Tobit 2
Good News Translation
A Family Celebration
2 (A)When I returned home I was reunited with my wife Anna and my son Tobias. At the Harvest Festival, which is also called the Festival of Weeks, I sat down to a delicious meal. 2 When I saw how much food there was on the table, I said to Tobias,
Son, go out and find one of our people who is living in poverty here in exile, someone who takes God's commands seriously. Bring him back with you, so that he can share this festival meal with us. I won't start eating until you come back.
A Murder in Nineveh
3 So Tobias went out to look for such a person. But he quickly returned, shouting,
Father! Father!
Yes, what is it? I asked.
One of our people has just been murdered! Someone strangled him and threw his body into the marketplace.
4 I jumped up and left the table without even touching my food. I removed the body from the street and carried it to a little shed, where I left it until sunset, when I could bury it. 5 (B)Then I returned home and washed, so as to purify myself. In deep sorrow I ate my dinner. 6 (C)I was reminded of what the prophet Amos had said to the people of Bethel,
Your festivals will be turned into funerals,
and your glad songs will become cries of grief.
I began to weep.
7 After sunset I went out, dug a grave, and buried the man. 8 My neighbors thought I was crazy.
Haven't you learned anything? they asked.
You have already been hunted down once for burying the dead, and you would have been killed if you had not run away. But here you are doing the same thing all over again.
Tobit Is Blinded
9 That night I washed, so as to purify myself, and went out into my courtyard to sleep by the wall. It was a hot night, and I did not pull the cover up over my head. 10 Sparrows were on the wall right above me, but I did not know it. Their warm droppings fell into my eyes, causing a white film to form on them. I went to one doctor after another, but the more they treated me with their medicines, the worse my eyes became, until finally I was completely blind.
For four years I could see nothing. My relatives were deeply concerned about my condition, and Ahikar supported me for two years before he went to the land of Elam.
A Family Quarrel
11 After Ahikar left, my wife Anna had to go to work, so she took up weaving, like many other women. 12 The people she worked for would pay her when she delivered the cloth. One spring day, she cut a finished piece of cloth from the loom and took it to the people who had ordered it. They paid her the full price and also gave her a goat.
13 When Anna came home with the goat, it began to bleat. I called out,
Where did that goat come from? You stole it, didn't you? Take it straight back to its owners. It's not right to eat stolen food!
14 No! she replied.
It was given to me as a gift in addition to what I got for the cloth. But I didn't believe her, and I blushed for shame for what she had done. I ordered her to return the goat to its owners, but she had the last word.
Now I see what you are really like! she shouted.
Where is all that concern of yours for others? What about all those good deeds you used to do?
Tobit 2
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
2 In the days of[a] Esar-haddon[b] I returned home, and my wife Anna and my son Tobias were restored to me. At our Festival of Pentecost, which is the sacred Festival of Weeks, a good dinner was prepared for me, and I reclined to eat.(A) 2 When the table had been set for me and an abundance of food placed before me, I said to my son Tobias, “Go, my son, and bring whatever poor person you may find of our kindred among the exiles in Nineveh who is wholeheartedly mindful of God,[c] and he shall eat together with me. I will wait for you, my son, until you come back.” 3 So Tobias went to look for some poor person of our kindred. When he had returned he said, “Father!” And I replied, “Here I am, my son.” Then he went on to say, “Look, father, one of our own nation has been killed and thrown into the marketplace, and now he lies there strangled.” 4 Then I sprang up, left the dinner before even tasting it, and removed him from the square and laid him in one of the outbuildings at my home until sunset, when I might bury him. 5 When I returned, I washed myself and ate my food in sorrow. 6 Then I remembered the prophecy of Amos, how he said against Bethel,
“Your festivals shall be turned into mourning
and all your songs[d] into lamentation.”
