Tobit 13

¹ And he said: ‘Blessed be God who lives for ever, for his reign endures throughout all ages!

² By turns he punishes and pardons; he sends men down to the depths of the underworld and draws them up from supreme Destruction; no one can escape his hand.

³ Declare his praise before the nations, you who are the sons of Israel! For if he has scattered you among them,

⁴ there too he has shown you his greatness. Extol him before all the living; he is our Master and he is our God and he is our Father and he is God for ever and ever.

⁵ ‘Though he punishes you for your iniquities, he will take pity on you all; he will gather you from every nation wherever you have been scattered.

⁶ If you return to him with all your heart and all your soul, behaving honestly towards him, then he will return to you and hide his face from you no longer. Consider how well he has treated you; loudly give him thanks. Bless the Lord of justice and extol the King of the ages. I for my part sing his praise in the country of my exile; I make his power and greatness known to a nation that has sinned. Sinners, return to him; let your conduct be upright before him; perhaps he will be gracious to you and take pity on you.

⁷ I for my part extol God and my soul rejoices in the King of heaven. Let his greatness

⁸ be in all men’s mouths, his praises be sung in Jerusalem.

⁹ ‘Jerusalem, Holy City, God scourged you for your handiwork yet still will take pity on the sons of the upright.

¹⁰ Thank the Lord as he deserves and bless the King of the ages, that your Temple may be rebuilt with joy within you and within you he may comfort every exile, and within you he may love all those who are distressed, for all generations to come.

¹¹ ‘A bright light shall shine over all the regions of the earth; many nations shall come from far away, from all the ends of the earth, to dwell close to the holy name of the Lord God, with gifts in their hands for the King of heaven. Within you, generation after generation shall proclaim their joy, and the name of her who is Elect shall endure through the generations to come.

¹² Cursed be any who affront you, cursed be any who destroy you, who throw down your walls, who raze your towers, who burn your houses! Blessed for ever be all who build you!

¹³ Then you will exult, and rejoice over the sons of the upright, for they will all have been gathered in and will bless the Lord of the ages.

¹⁴ ‘Happy are those who love you, happy those who rejoice over your peace, happy those who have mourned over all your punishment! For they will soon rejoice within you, witnessing all your blessedness in days to come.

¹⁵ My soul blesses the Lord, the great King,

¹⁶ because Jerusalem shall be built anew and his house for ever and ever. ‘What bliss if one of my blood is left to see your glory and praise the King of heaven! The gates of Jerusalem shall be built of sapphire and of emerald, and all your walls of precious stone; the towers of Jerusalem shall be built of gold and their battlements of pure gold.

¹⁷ The streets of Jerusalem shall be paved with ruby and with stones from Ophir; the gates of Jerusalem will resound with songs of exultation; and all her houses will say, “Alleluia! Blessed be the God of Israel.” Within you they will bless the holy name for ever and for ever.’