| 1 Quando ebbero finito di pranzare, introdussero Tobia da lei. | 1 In truth, after they had dined, they introduced the young man to her. |
| 2 Egli, entrando, si ricordò delle parole di Raffaele; allora prese cenere d’incensi, vi pose il cuore del pesce e il fegato e li fece fumigare. | 2 And so, Tobias, remembering the word of the Angel, took part of the liver from his bag, and he placed it over the live coals. |
| 3 Appena il demonio fiutò l'odore, fuggì nell’alto Egitto e l’angelo ve lo legò. | 3 Then the Angel Raphael caught the demon, and bound him in the desert of upper Egypt. |
| 4 Come poi si chiusero dentro insieme, Tobia si alzò da letto e disse: « Alzati, sorella; preghiamo affinchè il Signore abbia compassione di noi ». | 4 Then 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. |
| 5 Allora Tobia cominciò a dire: « Benedetto sei tu, Dio dei nostri padri. E benedetto il tuo nome, santo e glorioso nei secoli. Ti benedicano i cieli e tutte le tue creature. | 5 For 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.” |
| 6 Tu hai fatto Adamo e gli hai dato in aiuto Eva, gli hai dato in sostegno sua moglie: da loro è nato il genere umano. Tu hai detto: Non è bene che l’uomo sia solo, facciamogli un aiuto simile a lui. | 6 And so, rising up together, they both prayed earnestly, at the same time, that health might be given to them. |
| 7 Ora, Signore, non per lussuria io sposo questa mia sorella ma con intenzione retta; abbi dunque compassione di me e fa’ ch'io diventi vecchio con lei ». | 7 And 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. |
| 8 Essa disse con lui: « Così sia ». | 8 You formed Adam from the mud of the earth, and you gave Eve to him as a helper. |
| 9 E dormirono tutti e due quella notte. | 9 And 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.” |
| 10 Intanto Raguel si alzò e andò a scavare una fossa, pensando: « Caso mai non sia morto anche lui ». | 10 Sarah likewise said, “Be merciful to us, O Lord, be merciful to us. And let us both grow old together in health.” |
| 11 Poi Raguel tornò a casa | 11 And 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. |
| 12 e disse a Edna sua moglie: « Manda una delle schiave a vedere se colui è vivo. Se è morto, seppelliamolo subito; nessuno lo sappia ». | 12 For 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.” |
| 13 La schiava aprì la porta, entrò e trovò che dormivano tutti e due. | 13 And when they had prepared the pit, Raguel returned to his wife, and he said to her, |
| 14 Allora tornò a riferire a loro che Tobia era vivo. | 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.” |
| 15 Allora Raguel benedisse Dio: « Benedetto sei tu, Dio, con ogni benedizione. Ti benedicano i tuoi santi e tutte le tue creature, tutti i tuoi angeli e i tuoi eletti ti benedicano nei secoli. | 15 And so, she sent one of her maidservants, who entered the bedroom and discovered them safe and unharmed, sleeping both together. |
| 16 Benedetto sei tu, perchè mi hai rallegrato e non mi è accaduto come io temevo, ma hai agito con noi secondo la tua grande misericordia. | 16 And returning, she reported the good news. And they blessed the Lord: Raguel, especially, and his wife Anna. |
| 17 Benedetto sei tu, perchè hai avuto pietà di due figli unici; usa loro misericordia, Signore, e fa’ che terminino la vita nella salute, con felicità e misericordia ». | 17 And they said: “We bless you, Lord God of Israel, because it has not happened in the way that we thought it might. |
| 18 Poi comandò ai domestici di riempire la fossa | 18 For you have acted in your mercy toward us, and you have excluded from us the enemy who pursued us. |
| 19 e fece agli sposi un banchetto di nozze per quattordici giorni; | 19 Moreover, 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.” |
| 20 Raguel, prima che terminassero i giorni delle nozze, scongiurò Tobia di non partire prima che finissero i quattordici giorni delle nozze, | 20 And immediately Raguel instructed his servants to refill the pit, which they had made, before daylight. |
| 21 che, allora, presa la metà delle sue sostanze, se ne andasse sano e salvo da suo padre. «E il resto » soggiunse « quando sarò morto io e mia moglie ». | 21 And 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. |
| 22 Likewise, 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. |
| 23 And Raguel pleaded with Tobias to delay with him for two weeks. |
| 24 Moreover, 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. |
