1 Then Tobias called the Angel to him, whom he indeed considered to be a man, and he said to him: “Brother Azariah, I implore you to listen to my words:
2 If I should give myself to be your servant, I would not be equally worthy of your providence.
3 Even so, I beg you to take with you beasts or even servants, and to go to Gabael in Rages, the city of the Medes, and restore to him his handwritten note, and receive from him the money, and petition him to come to my wedding celebration.
4 For you know that my father numbers the days. And if I delay one day more, his soul will be afflicted.
5 And surely you see how Raguel has obtained my oath, an oath that I am not able to spurn.”
6 Then Raphael borrowed four of the servants of Raguel, and two camels, and he traveled to Rages, the city of the Medes. And upon finding Gabael, he gave him his handwritten note, and he received from him all the money.
7 And he revealed to him, concerning Tobias the son of Tobit, all that had been done. And he made him come with him to the wedding celebration.
8 And when he had entered into the house of Raguel, he discovered Tobias reclining at table. And leaping up, they kissed each other. And Gabael wept, and he blessed God.
9 And he said: “May the God of Israel bless you, for you are the son of a man most noble and just, fearing God and performing almsgiving.
10 And may a blessing be spoken over your wife and over your parents.
11 And may you see your sons, and the sons of your sons, even to the third and fourth generation. And may your offspring be blessed by the God of Israel, who reigns forever and ever.”
12 And when all had said, “Amen,” they approached the feast. But they also celebrated the marriage feast with the fear of the Lord.
1 In truth, when Tobias was delayed because of the marriage celebration, his father Tobit was worried, saying: “Why do you think my son is delayed, or why has he been detained there?
2 Do you think that Gabael has died, and that no one will repay him the money?”
3 And so he began to be exceedingly sad, both he and his wife Anna with him. And they both began to weep together, because their son did not at least return to them on the appointed day.
4 But his mother wept inconsolable tears, and also said: “Woe, woe to me, O my son. Why did we send you to journey far away, you: the light of our eyes, the staff of our old age, the solace of our life, the hope of our posterity?
5 Having all things together as one in you, we ought not to have dismissed you from us.”
6 And Tobit was saying to her: “Be calm, and do not be troubled. Our son is safe. That man, with whom we sent him, is faithful enough.”
7 Yet she was by no means able to be consoled. But, leaping up every day, she looked all round, and traveled around all the ways, by which there seemed any hope that he might return, so that she might possibly see him coming from afar.
8 In truth, Raguel said to his son-in-law, “Remain here, and I will send a message of your health to your father Tobit.”
9 And Tobias said to him, “I know that my father and my mother have now counted the days, and their spirit must be tortured within them.”
10 And when Raguel had repeatedly petitioned Tobias, and he was by no means willing to listen to him, he delivered Sarah to him, and half of all his substance: with men and women servants, with sheep, camels, and cows, and with much money. And he dismissed him away, in safety and gladness, from him,
11 saying: “May the holy Angel of the Lord be with your journey, and may he lead you through unharmed, and may you discover that all is right concerning your parents, and may my eyes see your sons before I die.”
12 And the parents, taking hold of their daughter, kissed her and let her go:
13 admonishing her to honor her father-in-law, to love her husband, to guide the family, to govern the household, and to behave irreproachably herself.
1 And as they were returning, they came through to Haran, which is in the middle of the journey, opposite Nineveh, on the eleventh day.
2 And the Angel said: “Brother Tobias, you know how you left behind your father.
3 And so, if it pleases you, let us go on ahead, and let the family follow after us with a slower step, together with your bride, and with the animals.”
4 And since it pleased him to go on in this way, Raphael said to Tobias, “Take with you from the gall of the fish, for it will be necessary.” And so, Tobias took from its gall, and he went ahead.
5 But Anna sat beside the way every day, on the top of a hill, from where she would be able to see for a long distance.
6 And while she was watching for his arrival from that place, she looked far off, and soon she realized that her son was approaching. And running, she reported it to her husband, saying: “Behold, your son arrives.”
7 And Raphael said to Tobias: “As soon as you enter into your house, immediately adore the Lord your God. And, giving thanks to him, approach your father, and kiss him.
8 And immediately anoint his eyes from this gall of the fish, which you carry with you. For you should know that his eyes will soon be opened, and your father will see the light of heaven, and he will rejoice at the sight of you.”
