son is dead. And she went out every day into the way which they went, and did eat no meat on the daytime, and ceased not whole nights to bewail her son Tobias, until the fourteen days of the wedding were expired, which Raguel had sworn that he should spend there. Then Tobias said to Raguel, Let me go, for my father and my mother look no more to see me. But his father in law said unto him, Tarry with me, and I will send to thy father, and they shall declare unto him how things go with thee. But Tobias said, No; but let me go to my father.

Then Raguel arose, and gave him Sara his wife, and half his goods,

OCTOBER 3.

A

servants, and cattle, and money: and he blessed them, and sent them away, saying, The God of heaven give you a prosperous journey, my children. And he said to his dangh ter, Honour thy father and thy mother in law, which are now thy parents, that I may hear good report of thee. And he kissed her. Edna also said to Tobias, The Lord of heaven restore thee, my dear brother, and grant that I may see thy children of my daughter Sara before I die, that I may rejoice be fore the Lord: behold, I commit my daughter unto thee of special trust; wherefore do not entreat her evil.

FTER these things Tobias went his way, praising God that He had given him a prosperous journey, and blessed Raguel and Edna his wife, and went on his way till they drew near unto Nineve. Then Raphael said to Tobias, Thou knowest, brother, how thou didst leave thy father: let us haste before thy wife, and prepare the house. And take in thine hand the gall of the fish. So they went their way, and the dog went after them. Now Anna sat looking about toward the way for her son. And when she espied him coming, she said to his father, Behold, thy son cometh, and the man that went with him. Then said Raphael, I know, Tobias, that thy father will open his eyes. Therefore anoint thou his eyes with the gall, and being pricked therewith, he shall rub, and the whiteness shall fall away, and he shall see thee.

Then Anna ran forth, and fell upon the neck of her son, and said unto him, Seeing I have seen thee, my son, from henceforth I am content to die. And they wept both. Tobit also went forth toward the door, and stumbled: but his son ran unto him, and took hold of his father: and he strake of the gall

OCTOBER 3.

on his father's eyes, saying, Be of good hope, my father. And when his eyes began to smart, he rubbed them; and the whiteness pilled away from the corners of his eyes: when he saw his son, he fell upo his neck. And he wept, and sad, Blessed art Thou, O God, and bles ed is Thy name for ever; and blessed are all Thine holy angels: for Thea hast scourged, and hast taken psy on me: for, behold, I see my Tobias. And his son went in joicing, and told his father the grea things that had happened to b in Media. Then Tobit went out t meet his daughter in law at the gate of Nineve, rejoicing, and prais God: and they which saw him marvelled, because he had receiv his sight. But Tobit gave thanks before them, because God had mercy on him. And when he came near Sara his daughter in law, he bles ed her, saying, Thou art welco daughter: God be blessed, Wh hath brought thee unto us, and bir ed be thy father and thy mother. And there was joy among all his brethre which were at Nineve. And Acc acharus, and Nasbas his brother son, came: and Tobias' wedding wa kept seven days with great joy.

OCTOBER 3.

THEN Tobit called his son Tobias, and said unto him, My son, see that the man have his wages, which went with thee, and thou must give him more. And Tobias said unto him, O father, it is no harm to me to give him half of those things which I have brought: for he hath brought me again to thee in safety, and made whole my wife, and brought me the money, and likewise healed thee. Then the old man said, It is due unto him. So he called the angel, and he said unto him, Take half of all that ye have brought, and go away in safety. Then he took them both apart, and said unto them, Bless God, praise Him, and magnify Him, and praise Him for the things which He hath done unto you in the sight of all that live. It is good to praise God, and exalt His name, and honourably to shew forth the works of God; therefore be not slack to praise Him. It is good to keep close the secret of a king, but it is honourable to reveal the works of God. Do that which is good, and no evil shall touch you. Prayer is good with fasting and alms and righteousness. A little with righteousness is better than much with unrighteousness. It is better to give alms than to lay up gold: for alms doth deliver from death, and shall purge away all sin. Those that exercise alms and righteousness shall be filled with life: but they that sin are enemies to

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OCTOBER 3.

their own life. Surely I will keep close nothing from you. For I said, It was good to keep close the secret of a king, but that it was honourable to reveal the works of God.

