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Tobit 8
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Chapter 8
VIII.
THE GRAVE
1
When they had finished eating and drinking and it seemed time to go to bed, the young man was taken from the dining room to the bedroom.
2
Tobias remembered Raphael’s advice; he went to his bag, took the fish’s heart and liver out of it and put some on the burning incense.
3
The reek of the fish distressed the demon, who fled through the air to Egypt. Raphael pursued him there, and bound and shackled him at once.
4
The parents meanwhile had gone out and shut the door behind them. Tobias rose from the bed, and said to Sarah, ‘Get up, my sister! You and I must pray and petition our Lord to win his grace and his protection.’
5
She stood up, and they began praying for protection, and this was how he began: ‘You are blessed, O God of our fathers; blessed, too, is your name for ever and ever. Let the heavens bless you and all things you have made for evermore.
6
It was you who created Adam, you who created Eve his wife to be his help and support; and from these two the human race was born. It was you who said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; let us make him a helpmate like himself”.
7
And so I do not take my sister for any lustful motive; I do it in singleness of heart. Be kind enough to have pity on her and on me and bring us to old age together.’
8
And together they said, ‘Amen, Amen’,
9
and lay down for the night. But Raguel rose and called his servants, who came and helped him to dig a grave.
10
He had thought, ‘Heaven grant he does not die! We should be overwhelmed with ridicule and shame.’
11
When the grave was finished, Raguel went back to the house, called his wife
12
and said, ‘Will you send a maid to the room to see if Tobias is still alive? For if he is dead, we may be able to bury him without anyone else knowing.’
13
The maid was called, the lamp lit and the door opened; the maid went in. She found the two fast asleep;
14
she came out again and whispered, ‘He is not dead; all is well’.
15
Then Raguel blessed the God of heaven with these words: ‘You are blessed, my God,
with every blessing that is pure; may you be blessed for evermore!
16
‘You are blessed for having made me glad. What I feared has not happened; instead You have treated us with mercy beyond all measure.
17
‘You are blessed for taking pity on this only son, this only daughter. Grant them, Master, your grace and your protection; let them live out their lives in happiness and in grace.’
18
And he made his servants fill the grave in before dawn broke.
19
He told his wife to make plenty of bread; he went to his flock, brought back two oxen and four sheep and gave orders for them to be cooked; and preparations began.
20
He called Tobias and said, ‘I will not hear of your leaving here for a fortnight. You are to stay where you are, eating and drinking, with me. You will make my daughter happy again after all her troubles.
21
After that, take away a half of all I have, and go without let or hindrance back to your father. When my wife and I are dead you will have the other half. Courage, my boy! I am your father, and Edna is your mother. We are your parents in future, as we are your sister’s. Courage, my son!’
Chapters of Tobit
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
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