The Book of Tobit (Tobias)

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- Chapter 8 -

Tobias burns part of the fish’s liver, and Raphael binds the devil. Tobias and Sara pray.

In truth, after they had dined, they introduced the young man to her.

And so, Tobias, remembering the word of the Angel, took part of the liver from his bag, and he placed it over the live coals.

Then the Angel Raphael caught the demon, and bound him in the desert of upper Egypt.

Then Tobias exhorted the virgin, and he said to her: “Sarah, get up and let us pray to God this day, and tomorrow, and the following day. For, during these three nights, we are being joined to God. And then, when the third night has passed, we ourselves will be joined together.(a)

For certainly, we are the children of the saints, and we must not be joined together in such a manner as the heathens, who are ignorant of God.”

And so, rising up together, they both prayed earnestly, at the same time, that health might be given to them.

And Tobias said: “Lord, the God of our fathers, may the heavens and the earth bless you, and the sea, and the fountains, and the rivers, and all your creatures that are in them.

You formed Adam from the mud of the earth, and you gave Eve to him as a helper.

And now, O Lord, you know that I take my sister in conjugal union, not by reason of worldly pleasure, but solely for the love of posterity, in which your name may be blessed forever and ever.”(b)

Sarah likewise said, “Be merciful to us, O Lord, be merciful to us. And let us both grow old together in health.”

And it happened, about the time of the rooster’s crowing, that Raguel ordered his servants to be summoned, and they went out with him together to dig a grave.

For he said, “Lest perhaps, in the same way, it may have happened to him, as it did also to the other seven men who approached her.”

And when they had prepared the pit, Raguel returned to his wife, and he said to her,

“Send one of your maids, and let her see if he is dead, so that I may bury him before the dawn of day.”

And so, she sent one of her maidservants, who entered the bedroom and discovered them safe and unharmed, sleeping both together.

And returning, she reported the good news. And they blessed the Lord: Raguel, especially, and his wife Anna.

And they said: “We bless you, Lord God of Israel, because it has not happened in the way that we thought it might.

For you have acted in your mercy toward us, and you have excluded from us the enemy who pursued us.

Moreover, you have had compassion on two only children. Make them, O Lord, able to bless you more fully and to offer you a sacrifice of your praise and of their health, so that all peoples everywhere may know that you alone are God in all the earth.”

And immediately Raguel instructed his servants to refill the pit, which they had made, before daylight.

And then he told his wife to make ready a feast, and to prepare all the provisions that are necessary for those who undertake a journey.

Likewise, he caused two fat cows and four rams to be killed, and a banquet to be prepared for all his neighbors and every one of his friends.

And Raguel pleaded with Tobias to delay with him for two weeks.

Moreover, of all the things that Raguel possessed, he gave one half part to Tobias, and he made a writing, so that the half that remained should also pass into the ownership of Tobias, after their deaths.

Footnotes

(a)8:4 Sarah was still a virgin, even though she had been married to seven men, because each died after the wedding ceremony, but before the marriage could be consummated.(Conte)

(b)8:9 Notice, in the Book of Tobit, that persons who do not have the same parents, but who are from the same extended family, or even from the same tribe of Israel, still call one another ‘brother’ or ‘sister.’ This practice is also seen in the New Testament with the ‘brothers and sisters’ of the Lord.(Conte)

Tobias burns part of the fish’s liver, and Raphael binds the devil. Tobias and Sara pray.

When they had finished their supper, they brought Tobias in to her.

But as he went, he remembered the words of Raphael, and took the ashes of the incense, and put the heart and the liver of the fish on them, and made smoke with them.

When the demon smelled that smell, it fled into the uppermost parts of Egypt, and the angel bound him.

But after they were both shut in together, Tobias rose up from the bed, and said, “Sister, arise, and let’s pray that the Lord may have mercy on us.”

And Tobias began to say, “Blessed are you, O God of our fathers, and blessed is your holy and glorious name forever. Let the heavens bless you, and all your creatures.

You made Adam, and gave him Eve his wife for a helper and support. From them came the seed of men. You said, it is not good that the man should be alone. Let’s make him a helper like him.

And now, O Lord, I take not this my sister for lust, but in truth. Command that I may find mercy and grow old with her.”

She said with him, “Amen.” And they both slept that night.

Raguel arose, and went and dug a grave,

saying, “Lest he also should die.”

And Raguel came into his house,

and said to Edna his wife, “Send one of the maidservants, and let them see if he is alive. If not, we will bury him, and no man will know it.”

So the maidservant opened the door, and went in, and found them both sleeping,

and came out, and told them that he was alive.

Then Raguel blessed God, saying, “Blessed are you, O God, with all pure and holy blessing! Let your saints bless you, and all your creatures! Let all your angels and your elect bless you forever!

Blessed are you, because you have made me glad; and it has not happened to me as I suspected; but you have dealt with us according to your great mercy.

Blessed are you, because you have had mercy on two that were the only begotten children of their parents. Show them mercy, O Lord. Fulfill their life in health with gladness and mercy.

He commanded his servants to fill the grave.

He kept the wedding feast for them fourteen days.

Before the days of the wedding feast were finished, Raguel sware to him, that he should not depart till the fourteen days of the wedding feast were fulfilled;

and that then he should take half of his goods, and go in safety to his father; and the rest, said he, when my wife and I die.