Livre de Tobit 2

BIBLES DES PEUPLES	CATHOLIC PUBLIC DOMAIN
1 Sous le règne d’Asarhaddon, je suis donc revenu chez moi et on me rendit ma femme Ana et mon fils Tobie. À la fête de la Pentecôte, la fête des Semaines, on fit un grand dîner. Je me suis allongé pour le repas,	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 on m’a apporté la table et de nombreux plats. J’ai dit alors à mon fils Tobie: “Mon enfant, va! Et si tu trouves parmi nos frères déportés à Ninive, quelque pauvre qui se souvienne de Dieu de tout son cœur, amène-le pour qu’il partage mon repas. Je t’attendrai, mon enfant, jusqu’à ce que tu sois revenu.”	2 he said to his son: “Go, and bring some others who fear God from our tribe to feast with us.”
3 Tobie partit chercher un pauvre parmi nos frères et, à son retour, il dit: “Père, quelqu’un de notre race vient d’être assassiné. On l’a étranglé, on l’a jeté sur la place du marché et il y est encore.”	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 J’ai laissé mon repas sans y toucher; je n’ai fait qu’un bond, j’ai enlevé l’homme de la place et je l’ai déposé dans une chambre en attendant le coucher du soleil pour l’enterrer.	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 Puis je suis rentré, je me suis lavé et j’ai mangé mon pain dans les larmes.	5 And after he had hidden the body, he chewed his bread with mourning and fear,
6 Je me suis souvenu des paroles du prophète Amos, sur Béthel: “Vos fêtes seront changées en deuil et tous vos cantiques en lamentations.”	6 remembering the word that the Lord spoke through the prophet Amos: “Your feast days shall be turned into lamentation and mourning.”
7 J’ai pleuré, et lorsque le soleil s’est couché, je suis allé creuser une fosse et je l’ai enterré.	7 Truly, when the sun had set, he went out, and he buried him.
8 Mes voisins disaient en se moquant: “Il n’a donc pas peur? Une première fois déjà il a dû s’enfuir, et de nouveau il enterre les morts!”	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 Ce soir-là j’ai pris un bain. Je suis sorti dans la cour et je me suis allongé le long du mur de la cour; comme il faisait chaud, j’avais le visage découvert.	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 Je ne savais pas qu’au-dessus de moi dans le mur il y avait des oiseaux; de la fiente toute chaude me tomba dans les yeux et provoqua des taches blanches. J’allai me faire soigner chez les médecins, mais plus ils m’appliquaient de médicaments, plus les taches se développaient. À la fin j’étais complètement aveugle. Je suis resté ainsi quatre ans sans voir, tous mes frères en étaient désolés. Mais durant les deux années qui précédèrent le départ d’Ahikar en Élymaïde, il s’occupa de moi.	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 À ce moment-là, ma femme trouva du travail: elle filait la laine et recevait de la toile à tisser.	11 And, as he was sleeping, warm droppings from a swallow’s nest fell upon his eyes, and he was made blind.
12 Lorsqu’elle livrait la commande elle recevait son salaire. Or le 7 du mois de Dystros, elle termina une pièce et la livra aux clients; ils lui payèrent ce qu’ils devaient et lui donnèrent en plus un chevreau pour le repas.	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 Quand elle rentra chez moi, le chevreau se mit à bêler; alors j’appelai ma femme et je lui dis: “D’où vient ce chevreau, peut-être a-t-il été volé? Rends-le à ses maîtres, nous n’avons pas le droit de manger ce qui a été volé.”	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 Elle me répondit: “C’est un cadeau qu’on m’a donné en plus de mon salaire.” Je refusai de la croire et je lui dis de le rendre à ses propriétaires, car j’avais honte pour elle. Alors elle me répondit: “Où sont donc tes aumônes et tes bonnes œuvres? On sait bien ce que cela t’a rapporté.”	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.