Now therefore, when thou didst pray, and Sara thy daughter in law, I did bring the remembrance of your prayers before the Holy One: and when thou didst bury the dead, I was with thee likewise. And when thou didst not delay to rise up, and leave thy dinner, to go and cover the dead, thy good deed was not hid from me but I was with thee. And now God hath sent me to heal thee and Sara thy daughter in law. I am Raphael, one of the seven holy angels, which present the prayers of the saints, and which go in and out before the glory of the Holy One. Then they were both troubled, and fell upon their faces: for they feared. But he said unto them, Fear not, for it shall go well with you; praise God therefore. For not of any favour of mine, but by the will of our God I came; wherefore praise Him for ever. All these days I did appear unto you; but I did neither eat nor drink, but ye did see a vision. Now therefore give God thanks: for

go up to Him That sent me; but write all things which are done in a book. And when they arose, they saw him no more. Then they confessed the great and wonderful works of God, and how the angel of the Lord had appeared unto them.

THEN Tobit wrote a prayer of

rejoicing, and said, Blessed be God That liveth for ever, and blessed be His kingdom. For He doth Scourge, and hath mercy: He leadeth down to hell, and bringeth up again: neither is there any that can avoid His hand. Confess Him before the Gentiles, ye children of Israel: for He hath scattered us among them. There declare His greatness,

OCTOBER 4.

and extol Him before all the living: for He is our Lord, and He is the God our Father for ever. And He will scourge us for our iniquities, and will have mercy again, and will gather us out of all nations, among whom He hath scattered us. If ye turn to Him with your whole heart, and with your whole mind, and deal uprightly before Him, then will He turn unto you, and will not hide

His face from you. Therefore see what He will do with you, and confess Him with your whole mouth, and praise the Lord of might, and extol the everlasting King. In the land of my captivity do I praise Him, and declare His might and majesty to a sinful nation. O ye sinners, turn and do justice before Him: who can tell if He will accept you, and have mercy on you? I will extol my God, and my soul shall praise the King of heaven, and shall rejoice in His greatness. Let all men speak, and let all praise Him for His righteousness. O Jerusalem, the holy city, He will scourge thee for thy children's works, and will have mercy again on the sons of the righteous.

Give praise to the Lord, for He is good and praise the everlasting King, that His tabernacle may be builded in thee again with joy, and let Him make joyful there in thee those that are captives, and love in thee for ever those that are miserable. Many nations shall come from

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Sing God.

far to the name of the Lord God with gifts in their hands, even gifts to the King of heaven; all generations shall praise thee with great joy. Cursed are all they which hate thee, and blessed shall all be which love thee for ever. Rejoice and be glad for the children of the just: for they shall be gathered together, and shall bless the Lord of the just. O blessed are they which love thee, for they shall rejoice in thy peace: blessed are they which have been sorrowful for all thy scourges; for they shall rejoice for thee, when they have seen all thy glory, and shall be glad for ever. Let my soul Hess God the great King. For Jerusalem: shall be built up with sapphires, and emeralds, and precious stone: thy walls and towers and battlements with pure gold. And the streets of Jerusalem shall be paved with beryl and carbuncle and stones of Ophir. And all her streets shall say, Alleluia; and they shall praise Him. saying, Blessed be God, Which hath extolled it for ever.

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bring them again into the land, where they shall build a temple, but not like to the first, until the time that age be fulfilled; and afterward they shall return from all places of their captivity, and build up Jers salem gloriously, and the house f God shall be built in it for ent with a glorious building, as the pro phets have spoken thereof. And a nations shall turn, and fear the Lord God truly, and shall bury their dəs So shall all nations praise the Le and His people shall confess God. and the Lord shall exalt His people and all those which love the Leri God in truth and justice shall re joice, shewing mercy to our brethres

And now, my son, depart out Nineve, because that those this which the prophet Jonas spake sha surely come to pass. But keep the the law and the commandments, an shew thyself merciful and just, that

it

may go Owell with thee. And bury me decently, and thy mother with me; but tarry no longer at Nineve. Remember, my son, how Aman handled Achiacharus that brought him up, how out of light he brought him into darkness, and how he rewarded him again: yet Achiacharus was saved, but the other had his reward: for he went down into darkness. Manasses gave alms, and escaped the snares of death which they had set for him: but Aman fell into the snare, and perished. Wherefore now, my son, consider what alms doeth, and how righteousness doth deliver. When he had said these things, he gave up the ghost in the bed, being

