Tobit Chapter 8

Tobit Chapter 8

1In truth, after they had dined, they introduced the young man to her.
2And so, Tobias, remembering the word of the Angel, took part of the liver from his bag, and he placed it over the live coals.
3Then the Angel Raphael caught the demon, and bound him in the desert of upper Egypt.
4Then 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.
5For 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."
6And so, rising up together, they both prayed earnestly, at the same time, that health might be given to them.
7And 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.
8You formed Adam from the mud of the earth, and you gave Eve to him as a helper.
9And 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."
10Sarah likewise said, "Be merciful to us, O Lord, be merciful to us. And let us both grow old together in health."
11And 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.
12For 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."
13And when they had prepared the pit, Raguel returned to his wife, and he said to her,
14"Send one of your maids, and let her see if he is dead, so that I may bury him before the dawn of day."
15And so, she sent one of her maidservants, who entered the bedroom and discovered them safe and unharmed, sleeping both together.
16And returning, she reported the good news. And they blessed the Lord: Raguel, especially, and his wife Anna.
17And they said: "We bless you, Lord God of Israel, because it has not happened in the way that we thought it might.
18For you have acted in your mercy toward us, and you have excluded from us the enemy who pursued us.
19Moreover, 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."
20And immediately Raguel instructed his servants to refill the pit, which they had made, before daylight.
21And 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.
22Likewise, 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.
23And Raguel pleaded with Tobias to delay with him for two weeks.
24Moreover, 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.