And I wept.(B)
Tobit Becomes Blind
7 When the sun had set, I went and dug a grave and buried him.(C) 8 And my neighbors laughed and said, “Is he still not afraid? He has already been hunted down to be put to death for doing this, and he ran away, yet here he is again burying the dead!”(D) 9 That same night I washed myself and went into my courtyard and lay down by the wall of the courtyard; my face was uncovered because of the heat.(E) 10 I did not know that there were sparrows on the wall; their fresh droppings fell into my eyes and produced white films. I went to physicians to be healed, but the more they treated me with ointments, the more my vision was obscured by the white films, until I became completely blind. For four years I remained unable to see. All my kindred were sorry for me, and Ahikar took care of me for two years before he went to Elymais.(F)
Tobit’s Wife Earns Their Livelihood
11 At that time my wife Anna earned money at women’s work. 12 She used to send what she made to the owners, and they would pay wages to her. One day, the seventh of Dystrus, when she cut off a piece she had woven and sent it to the owners, they paid her full wages and also gave her a young goat for a meal. 13 When it came toward me, the goat began to bleat, so I called her and said, “Where did you get this goat? It is surely not stolen, is it? Return it to the owners, for we have no right to eat anything stolen.”(G) 14 But she said to me, “It was given to me as a gift in addition to my wages.” But I did not believe her and told her to return it to the owners. I became flushed with anger against her over this. Then she replied to me, “Where are your acts of charity? Where are your righteous deeds? These things are known about you!”[e](H)
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 American Bible (Revised Edition)
Chapter 2
1 Thus under King Esarhaddon I returned to my home, and my wife Anna and my son Tobiah were restored to me. Then on our festival of Pentecost, the holy feast of Weeks,[a] a fine dinner was prepared for me, and I reclined to eat.(A) 2 The table was set for me, and the dishes placed before me were many. So I said to my son Tobiah: “Son, go out and bring in whatever poor person you find among our kindred exiled here in Nineveh who may be a sincere worshiper of God to share this meal with me. Indeed, son, I shall wait for you to come back.”[b]
3 Tobiah went out to look for some poor person among our kindred, but he came back and cried, “Father!” I said to him, “Here I am, son.” He answered, “Father, one of our people has been murdered! He has been thrown out into the market place, and there he lies strangled.” 4 I sprang to my feet, leaving the dinner untouched, carried the dead man from the square, and put him in one of the rooms until sundown, so that I might bury him. 5 I returned and washed[c] and in sorrow ate my food.(B) 6 I remembered the oracle pronounced by the prophet Amos against Bethel:(C)
“I will turn your feasts into mourning,
and all your songs into dirges.”
7 Then I wept. At sunset I went out, dug a grave, and buried him.
8 My neighbors mocked me, saying: “Does he have no fear? Once before he was hunted, to be executed for this sort of deed, and he ran away; yet here he is again burying the dead!”
Tobit’s Blindness. 9 That same night I washed and went into my courtyard, where I lay down to sleep beside the wall. Because of the heat I left my face uncovered. 10 I did not know that sparrows were perched on the wall above me; their warm droppings settled in my eyes, causing white scales[d] on them. I went to doctors for a cure, but the more they applied ointments, the more my vision was obscured by the white scales, until I was totally blind. For four years I was unable to see, and all my kindred were distressed at my condition. Ahiqar, however, took care of me for two years, until he left for Elam.
11 At that time my wife Anna worked for hire at weaving cloth, doing the kind of work women do. 12 When she delivered the material to her employers, they would pay her a wage. On the seventh day of the month of Dystrus,[e] she finished the woven cloth and delivered it to her employers. They paid her the full salary and also gave her a young goat for a meal. 13 On entering my house, the goat began to bleat. So I called to my wife and said: “Where did this goat come from? It was not stolen, was it? Give it back to its owners; we have no right to eat anything stolen!” 14 (D)But she said to me, “It was given to me as a bonus over and above my wages.” Yet I would not believe her and told her to give it back to its owners. I flushed with anger at her over this. So she retorted: “Where are your charitable deeds now? Where are your righteous acts? Look! All that has happened to you is well known!”[f]
Footnotes
- 2:1 Feast of Weeks: also called by its Greek name, Pentecost, was celebrated fifty days after the Passover. Cf. Lv 23:15–21; Dt 16:9–12.
- 2:2 Almsgiving and charity to the poor are important virtues taught by the book (4:7–11, 16–17; 12:8–9; 14:10–11). A sincere worshiper of God: lit., “who is mindful of God with the whole heart.”
- 2:5 Washed: because of ritual defilement from touching a corpse (Nm 19:11–13).
- 2:10 White scales: or white films. A primitive way of describing an eye ailment that results in blindness. Elam: or in Greek, Elymais, an ancient district northeast of the head of the Persian Gulf.
- 2:12 Seventh day of the month of Dystrus: late in winter. The Macedonian month Dystros corresponds to the Jewish month of Shebat (January–February). A meal: lit., “for the hearth”; the gift had probably been made in view of some springtime festival like the Jewish Purim.
- 2:14 Anna’s sharp rebuke calls to mind the words of Job’s wife (Jb 2:9).
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