OCTOBER 5. Morning, IN the twelfth year of the reign of Nabuchodonosor, who reigned in Nineve, the great city; in the days of Arphaxad, which reigned over the Medes in Ecbatane, and built in Ecbatane walls round about of stones hewn three cubits broad and six cubits long, and made the height of the wall seventy cubits, and the breadth thereof fifty cubits: and set the towers thereof upon the gates of it, an hundred cubits high, and the breadth thereof in the foundation threescore cubits: and he made the gates thereof, even gates that were raised to the height of seventy cubits, and the breadth of them was forty cubits, for the going forth of his mighty armies, and for the setting in array of his footmen: even in those days king Nabuchodonosor made war with king Arphaxad in the great plain, which is the plain in the borders of Ragau. And there came unto him all they that dwelt in the hill country, and all that dwelt by Euphrates, and Tigris, and Hydaspes, and the plain of Arioch the king of the Elymeans, and very many nations of the sons of Chelod, assembled themselves to the battle. Then Nabuchodonosor king of the Assyrians sent unto all that dwelt in Persia, and to all that

an hundred and eight and fifty years old; and he buried him honourably. And when Anna his mother was dead, he buried her with his father. But Tobias departed with his wife and children to Ecbatane to Raguel his father in law, where he became old with honour, and he buried his father and mother in law honourably, and he inherited their substance, and his father Tobit's. And he died at Ecbatane in Media, being an hundred and seven and twenty years old. But before he died he heard of the destruction of Nineve, which was taken by Nabuchodonosor and Assuerus: and before his death he rejoiced over Nineve.

dwelt westward, and to those that dwelt in Cilicia, and Damascus, and Libanus, and Antilibanus, and to all that dwelt upon the sea coast, and to those among the nations that were of Carmel, and Galaad, and the higher Galilee, and the great plain of Esdrelom, and to all that were in Samaria and the cities thereof, and beyond Jordan unto Jerusalem, and Betane, and Chellus, and Kades, and the river of Egypt, and Taphnes, and Ramesse, and all the land of Gesem, until ye come beyond Tanis and Memphis, and to all the inhabitants of Egypt, until ye come to the borders of Ethiopia.

But all the inhabitants of the land made light of the commandment of Nabuchodonosor king of the Assyrians, neither went they with him to the battle; for they were not afraid of him: yea, he was before them as one man, and they sent away his ambassadors from them without effect, and with disgrace. Therefore Nabuchodonosor was very angry with all this country, and sware by his throne and kingdom, that he would surely be avenged upon all those coasts of Cilicia, and Damascus, and Syria, and that he would slay with the sword all the inhabitants of the land of Moab,

AND in eighteenthay of the

ND in the eighteenth year, the

first month, there was talk in the house of Nabuchodonosor king of the Assyrians, that he should, as he said, avenge himself on all the earth. So he called unto him all his officers, and all his nobles, and communicated with them his secret counsel, and concluded the afflicting of the whole earth out of his own mouth. Then they decreed to destroy all flesh, that did not obey the commandment of his mouth. And when he had ended his counsel, Nabuchodonosor king of the Assyrians called Holofernes the chief captain of his army, which was next unto him, and said unto him, Thus saith the great king, the lord of the whole earth, Behold, thou shalt go forth from my presence, and take with thee men that trust in their own strength, of footmen an hundred and twenty thousand; and the number of horses with their riders twelve thousand. And thou shalt go against all the west country, because they disobeyed my commandment. And thou shalt declare unto them, that they prepare for me earth and water: for I will go forth in my wrath against them, and will cover the whole face of the earth with the feet of mine army, and I will give them for a spoil unto them: so that their slain shall fill their valleys and brooks, and the river shall be filled with their dead, till it overflow: and I will lead them captives to the

therefore shalt go forth, and take

utmost parts of all the earth. Thes

beforehand for me all their coasts: and if they will yield themselves unto thee, thou shalt reserve them for me till the day of their punishment. But concerning them that rebel, let not thine eye spare them but put them to the slaughter, and spoil them wheresoever thou goest, For as I live, and by the power of my kingdom, whatsoever I have spe ken, that will I do by mine hand And take thou heed that thou trans gress none of the commandments of thy lord, but accomplish them fally, as I have commanded thee, and defer not to do them.

Then Holofernes went forth from the presence of his lord, and called all the governors and captains, and the officers of the army of Asstr; and he mustered the chosen men før the battle, as his lord had commanded him, unto an hundred and twenty thousand, and twelve thousand archers on horseback; and he ranged them, as a great army is ordered for the war. And he took camels and asses for their carriages, a very great number; and sheep and oxen and goats without number for their pro vision and plenty of victual for every man of the army, and very much gold and silver out of the king's house. Then he went forth and all his power to go before king Nabuchodonosor in the voyage, and to cover all the face of the earth westward with their chariots, and