Tobias burns part of the fish’s liver, and Raphael binds the devil. Tobias and Sara pray.
1
In truth, after they had dined, they introduced the young man to her.
2
And so, Tobias, remembering the word of the Angel, took part of the liver from his bag, and he placed it over the live coals.
3
Then the Angel Raphael caught the demon, and bound him in the desert of upper Egypt.
4
Then Tobias exhorted the virgin, and he said to her: “Sarah, get up and let us pray to God this day, and tomorrow, and the following day. For, during these three nights, we are being joined to God. And then, when the third night has passed, we ourselves will be joined together.(a)
5
For certainly, we are the children of the saints, and we must not be joined together in such a manner as the heathens, who are ignorant of God.”
6
And so, rising up together, they both prayed earnestly, at the same time, that health might be given to them.
7
And Tobias said: “Lord, the God of our fathers, may the heavens and the earth bless you, and the sea, and the fountains, and the rivers, and all your creatures that are in them.
8
You formed Adam from the mud of the earth, and you gave Eve to him as a helper.
9
And now, O Lord, you know that I take my sister in conjugal union, not by reason of worldly pleasure, but solely for the love of posterity, in which your name may be blessed forever and ever.”(b)
10
Sarah likewise said, “Be merciful to us, O Lord, be merciful to us. And let us both grow old together in health.”
11
And it happened, about the time of the rooster’s crowing, that Raguel ordered his servants to be summoned, and they went out with him together to dig a grave.
12
For he said, “Lest perhaps, in the same way, it may have happened to him, as it did also to the other seven men who approached her.”
13
And when they had prepared the pit, Raguel returned to his wife, and he said to her,
14
“Send one of your maids, and let her see if he is dead, so that I may bury him before the dawn of day.”
15
And so, she sent one of her maidservants, who entered the bedroom and discovered them safe and unharmed, sleeping both together.
16
And returning, she reported the good news. And they blessed the Lord: Raguel, especially, and his wife Anna.
17
And they said: “We bless you, Lord God of Israel, because it has not happened in the way that we thought it might.
18
For you have acted in your mercy toward us, and you have excluded from us the enemy who pursued us.
19
Moreover, you have had compassion on two only children. Make them, O Lord, able to bless you more fully and to offer you a sacrifice of your praise and of their health, so that all peoples everywhere may know that you alone are God in all the earth.”
20
And immediately Raguel instructed his servants to refill the pit, which they had made, before daylight.
21
And then he told his wife to make ready a feast, and to prepare all the provisions that are necessary for those who undertake a journey.
22
Likewise, he caused two fat cows and four rams to be killed, and a banquet to be prepared for all his neighbors and every one of his friends.
23
And Raguel pleaded with Tobias to delay with him for two weeks.
24
Moreover, of all the things that Raguel possessed, he gave one half part to Tobias, and he made a writing, so that the half that remained should also pass into the ownership of Tobias, after their deaths.
Footnotes