God has said will be fulfilled and will occur; not a single word of the prophecies will fail. All of our kindred, inhabitants of the land of Israel, will be counted and taken as captives from the good land, and the whole land of Israel will be desolate; even Samaria and Jerusalem will be desolate. And the temple of God in it will be burned to the ground and will be desolate for a while.^[ab](AR)

⁵ “But God will again have mercy on them, and God will bring them back into the land of Israel, and they will rebuild the temple but not like the first one until the appointed time is completed. After this they all will return from their exile and will rebuild Jerusalem in splendor, and in it the temple of God will be rebuilt, just as the prophets of Israel have said concerning it.^{(AS) 6} Then all the nations in the whole world will all be converted and will truly fear God. They will all abandon all their idols who deceitfully have led them into their error,^{(AT) 7} and in righteousness they will praise the eternal God. All the Israelites who are saved in those days and are truly mindful of God will be gathered together; they will go to Jerusalem and live in safety forever in the land of Abraham, and it will be given over to them. Those who sincerely love God will rejoice, but those who commit sin and injustice will vanish from all the earth.

⁹ “So now, my children, I command you, serve God faithfully and do what is pleasing in his sight. Your children are also to be commanded to do what is right and to give alms and to be mindful of God and to bless his name at all times with sincerity and with all their strength. ⁸ So now, my son, leave Nineveh; do not remain here.^{[ac] 10} On whatever day you bury your mother beside me, do not stay overnight within the confines of the city, for I see that there is much injustice within it and that much deceit is practiced within it, while the people are without shame. See, my son, what Nadab did to Ahikar, who had reared him. Was he not, while still alive, brought down into the earth? For God repaid him to his face for this shameful treatment. Ahikar came out into the light, but Nadab went into the eternal darkness because he tried to kill Ahikar. Because he gave alms, he escaped the fatal trap that Nadab had set for him, but Nadab fell into it himself and was destroyed.^{(AU) 11} So now, my children, see what almsgiving accomplishes and what injustice does—it brings death! But now my breath fails me.”

Death of Tobit and Anna

Then they laid him on his bed, and he died, and he received an honorable funeral.^{(AV) 12} When Tobias’s mother died, he buried her beside his father. Then he and his wife^[ad] returned to Media and settled in Ecbatana with Raguel his father-in-law.^{(AW) 13} He looked after his parents-in-law^[ae] with great respect in their old age and buried them in Ecbatana of Media. He inherited both the property of Raguel and that of his father Tobit. ¹⁴ He died highly respected at the age of one hundred seventeen years. ¹⁵ Before he died he saw and heard^[af] of the destruction of Nineveh, and he saw its prisoners being led into Media, those whom King Cyaxares^[ag] of Media had taken captive. Tobias^[ah] blessed God for all he had done to the people of Nineveh and Assyria; before he died he rejoiced over Nineveh, and he blessed the Lord God forever and ever. Amen.^(AX)