Tobit 3
3
Tobit's Prayer
1I was so embarrassed and ashamed that I sighed and began to cry. Then, as I choked back my tears, I prayed:
2“You are righteous, O Lord!
You are merciful#3.2 merciful; some manuscripts add and just. in all you do,
faithful in all your ways.
You are the judge of this world.#3.2 You are the judge of this world; some manuscripts have You are always fair and just when you judge.
3-4I beg you, treat me with kindness.
Do not punish me for my sins,
not even for sins of which I am unaware.
My ancestors rebelled and disobeyed#3.3–4 My ancestors… disobeyed; some manuscripts have I disobeyed. your commands,
but do not punish me for their sins.
You let our people be plundered,
taken captive and killed.
You made an example of our people,
an object of contempt and disgrace
in all the nations where you scattered us.
5You have often judged my ancestors for their sins
and punished me for mine.
We were disloyal and rejected your commands,
so our punishment has always been just.
6“Now treat me as you please.
Take my life away and free me from this world;
let my body return to the earth.
I would be better off dead.
I am tormented by insults I don't deserve,
and weighed down with despair.
Lord, give the command —
bring all my troubles to an end,
take me to my eternal rest.
Don't reject my prayer.
I would rather die than live in misery
and face such cruel insults.”
Sarah's Troubles
7That same day in the city of Ecbatana in Media, it happened that Sarah, the daughter of a man named Raguel, was insulted by one of her father's servant women. 8Sarah had been married seven times, but the evil demon, Asmodeus, killed each husband before the marriage could be consummated. The servant woman said to Sarah, “You husband-killer! Look at you! You've already had seven husbands, but not one of them lived long enough to give you a son.#3.8 but… son; some manuscripts have but it hasn't done you a bit of good. 9Why should you take it out on us? Why don't you go and join your dead husbands? I hope we never see a child of yours!”
10Sarah was so depressed that she burst into tears and went upstairs determined to hang herself. But when she thought it over, she said to herself, “No, I won't do it! People would insult my father and say, ‘You had only one child, a daughter whom you loved dearly, but she hanged herself because she felt so miserable.’ Such grief would bring my grey-haired father to his grave, and I would be responsible. I won't kill myself; I'll just beg the Lord to let me die. Then I won't have to listen to those insults any longer!”
Sarah's Prayer
11Then Sarah stood by the window, raised her arms in prayer, and said:
“God of mercy, worthy of our praise,
may your name always be honoured,
may all your creation praise you for ever.
12“Lord, I look to you for help.
13Speak the word and set me free from this life;
then I will no longer have to hear these insults.
14You know, O Lord, that I'm still a virgin;
I have never been defiled by a man.
15Never have I disgraced myself or my father's name,
as long as we have lived in this land of exile.
My father has no other child to be his heir,
and there is no relative#3.15 relative: In Israel it was customary to marry within one's own tribe. whom I can marry.
I have already lost seven husbands,
so why should I live any longer?
But if it is not your will to take my life,
at least show mercy to me.
Don't let me hear those insults again!”#3.15 at least… again; some manuscripts have at least listen to my complaint.
God Hears the Prayers of Tobit and Sarah
16As Tobit and Sarah were praying, God in heaven heard their prayers 17#Num 36.6–9; Tob 6.10–12and sent his angel Raphael to help them. He was sent to remove the white film from Tobit's eyes, so that he could see again, and to arrange a marriage between Sarah and Tobit's son Tobias, who, as her cousin, had the right to marry her. Raphael was also ordered to expel the demon Asmodeus from Sarah. At the very moment that Tobit went back into his house from the courtyard, Sarah, in her house in Ecbatana, was coming downstairs.
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Good News Bible with Deuterocanonicals/Apocrypha. Scripture taken from the Good News Bible (r) (Today's English Version Second Edition, UK/British Edition). Copyright © 1992 British & Foreign Bible Society. Used by permission.
Tobit 3
3
1 Then Tobit sighed, and he began to pray with tears,
2 saying, "O Lord, you are just and all your judgments are just, and all your ways are mercy, and truth, and judgment.
3 And now, O Lord, remember me, and do not take vengeance for my sins, and do not call to mind my offenses, nor those of my parents.
4 For we have not obeyed your precepts, and so we have been handed over to plundering and to captivity, and to death, and to mockery, and as a disgrace before all the nations, among which you have dispersed us.
5 And now, O Lord, great are your judgments. For we have not acted according to your precepts, and we have not walked sincerely before you.
6 And now, O Lord, do with me according to your will, and order my spirit to be received in peace. For it is more expedient for me to die, than to live."
7 And so, on the same day, it happened that Sarah, the daughter of Raguel, in Rages, a city of the Medes, also heard a reproach from one of her father's servant maids.
8 For she had been given to seven husbands, and a demon named Asmodeus had killed them, as soon as they had approached her.
9 Therefore, when she corrected the maid for her fault, she answered her, saying, "May we never see son or daughter from you upon the earth, you murderess of your husbands.
10 Would you also kill me, just as you have already killed seven husbands?" At these words, she proceeded to an upper room of her house. And for three days and three nights, she did not eat or drink.
11 But, continuing in prayer with tears, she beseeched God, so that he would liberate her from this reproach.
12 And it happened on the third day, while she was completing her prayer, blessing the Lord,
13 that she said: "Blessed is your name, O God of our fathers, who, though you had been angry, will show mercy. And in time of tribulation, you dismiss the sins of those who call upon you.
14 To you, O Lord, I turn my face; to you, I direct my eyes.
15 I beg you, O Lord, that you may absolve me from the chains of this reproach, or at least take me away from the earth.
16 You know, O Lord, that I have never coveted a husband, and I have preserved my soul clean from all impure desire.
17 I have never mingled myself with those who play. And I have not presented myself as a participant with those who walk with levity.
18 But I consented to accept a husband, in your fear, not in my lust.
19 And, either I was unworthy of them, or they perhaps were not worthy of me. For perhaps you have preserved me for another husband.
20 For your counsel is not within the ability of man.
21 But all who worship you are certain of this: that one's life, if it should be tested, shall be crowned, and if it should be in tribulation, shall be delivered, and if it should be corrected, shall be permitted to approach your mercy.
22 For you are not delighted with our perdition. For, after a storm, you create tranquility, and after tears and weeping, you pour out exultation.
23 May your name, O God of Israel, be blessed forever."
24 At that time, the prayers of them both were heard in the sight of the glory of the most high God.
25 And the holy Angel of the Lord, Raphael, was sent to care for both of them, whose prayers were recited at the same time in the sight of the Lord.
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