Liber Thobis, 14

1. Et consummati sunt sermones confessionis Thobis. Et mortuus est in pace annorum centum duodecim et sepultus est praeclare in Nineve.

1. Here Tobit ended his words of praise.

2. Sexaginta autem et duorum annorum erat, cum invalidus oculis factus est; et, postquam lucem recepit, vixit in bonis et fecit eleemosynas et proposuit benedicere Deum et confiteri magnitudini Dei.

2. He was fifty-eight years old when he lost his sight, and after eight years he regained it. He gave alms, and he continued to fear the Lord God and to praise him.

3. Et, cum moreretur, vocavit Thobiam filium suum et praecepit illi dicens: “Fili, duc filios tuos

3. When he had grown very old he called his son and grandsons, and said to him, "My son, take your sons; behold, I have grown old and am about to depart this life.

4. et recurre in Mediam, quoniam credo ego verbo Dei, quod locutus est Nahum in Nineven, quia omnia erunt et venient super Assyriam et Nineven, quae locuti sunt prophetae Israel, quos misit Deus; omnia evenient, nihilque minuetur ex omnibus verbis, sed omnia contingent temporibus suis. Et in Media erit salus magis quam in Assyriis et quam in Babylone, quia scio ego et credo quoniam omnia, quae dixit Deus, erunt. Et perficientur, et non excidet verbum de sermonibus. Et fratres nostri, qui habitant in terra Israel, omnes dispergentur et captivi ducentur a terra optima. Et erit omnis terra Israel deserta, et Samaria et Ierusalem erit deserta, et domus Dei in tristitia erit et incendetur et erit deserta usque in tempus.

4. Go to Media, my son, for I fully believe what Jonah the prophet said about Nineveh, that it will be overthrown. But in Media there will be peace for a time. Our brethren will be scattered over the earth from the good land, and Jerusalem will be desolate. The house of God in it will be burned down and will be in ruins for a time.

5. Et iterum misericordiam faciet illorum Deus et convertetur ad illos Deus in terram Israel, et iterum aedificabunt domum, sed non sicut prius, quoadusque repleatur tempus maledictionum. Et postea revertentur a captivitate sua omnes et aedificabunt Ierusalem honorifice, et domus Dei aedificabitur in ea, sicut locuti sunt de illa omnes prophetae Israel.

5. But God will again have mercy on them, and bring them back into their land; and they will rebuild the house of God, though it will not be like the former one until the times of the age are completed. After this they will return from the places of their captivity, and will rebuild Jerusalem in splendor. And the house of God will be rebuilt there with a glorious building for all generations for ever, just as the prophets said of it.

6. Et omnes nationes in tota terra convertentur et timebunt Deum vere et relinquent omnes idola sua, quae seducunt false seductione eorum.

6. Then all the Gentiles will turn to fear the Lord God in truth, and will bury their idols.

7. Et benedicent Deo aeterno in iustitia. Omnes filii Israel, qui liberabuntur in diebus illis, memores Dei in veritate, colligentur et venient in Ierusalem et habitabunt in aeternum in terra Abraham cum tutela, et tradetur eis. Et gaudebunt, qui diligunt Deum in veritate; qui autem faciunt iniquitatem et peccatum, deficient de terris omnibus.

7. All the Gentiles will praise the Lord, and his people will give thanks to God, and the Lord will exalt his people. And all who love the Lord God in truth and righteousness will rejoice, showing mercy to our brethren.

8. Et nunc, filii, mando vobis: Servite Deo in veritate et facite coram illo, quod ipsi placet. Et filiis vestris mandabitur, ut faciant iustitias et eleemosynam et ut sint memores Dei et benedicant nomini ipsius in omni tempore in veritate et in tota virtute sua.

8. "So now, my son, leave Nineveh, because what the prophet Jonah said will surely happen.

9. Nunc vero, fili, exi a Nineve et noli manere hic,

9. But keep the law and the commandments, and be merciful and just, so that it may be well with you.

10. sed, quocumque die sepelieris matrem tuam circa me, eodem die noli manere in finibus eius. Video enim quia multa iniquitas est in illa, et fictio multa perficitur in illa, et non confunduntur. Vide, fili, quae fecit Nadab Achicaro, qui eum nutrivit. Nonne vivus deductus est in terram? Sed tradidit Deus infamiam ante faciem ipsius, et Achicarus exiit ad lucem, Nadab autem intravit in tenebras aeternas, quia quaesivit occidere Achicarum. Cum faciebat eleemosynam, exiit de laqueo mortis, quem fixerat ei Nadab, et Nadab cecidit in laqueum mortis, et perdidit illum.

10. Bury me properly, and your mother with me. And do not live in Nineveh any longer. See, my son, what Nadab did to Ahikar who had reared him, how he brought him from light into darkness, and with what he repaid him. But Ahikar was saved, and the other received repayment as he himself went down into the darkness. Ahikar gave alms and escaped the deathtrap which Nadab had set for him; but Nadab fell into the trap and perished.

11. Et nunc, filii, videte quid faciat eleemosyna, et quid faciat iniquitas, quoniam occidit. Et ecce anima mea deficit!”. Et posuerunt eum super lectum, et mortuus est et sepultus est praeclare.

11. So now, my children, consider what almsgiving accomplishes and how righteousness delivers." As he said this he died in his bed. He was a hundred and fifty-eight years old; and Tobias gave him a magnificent funeral.

12. Et, cum mortua est mater eius, Thobias sepelivit eam iuxta patrem suum et abiit ipse et uxor eius in Mediam et habitavit in Ecbatanis cum Raguel socero suo.

12. And when Anna died he buried her with his father. Then Tobias returned with his wife and his sons to Ecbatana, to Raguel his father-in-law.

13. Et curam habuit senectutis eorum honorifice et sepelivit illos in Ecbatanis Mediae et hereditatem percepit domus Raguel et Thobis patris sui.

13. He grew old with honor, and he gave his father-in-law and mother-in-law magnificent funerals. He inherited their property and that of his father Tobit.

14. Et mortuus est annorum centum decem et septem cum claritate.

14. He died in Ecbatana of Media at the age of a hundred and twenty-seven years.

15. Et, antequam moreretur, vidit et audivit perditionem Nineves et vidit captivitatem illius in Mediam adductam, quam adduxit Asuerus rex Mediae, et benedixit Deum in omnibus, quae fecit filiis Nineves et Assyriae. Et gavisus est, antequam moreretur, in Nineve, et benedixit Dominum Deum in omnia saecula saeculorum.

15. But before he died he heard of the destruction of Nineveh, which Nebuchadnezzar and Ahasuerus had captured. Before his death he rejoiced over Nineveh.