Tobit 2

KING JAMES BIBLE	CATHOLIC PUBLIC DOMAIN
1 Now when I was come home again, and my wife Anna was restored unto me, with my son Tobias, in the feast of Pentecost, which is the holy feast of the seven weeks, there was a good dinner prepared me, in the which I sat down to eat.	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 And when I saw abundance of meat, I said to my son, Go and bring what poor man soever thou shalt find out of our brethren, who is mindful of the Lord; and, lo, I tarry for thee.	2 he said to his son: “Go, and bring some others who fear God from our tribe to feast with us.”
3 But he came again, and said, Father, one of our nation is strangled, and is cast out in the marketplace.	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 Then before I had tasted of any meat, I started up, and took him up into a room until the going down of the sun.	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 Then I returned, and washed myself, and ate my meat in heaviness,	5 And after he had hidden the body, he chewed his bread with mourning and fear,
6 Remembering that prophecy of Amos, as he said, Your feasts shall be turned into mourning, and all your mirth into lamentation.	6 remembering the word that the Lord spoke through the prophet Amos: “Your feast days shall be turned into lamentation and mourning.”
7 Therefore I wept: and after the going down of the sun I went and made a grave, and buried him.	7 Truly, when the sun had set, he went out, and he buried him.
8 But my neighbours mocked me, and said, This man is not yet afraid to be put to death for this matter: who fled away; and yet, lo, he burieth the dead again.	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 The same night also I returned from the burial, and slept by the wall of my courtyard, being polluted and my face was uncovered:	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 And I knew not that there were sparrows in the wall, and mine eyes being open, the sparrows muted warm dung into mine eyes, and a whiteness came in mine eyes: and I went to the physicians, but they helped me not: moreover Achiacharus did nourish me, until I went into Elymais.	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 And my wife Anna did take women's works to do.	11 And, as he was sleeping, warm droppings from a swallow’s nest fell upon his eyes, and he was made blind.
12 And when she had sent them home to the owners, they paid her wages, and gave her also besides a kid.	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 And when it was in my house, and began to cry, I said unto her, From whence is this kid? is it not stolen? render it to the owners; for it is not lawful to eat any thing that is stolen.	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 But she replied upon me, It was given for a gift more than the wages. Howbeit I did not believe her, but bade her render it to the owners: and I was abashed at her. But she replied upon me, Where are thine alms and thy righteous deeds? behold, thou and all thy works are known.	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.