Tobit 2 Clementine Vulgate
1 Post hæc vero, cum esset dies festus Domini, et factum esset prandium bonum in domo Tobiæ,
1 Now when I had come home again, and my wife Anna was restored to me, and my son Tobias, in the feast of Pentecost, which is the holy feast of the seven weeks, there was a good dinner prepared for me, and I sat down to eat.
2 dixit filio suo: Vade, et adduc aliquos de tribu nostra, timentes Deum, ut epulentur nobiscum.
2 I saw abundance of meat, and I said to my son, “Go and bring whatever poor man you find of our kindred, who is mindful of the Lord. Behold, I wait for you.”
3 Cumque abiisset, reversus nuntiavit ei unum ex filiis Israël jugulatum jacere in platea. Statimque exiliens de accubitu suo, relinquens prandium, jejunus pervenit ad corpus:
3 Then he came, and said, “Father, one of our race is strangled, and has been cast out in the marketplace.”
4 tollensque illud portavit ad domum suam occulte, ut dum sol occubuisset, caute sepeliret eum.
4 Before I had tasted anything, I sprang up, and took him up into a chamber until the sun had set.
5 Cumque occultasset corpus, manducavit panem cum luctu et tremore,
5 Then I returned, washed myself, ate my bread in heaviness,
6 memorans illum sermonem, quem dixit Dominus per Amos prophetam: Dies festi vestri convertentur in lamentationem et luctum.
6 and remembered the prophecy of Amos, as he said, “Your feasts will be turned into mourning, and all your mirth into lamentation.
7 Cum vero sol occubuisset, abiit, et sepelivit eum.
7 So I wept: and when the sun had set, I went and dug a grave, and buried him.
8 Arguebant autem eum omnes proximi ejus, dicentes: Jam hujus rei causa interfici jussus es, et vix effugisti mortis imperium, et iterum sepelis mortuos?
8 My neighbors mocked me, and said, “He is no longer afraid to be put to death for this matter; and yet he fled away. Behold, he buries the dead again.”
9 Sed Tobias plus timens Deum quam regem, rapiebat corpora occisorum, et occultabat in domo sua, et mediis noctibus sepeliebat ea.
9 The same night I returned from burying him, and slept by the wall of my courtyard, being polluted; and my face was uncovered.
10 Contigit autem ut quadam die fatigatus a sepultura, veniens in domum suam, jactasset se juxta parietem, et obdormisset,
10 I didn’t know that there were sparrows in the wall. My eyes were open and the sparrows dropped warm dung into my eyes, and white films came over my eyes. I went to the physicians, and they didn’t help me; but Achiacharus nourished me, until I went into Elymais.
11 et ex nido hirundinum dormienti illi calida stercora inciderent super oculos ejus, fieretque cæcus.
11 My wife Anna wove cloth in the women’s chambers,
12 Hanc autem tentationem ideo permisit Dominus evenire illi, ut posteris daretur exemplum patientiæ ejus, sicut et sancti Job.
12 and sent the work back to the owners. They on their part paid her wages, and also gave her a kid.
13 Nam cum ab infantia sua semper Deum timuerit, et mandata ejus custodierit, non est contristatus contra Deum quod plaga cæcitatis evenerit ei,
13 But when it came to my house, it began to cry, and I said to her, “Where did this kid come from? Is it stolen? Give it back to the owners; for it is not lawful to eat anything that is stolen.”
14 sed immobilis in Dei timore permansit, agens gratias Deo omnibus diebus vitæ suæ.
14 But she said, “It has been given to me for a gift more than the wages.” I didn’t believe her, and I asked her to return it to the owners; and I was ashamed of her. But she answered and said to me, “Where are your alms and your righteous deeds? Behold, you and all your works are known.”
15 Nam sicut beato Job insultabant reges, ita isti parentes et cognati ejus irridebant vitam ejus, dicentes:
15 Not in this translation
16 Ubi est spes tua, pro qua eleemosynas et sepulturas faciebas?
16 Not in this translation
17 Tobias vero increpabat eos, dicens: Nolite ita loqui:
17 Not in this translation
18 quoniam filii sanctorum sumus, et vitam illam expectamus, quam Deus daturus est his qui fidem suam numquam mutant ab eo.
18 Not in this translation
19 Anna vero uxor ejus ibat ad opus textrinum quotidie, et de labore manuum suarum victum quem consequi poterat, deferebat.
19 Not in this translation
20 Unde factum est ut hædum caprarum accipiens detulisset domi:
20 Not in this translation
21 cujus cum vocem balantis vir ejus audisset, dixit: Videte, ne forte furtivus sit: reddite eum dominis suis, quia non licet nobis aut edere ex furto aliquid, aut contingere.
21 Not in this translation
22 Ad hæc uxor ejus irata respondit: Manifeste vana facta est spes tua, et eleemosynæ tuæ modo apparuerunt.
22 Not in this translation
23 Atque his et aliis hujuscemodi verbis exprobrabat ei.
23 Not in this translation
What the Fathers said
Passages from the Church Fathers that expound or quote this chapter, verbatim from the public-domain Schaff edition (19th-century English translations).
How these were chosen
“Commentary” is the opening of a homily or exposition on this chapter (John Chrysostom’s homilies, Augustine’s tractates, sermons and expositions of the Psalms). “Quotes” are sentences where the edition’s own footnotes identify a quotation of a verse here, kept only when the wording matches the verse. Only works whose authorship is not in doubt are used. Psalms follow the Hebrew/English numbering (Augustine numbers them as the Septuagint does: his Psalm 50 is Psalm 51 here).
… of theft; he did not like to hear the sound of any stolen thing in his house; and she, maintaining what she had done, reproached her husband; and when he said, "Restore it if it be stolen;" she answered insultingly, "Where are thy righteous deeds?" How great was her blindness who maintained the theft; and how clear a light he …
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 6 (1888)