Tobit

Tobit 8

The Wedding Night

1 When they had finished supper, they brought Tobias in to her. 2 And as he went in he remembered the words of Raphael, and he took the ashes of the incense and laid the heart of the fish and its liver on them, and made smoke. 3 And when the demon smelled the smell, it fled into the farthest parts of Egypt, and the messenger bound it.

4 And when the two of them had been shut in together, Tobias got up from the bed and said, “Get up, sister, and let us pray, that the Lord may have mercy on us.”

5 And Tobias began to say:

“Blessed are you, God of our fathers,

and blessed is your name, holy and glorious, for ever.

Let the heavens bless you,

and all your creatures.

6 You made Adam,

and gave him Eve his wife as a helper and a support;

from these two came the offspring of the human race.

You said, ‘It is not good for the man to be alone;

let us make him a helper like himself.’

7 And now, Lord, it is not because of whoring that I take this sister of mine, but in truth.

Command that mercy be shown to me, and that she and I may grow old together.”

8 And she said with him, “Amen.” 9 And the two of them slept that night.

Raguel Digs a Grave in the Dark

10 And Raguel got up and went out and dug a grave, saying, “What if he too has died?” 11 And Raguel came into his house 12 and said to Edna his wife, “Send one of the servant girls, and let them see whether he is alive. And if he is not, let us bury him, and let no one know.”

13 And the servant girl opened the door and went in, and found the two of them asleep. 14 And she came out and told them that he was alive.

15 And Raguel blessed God and said:

“Blessed are you, O God, with every blessing that is pure and holy;

and let your holy ones bless you, and all your creatures,

and let all your messengers and all your chosen ones bless you for all ages.

16 Blessed are you, because you have made me glad,

and what I feared has not come upon me;

you have dealt with us according to your great mercy.

17 Blessed are you, because you have had mercy on two only children.

Show them mercy, Master,

and bring their life to its end in health, with gladness and mercy.”

A Feast of Fourteen Days

18 And he ordered the household servants to fill in the grave. 19 And he made them a wedding feast of fourteen days. 20 For before the days of the wedding were finished, Raguel had put him under oath that he would not leave until the fourteen days of the wedding were complete, 21 and that then he should take half of what Raguel owned and go safely to his father — “and the rest when I and my wife are dead.”