The In-Dept Study of the Bible
Tobit 02
1 Now when I had come home again, and
my wife Anna was restored to me, and my
son Tobias, in the feast of Pentecost, which
is the holy feast of the seven weeks, there
was a good dinner prepared for me, and I
sat down to eat.
2 I saw abundance of meat, and I said to
my son, “Go and bring whatever poor man
you find of our kindred, who is mindful of
the Lord. Behold, I wait for you.”
3 Then he came, and said, “Father, one of
our race is strangled, and has been cast out
in the marketplace.”
4 Before I had tasted anything, I sprang
up, and took him up into a chamber until
the sun had set.
5 Then I returned, washed myself, ate my
bread in heaviness,
6 and remembered the prophecy of
Amos, as he said, *“Your feasts
will be turned into mourning,
and all your mirth into lamentation.
7 So I wept: and when the sun had set, I
went and dug a grave, and buried him.
8 My neighbors mocked me, and said,
“He is no longer afraid to be put to death
for this matter; and yet he fled away.
Behold, he buries the dead again.”
9 The same night I returned from burying
him, and slept by the wall of my courtyard,
being polluted; and my face was uncovered.
10 I didn’t know that there were sparrows
in the wall. My eyes were open and
the sparrows dropped warm dung into my
eyes, and white films came over my eyes.
I went to the physicians, and they didn’t
help me; but Achiacharus nourished me,
until I went† into Elymais.
11 My wife Anna wove cloth in the
women’s chambers,
12 and sent the work back to the owners.
They on their part paid her wages, and also
gave her a kid.
13 But when it came to my house, it began
to cry, and I said to her, “Where did this kid
come from? Is it stolen? Give it back to the
owners; for it is not lawful to eat anything
that is stolen.”
14 But she said, “It has been given to me
for a gift more than the wages.”
I didn’t believe her, and I asked her to
return it to the owners; and I was ashamed
of her. But she answered and said to me,
“Where are your alms and your righteous
deeds? Behold, you and all your works are
known.‡”