Tobías 2

EL LIBRO DEL PUEBLO DE DIOS	CATHOLIC PUBLIC DOMAIN
1 Durante el reinado de Asaradón regresé a mi casa y me devolvieron a mi mujer Ana y a mi hijo Tobías. En nuestra fiesta de Pentecostés, que es la santa fiesta de las siete Semanas, me prepararon una buena comida y yo me dispuse a comer.	1 In truth, after this, when there was a feast day of the Lord, and a good dinner had been prepared in the house of Tobit,
2 Cuando me encontré con la mesa llena de manjares, le dije a mi hijo Tobías: «Hijo mío, ve a buscar entre nuestros hermanos deportados en Nínive a algún pobre que se acuerde de todo corazón del Señor, y tráelo para que comparta mi comida. Yo esperaré hasta que tú vuelvas».	2 he said to his son: “Go, and bring some others who fear God from our tribe to feast with us.”
3 Tobías salió a buscar a un pobre entre nuestros hermanos, pero regresó, diciéndome: «¡Padre!». Yo le pregunté: «¿Qué te pasa, hijo?». Y él agregó: «Padre, uno de nuestro pueblo ha sido asesinado: lo acaban de estrangular en la plaza del mercado, y su cadáver está tirado allí».	3 And after he had gone, returning, he reported to him that one of the sons of Israel, with his throat cut, was lying in the street. And immediately, he leapt from his place reclining at table, left behind his dinner, and went forth with fasting to the body.
4 Entonces me levanté rápidamente, y, sin probar la comida, fue a retirar el cadáver de la plaza, y lo deposité en una habitación para enterrarlo al atardecer.	4 And taking it up, he carried it in secret to his house, so that, after the sun had set, he might bury him cautiously.
5 Al volver, me lavé y me puse a comer muy apenado,	5 And after he had hidden the body, he chewed his bread with mourning and fear,
6 recordando las palabras del profeta Amós contra Betel: «Sus fiestas se convertirán en duelo y todos sus cantos en lamentaciones».	6 remembering the word that the Lord spoke through the prophet Amos: “Your feast days shall be turned into lamentation and mourning.”
7 Y me puse a llorar. A la caída del sol, cavé una fosa y enterré el cadáver.	7 Truly, when the sun had set, he went out, and he buried him.
8 Mis vecinos se burlaban de mí, diciendo: «¡Todavía no ha escarmentado! Por este mismo motivo ya lo buscaron para matarlo. ¡Apenas pudo escapar, y ahora vuelve a enterrar a los muertos!».	8 Yet all his neighbors argued with him, saying: “Now, an order was given to execute you because of this matter, and you barely escaped a death sentence, and again you are burying the dead?”
9 Aquella misma noche, después de bañarme, salí al patio y me acosté a dormir junto a la pared, con la cara descubierta a causa del calor.	9 But Tobit, fearing God more than the king, stole away the bodies of the slain and concealed them in his house, and in the middle of the night, he buried them.
10 Yo no sabía que arriba, en la pared, había unos gorriones; de pronto, su estiércol caliente cayó sobre mis ojos, produciéndome unas manchas blancas. Me hice atender por los médicos, pero cuantos más remedios me aplicaban, menos veías a causa de las manchas, hasta que me quedé completamente ciego. Así estuve cuatro años privado de la vista, y todos mis parientes estaban afligidos. Ajicar me proveyó de lo necesario durante dos años, hasta que partió para Elimaida.	10 But it happened one day, being tired from burying the dead, he came into his house, and he threw himself down next to the wall, and he slept.
11 Desde ese momento, mi esposa Ana empezó a trabajar en labores femeninas: hilaba lana,	11 And, as he was sleeping, warm droppings from a swallow’s nest fell upon his eyes, and he was made blind.
12 enviaba el tejido a sus clientes y recibía el pago correspondiente. Una vez, el siete del mes de Distros, terminó un tejido y lo entregó a sus clientes. Estos le pagaron lo que correspondía y, además, le regalaron un cabrito para comer.	12 And so the Lord permitted this trial to befall him, in order that an example might be given to posterity of his patience, which is even like that of holy Job.
13 Cuando entró en mi casa, el cabrito comenzó a balar. Yo llamé a mi mujer y le pregunté: «¿De dónde salió este cabrito? ¿No habría sido robado? Devuélvelo a sus dueños, porque no podemos comer nada robado»,	13 For, even from his infancy, he had always feared God and kept his commandments, so he was not discouraged before God because of the scourge of blindness that had befallen him.
14 Ella me respondió: «¡Pero si es un regalo que me han hecho, además del pago!». Yo no le creí e insistía en que lo devolviera a sus dueños, llegando a enojarme con ella por este asunto. Entonces ella me replicó: «¿Para qué te sirvieron tus limosnas y tus obras de justicia? ¡Ahora se ve bien claro!».	14 But he remained immoveable in the fear of God, giving thanks to God all the days of his life.
	15 For just as kings have mocked blessed Job, so also his relatives and acquaintances ridiculed his life, saying:
	16 “Where is your hope, on behalf of which you gave alms and buried the dead?”
	17 In truth, Tobit corrected them, saying: “Do not speak in this way,
	18 for we are the sons of the holy ones, and we look forward to that life which God will give to those who never change in their faith before him.”
	19 In truth, his wife Anna went out to weaving work daily, and she brought back the provisions that she was able to obtain by the labor of her hands.
	20 Whereupon it happened that, having received a young goat, she brought it home.
	21 When her husband heard the sound of its bleating, he said, “Look, so that it might not be stolen, return it to its owners, for it is not lawful for us either to eat, or to touch, anything stolen.”
	22 At this, his wife, being angry, answered, “Clearly, your hope has become vanity, and the manner of your almsgiving has become apparent.”
	23 And with these and other similar such words, she reproached him.