Tobit (Sinaiticus recension) 14

συνετελέσθησαν οἱ λόγοι τῆς ἐξομολογήσεως Τωβιθ

And the words of the thanksgiving of Tobit were completed.

And he died in peace, being one hundred and twelve years old, and he was buried honorably in Nineveh; and he was sixty-two years old when he became blind in the eyes, and after he regained sight, he lived in good things and he did acts of almsgiving, and still he continued to bless God and to confess the greatness of God.

3

ὅτε ἀπέθνῃσκεν ἐκάλεσεν Τωβιαν τὸν υἱὸν αὐτοῦ καὶ ἐνετείλατο αὐτῷ λέγων παιδίον ἀπάγαγε τὰ παιδία σου

And when he was dying, he called Tobias his son and charged him, saying, Child, bring away your children.

4

ἀπότρεχε εἰς Μηδίαν ὅτι πιστεύω ἐγὼ τῷ ῥήματι τοῦ θεοῦ ἐπὶ Νινευη ἃ ἐλάλησεν Ναουμ ὅτι πάντα ἔσται καὶ ἀπαντήσει ἐπὶ Αθουρ καὶ Νινευη καὶ ὅσα ἐλάλησαν οἱ προφῆται τοῦ Ισραηλ οὓς ἀπέστειλεν ὁ θεός πάντα ἀπαντήσει καὶ οὐ μηθὲν ἐλαττονωθῇ ἐκ πάντων τῶν ῥημάτων καὶ πάντα συμβήσεται τοῖς καιροῖς αὐτῶν καὶ ἐν τῇ Μηδίᾳ ἔσται σωτηρία μᾶλλον ἤπερ ἐν Ἀσσυρίοις καὶ ἐν Βαβυλῶνι διὸ γινώσκω ἐγὼ καὶ πιστεύω ὅτι πάντα ἃ εἶπεν ὁ θεός συντελεσθήσεται καὶ ἔσται καὶ οὐ μὴ διαπέσῃ ῥῆμα ἐκ τῶν λόγων καὶ οἱ ἀδελφοὶ ἡμῶν οἱ κατοικοῦντες ἐν τῇ γῇ Ισραηλ πάντες διασκορπισθήσονται καὶ αἰχμαλωτισθήσονται ἐκ τῆς γῆς τῆς ἀγαθῆς καὶ ἔσται πᾶσα ἡ γῆ τοῦ Ισραηλ ἔρημος καὶ Σαμάρεια καὶ Ιερουσαλημ ἔσται ἔρημος καὶ ὁ οἶκος τοῦ θεοῦ ἐν λύπῃ καὶ καυθήσεται μέχρι χρόνου

And run to Media, because I believe the word of God concerning Nineveh, what Naum spoke, that all will happen, and it will come upon Asshur and Nineveh, and as many things as the prophets of Israel spoke, whom God sent, all will happen and nothing at all will be diminished from all the words, and all things will come to pass in their times, and in Media there will be salvation rather than in the Assyrians and in Babylon; therefore I know and believe that all things which God said will be accomplished and will be and no word from the sayings will in no way fall away, and our brothers, those dwelling in the land of Israel, will all be scattered and will be taken captive from the good land, and all the land of Israel will be desolate, and Samaria and Jerusalem will be desolate, and the house of God in sorrow and it will be burned until a time.

5

And again God will have mercy on them, and God will bring them back to the land of Israel, and again they will rebuild the house, and not as the former one, until the time when the time of the seasons is fulfilled; and after these things all will return from their captivity, and they will rebuild Jerusalem honorably, and the house of God in it will be built, as the prophets of Israel spoke concerning it.

6

And all the nations that are in all the earth, all will turn back and will fear God truly, and all will leave their idols, the misleading ones of their false delusion, and they will bless the God of the age in righteousness

7

All the sons of Israel who are being saved in those days, remembering God in truth, will be gathered together and will come to Jerusalem and will dwell forever in the land of Abraham with security, and it will be handed over to them, and those who love God in truth will rejoice, and those who do sin and injustice will perish from all the land.

8

νῦν παιδία ἐγὼ ὑμῖν ἐντέλλομαι δουλεύσατε τῷ θεῷ ἐν ἀληθείᾳ καὶ ποιήσατε τὸ ἀρεστὸν ἐνώπιον αὐτοῦ καὶ τοῖς παιδίοις ὑμῶν ἐνυποταγήσεται ποιεῖν δικαιοσύνην καὶ ἐλεημοσύνην καὶ ἵνα ὦσιν μεμνημένοι τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ εὐλογῶσιν τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ ἐν παντὶ καιρῷ ἐν ἀληθείᾳ καὶ ὅλῃ τῇ ἰσχύι αὐτῶν καὶ νῦν σύ παιδίον ἔξελθε ἐκ Νινευη καὶ μὴ μείνῃς ὧδε ἐν ᾗ ἂν ἡμέρᾳ θάψῃς τὴν μητέρα σου μετ᾿ ἐμοῦ αὐτῇ τῇ ἡμέρᾳ μὴ αὐλισθῇς ἐν τοῖς ὁρίοις αὐτῆς ὁρῶ γὰρ ὅτι πολλὴ ἀδικία ἐν αὐτῇ καὶ δόλος πολὺς συντελεῖται ἐν αὐτῇ καὶ οὐκ αἰσχύνονται

And now, children, I am commanding you: serve God in truth and do what is pleasing before him, and for your children there will be submission to do righteousness and almsgiving, and that they may be mindful of God and bless his name at every time, in truth and with all their strength. And now you, child, go out from Nineveh and do not remain here; on whatever day you bury your mother with me, on that same day do not lodge in her borders, for I see that much injustice is in it and much deceit is brought to completion in it, and they are not ashamed.

10

See, child, what Nadab did to Achiachar, who had nurtured him: was he not brought down alive to the earth, and God repaid the dishonor before his face? And Achiachar came out into the light, and Nadab went into the darkness of the age, because he sought to kill Achiachar. In the doing of almsgiving he came out from the trap of death that Nadab had set for him, and Nadab fell into the trap of death and destroyed him.

11

And now, children, see what almsgiving does and what injustice does, because it kills; and behold, my soul faints. And they laid him on the bed, and he died and was buried gloriously.

12

And when his mother died, Tobit buried her with his father, and he himself and his wife went away into Media and dwelt in Ecbatana with Raguel, his father-in-law

13

And he cared for them honorably in old age and buried them in Ecbatane of Media, and he inherited the house of Raguel and Tobit his father

14

ἀπέθανεν ἐτῶν ἑκατὸν δέκα ἑπτὰ ἐνδόξως

And he died at the age of one hundred seventeen, gloriously.

15

And he saw and heard before he died the destruction of Nineveh, and he saw its captivity being led into Media, which Achiacharos the king of Media had taken captive, and he blessed God in all that he did to the sons of Nineveh and of Athourias; and he rejoiced before he died over Nineveh, and he blessed the Lord God unto the ages of the ages