9 Then the dog, which had been with them in the way, ran ahead, and, arriving like a messenger, he showed his joy by fawning and wagging his tail.
10 And rising up, his blind father began to run, stumbling with his feet. And giving his hand to a servant, he ran on to meet his son.
11 And receiving him, he kissed him, as did his wife, and they both began to weep for joy.
12 And when they had adored God and had given thanks, they sat down together.
13 Then Tobias, taking from the gall of the fish, anointed his father’s eyes.
14 And about half an hour passed, and then a white film began to come out of his eyes, like the membrane of an egg.
15 So, taking hold of it, Tobias pulled it away from his eyes, and immediately he received his sight.
16 And they glorified God: Tobit especially, and his wife, and all those who knew him.
17 And Tobit said, “I bless you, O Lord God of Israel, because you have chastised me, and you have saved me, and behold, I see my son Tobias.”
18 And then, after seven days, Sarah, the wife of his son, and all the family arrived safely, along with the sheep, and the camels, and much money from his wife, but also with that money which he had received from Gabael.
19 And he explained to his parents all the benefits from God, which he had produced all around him, by means of the man who had led him.
20 And then Ahikar and Nadab arrived, the maternal first cousins of Tobias, rejoicing for Tobias, and congratulating with him for all the good things that God had revealed all around him.
21 And for seven days they feasted, and all were rejoicing with great joy.
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1 And I said: Listen, leaders of Jacob and chiefs of the house of Israel. Does it not belong to you to know judgment,
2 you who hold hatred for good, and love evil, who violently steal their skins from over them and their flesh from over their bones?
3 They have devoured the flesh of my people, and have stripped their skin from over them, and they have shattered and chopped their bones, as if for the kettle, and like flesh in the middle of the pot.
4 Then they will cry out to the Lord, and he will not heed them. And he will hide his face from them in that time, just as they have acted wickedly with their inventions.
5 Thus says the Lord about the prophets who seduce my people: They bite with their teeth and preach peace, and if anyone does not give something to their mouth, they sanctify a battle against him.
6 Because of this, night will be yours for vision, and darkness yours for divination, and the sun will meet with death over the prophets, and the day will be darkened over them.
7 And those who see visions will be confounded, and the diviners will be confounded. And they will all cover their faces, because there is no response from God.
8 Nevertheless, truly I have been filled with the strength of the Spirit of the Lord, with judgment and virtue, in order to announce to Jacob his wickedness and to Israel his sin.
9 Hear this, leaders of the house of Jacob and judges of the house of Israel, you who abominate judgment and who pervert all that is right.
10 You build up Zion with blood, and Jerusalem with iniquity.
11 Her leaders have judged for tributes, and her priests have taught for payment, and her prophets divined for money. And they leaned upon the Lord, saying: “Is not the Lord in our midst? No disaster will overcome us.”
12 For this reason, because of you, Zion will be plowed under like a field, and Jerusalem will become like a pile of stones, and the mountain of the temple like the high places of the forests.
1 And this shall be: In the last days, the mountain of the house of the Lord will be prepared at the top of the mountains and high above the hills. And the people will flow to it.
2 And many nations will hurry, and will say: “Come, let us ascend to the mountain of the Lord and to the house of the God of Jacob. And he will teach us about his ways, and we will walk in his paths.” For the law will go forth from Zion, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
3 And he will judge among the many peoples, and he will correct strong nations, even from afar. And they will cut up their swords into plows, and their spears into hoes. Nation will not take up the sword against nation, and they will no longer learn to wage war.
4 And a man will sit under his vine and under his fig tree, and there will be no one to fear, for the mouth of the Lord of hosts has spoken.
5 For all people will walk, each one in the name of his god. But we will walk in the name of the Lord our God, forever and ever.
6 In that day, says the Lord, I will gather together the lame. And I will recover her whom I had rejected, and her whom I had afflicted.
7 And I will place the lame within the remnant, and she who had been in distress, within a healthy people. And the Lord will reign over them on Mount Zion, from the present time and even unto eternity.
8 And you, cloudy tower of the flock of the daughter of Zion, even to you it will come. And the first power will arrive, the kingdom to the daughter of Jerusalem.
9 Now, why have you come together in grief? Is there not a king in you, or has your counselor gone away? For sorrow has overtaken you, like the pain of giving birth.
