Books Jesus Read

Chapter 5: Suffering and Spirituality – Tobit and Sarah

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And I am Raphael, one of the seven holy angels who go in and out before the glory of the Holy One, presenting the prayers of the saints.” Then Tobit and his son fell on their faces before the angel. “Fear not,” replied Raphael, “only praise God, for all shall go well for you. It was not on my account but by God’s design that I came to you. I neither ate nor drank when I was with you, although it appeared so because of a vision. Now I must return to him who sent me but you are to write in a book everything that has happened.” When they arose, Tobit and Tobias saw the angel no more but confessed the great and wonderful works of God and testified that his angel had appeared to them. 10 Now when Tobit had grown very old and was about to die, he called his son Tobias and the seven sons of Tobias and commanded them, “My son, take your children and go to Media. For I believe that which was spoken by the prophet Nahum: that Nineveh shall be overthrown and peace shall be found in Media. Our people will be scattered over the earth and Jerusalem will be desolate. The temple of God will be burned down and will lie in ruins. But God will again have mercy on our people and will bring them back into their land to rebuild the temple, though it will not be glorious like the former one, not until the end of the age. After that, they will return from their captivity and rebuild Jerusalem in splendor. The house of God will be rebuilt gloriously for all generations, just as the prophets said. Then even the Gentiles will fear the Lord God in truth, and will bury their idols. Yes, the Gentiles will praise

10 Tobit’s hymn (Tob 13:1–17) is omitted and the concluding chapter is abridged.