Tobit 14

1 And Tobit came to the end of his thanksgiving. [a] 2 He was fifty-eight years old when he lost his sight, and after eight years he saw again. And he kept doing acts of mercy, and he went on fearing the Lord God and giving thanks to him. [b]

3 Then he grew very old. And he called his son and his son's sons, and said to him, “Child, take your sons. Look, I have grown old, and I am ready to go out of this life. 4 Go away into Media, child, for I am persuaded of everything Jonah the prophet said about Nineveh, that it will be overthrown; and that in Media there will be peace instead, for a time yet; and that our kinsmen will be scattered over the earth, away from that good land. And Jerusalem will be a desolation, and the house of God in it will be burned down, and will be desolate for a while. [c]

5 “And again God will have mercy on them and bring them back into the land, and they will build the house — not the sort the first one was — until the times of the age are fulfilled. And after that they will come back from the places of their captivity and build Jerusalem in honor, and the house of God will be built in it for all the generations of the age, with a glorious building, just as the prophets spoke about it. [d] 6 And all the nations will turn to fear the Lord God truly, and they will bury their idols in the ground, and all the nations will bless the Lord. 7 And his people will give thanks to God, and the Lord will lift up his people; and all who love the Lord God in truth and righteousness will rejoice, showing mercy to our kinsmen. [e]

8 “And now, child, go away from Nineveh, because what the prophet Jonah spoke will certainly happen. 9 But you — keep the law and the decrees, and be a man who loves mercy, and righteous, so that it may go well with you. And bury me properly, and your mother with me; and do not stay in Nineveh any longer. [f]

10 “Child, see what Aman did to Achiacharus, who had brought him up — how he led him out of the light into the darkness, and all that he paid him back with. And Achiacharus was saved, but the other was given back what he had earned, and he himself went down into the darkness. Manasseh did an act of mercy and was saved out of the snare of death that had been set for him; but Aman fell into the snare, and perished. [g] 11 And now, children, see what acts of mercy do, and what righteousness rescues.” And while he was still saying these things, his soul left him there on the bed. He was a hundred and fifty-eight years old, and he buried him with honor. [h]

12 And when Anna died, he buried her with his father. Then Tobias went away with his wife and his sons to Ecbatana, to Raguel his father-in-law. 13 And he grew old there in honor, and he buried his wife's father and mother with honor, and he inherited their property, and the property of Tobit his father.

14 And he died at Ecbatana in Media, a hundred and twenty-seven years old. 15 And before he died he heard of the ruin of Nineveh, which Nebuchadnezzar and Ahasuerus carried off captive; and before his death he rejoiced over Nineveh. [i]