10 Be grieved and overwhelmed, daughter of Zion, like a woman giving birth. For now you must depart from the city and dwell in the countryside, and you will approach even to Babylon. There you will be delivered. There the Lord will redeem you from the hand of your adversaries.
11 And now many peoples have been gathered together against you, and they say, “Let her be stoned and let our eyes gaze upon Zion.”
12 But they have not known the thoughts of the Lord, and they have not understood his counsel. For he has gathered them together like hay on a threshing floor.
13 Rise and thresh, daughter of Zion. For I will set your horn like iron, and I will set your hoofs like brass. And you will shatter many peoples, and you will immolate their spoils for the Lord, and their strength for the Lord of the whole earth.
22 And let them sacrifice the sacrifice of praise: and declare his works with joy.
23 They that go down to the sea in ships, doing business in the great waters:
24 These have seen the works of the Lord, and his wonders in the deep.
25 He said the word, and there arose a storm of wind: and the waves thereof were lifted up.
26 They mount up to the heavens, and they go down to the depths: their soul pined away with evils.
27 They were troubled, and reeled like a drunken man; and all their wisdom was swallowed up.
28 And they cried to the Lord in their affliction: and he brought them out of their distresses.
1 Therefore, having these promises, most beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of the flesh and of the spirit, perfecting sanctification in the fear of God.
2 Consider us. We have injured no one; we have corrupted no one; we have defrauded no one.
3 I am not saying this to your condemnation. For we have told you before that you are in our hearts: to die together and to live together.
4 Great is my confidence in you. Great is my glorying over you. I have been filled with consolation. I have a superabundant joy throughout all our tribulation.
5 Then, too, when we had arrived in Macedonia, our flesh had no rest. Instead, we suffered every tribulation: exterior conflicts, interior fears.
6 But God, who consoles the humble, consoled us by the arrival of Titus,
7 and not only by his arrival, but also by the consolation with which he was consoled among you. For he brought to us your desire, your weeping, your zeal for me, so that I rejoiced all the more.
8 For though I made you sorrowful by my epistle, I do not repent. And if I did repent, but only for a time, having realized that the same epistle made you sorrowful,
9 now I am glad: not because you were sorrowful, but because you were sorrowful unto repentance. For you became sorrowful for God, so that you might not suffer any harm from us.
10 For the sorrow that is according to God accomplishes a repentance which is steadfast unto salvation. But the sorrow that is of the world accomplishes death.
11 So consider this same idea, being sorrowful according to God, and what great solicitude it accomplishes in you: including protection, and indignation, and fear, and desire, and zeal, and vindication. In all things, you have shown yourselves to be uncorrupted by this sorrow.
12 And so, though I wrote to you, it was not because of him who caused the injury, nor because of him who suffered from it, but so as to manifest our solicitude, which we have for you before God.
13 Therefore, we have been consoled. But in our consolation, we have rejoiced even more abundantly over the joy of Titus, because his spirit was refreshed by all of you.
14 And if I have gloried in anything to him about you, I have not been put to shame. But, just as we have spoken all things to you in truth, so also our glorying before Titus has been the truth.
15 And his feelings are now more abundant toward you, since he remembers the obedience of you all, and how you received him with fear and trembling.
16 I rejoice that in all things I have confidence in you.
1 And so we are making known to you, brothers, the grace of God that has been given in the churches of Macedonia.
2 For within a great experience of tribulation, they have had an abundance of joy, and their profound poverty has only increased the richness of their simplicity.
3 And I bear witness to them, that they were willing to accept what was in accord with their ability, and even what was beyond their ability.
4 For they were begging us, with great exhortation, for the grace and the communication of the ministry that is with the saints.
5 And this is beyond what we had hoped, since they gave themselves, first of all to the Lord, and then also to us, through the will of God,
6 so much so that we petitioned Titus, that in the same manner as he had begun, he would also complete in you this same grace.
7 But, just as in all things you abound in faith and in word and in knowledge and in all solicitude, and even more so in your charity toward us, so also may you abound in this grace.
8 I am speaking, not commanding. But through the solicitude of others, I approve of the good character of your charity.
9 For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, he became poor for your sakes, so that through his poverty, you might become rich.
10 And about this, I give my counsel. For this is useful to those of you who, only a year earlier, had just begun to act, or even to be willing to act.
11 So, truly now, accomplish this in deed, so that, in the same manner as your willing mind is prompted, you may also act, out of that which you have.
