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Tobit Chapter 4
Tobias thinking he shall die, gives his son godly admonitions: and tells him of money he had lent to a friend.
English (Douay-Rheims)
1 Therefore when Tobias thought that his prayer was heard that he might die, he called to him Tobias his son,
2 And said to him: Hear, my son, the words of my mouth, and lay them as a foundation in thy heart.
3 When God shall take my soul, thou shalt bury my body: and thou shalt honour thy mother all the days of her life:
4 For thou must be mindful what and how great perils she suffered for thee in her womb.
5 And when she also shall have ended the time of her life, bury her by me.
6 And all the days of thy life have God in thy mind: and take heed thou never consent to sin, nor transgress the commandments of the Lord our God.
7 Give alms out of thy substance, and turn not away thy face from any poor person: for so it shall come to pass that the face of the Lord shall not be turned from thee.
8 According to thy ability be merciful.
9 If thou have much give abundantly: if thou have little, take care even so to bestow willingly a little.
10 For thus thou storest up to thyself a good reward for the day of necessity.
11 For alms deliver from all sin, and from death, and will not suffer the soul to go into darkness.
12 Alms shall be a great confidence before the most high God, to all them that give it.
13 Take heed to keep thyself, my son, from all fornication, and beside thy wife never endure to know a crime.
14 Never suffer pride to reign in thy mind, or in thy words: for from it all perdition took its beginning.
15 If any man hath done any work for thee, immediately pay him his hire, and let not the wages of thy hired servant stay with thee at all.
16 See thou never do to another what thou wouldst hate to have done to thee by another.
17 Eat thy bread with the hungry and the needy, and with thy garments cover the naked,
18 Lay out thy bread, and thy wine upon the burial of a just man, and do not eat and drink thereof with the wicked.
19 Seek counsel always of a wise man.
20 Bless God at all times: and desire of him to direct thy ways, and that all thy counsels may abide in him.
21 I tell thee also, my son, that I lent ten talents of silver, while thou wast yet a child, to Gabelus, in Rages a city of the Medes, and I have a note of his hand with me:
22 Now therefore inquire how thou mayst go to him, and receive of him the foresaid sum of money, and restore to him the note of his hand.
23 Fear not, my son: we lead indeed a poor life, but we shall have many good things if we fear God, and depart from all sin, and do that which is good.
Old Testament first published 1609 by the English College at Douay
New Testament first published 1582 by the English College at Rheims
Revised and Annotated 1749 by Bishop Richard Challoner
Imprimatur. +James Cardinal Gibbons, Archbishop of Baltimore, September 1, 1899
Latin (Clementine Vulgate)
1 Igitur cum Tobias putaret orationem suam exaudiri ut mori potuisset, vocavit ad se Tobiam filium suum,
2 dixitque ei: Audi, fili mi, verba oris mei, et ea in corde tuo quasi fundamentum construe.
3 Cum acceperit Deus animam meam, corpus meum sepeli: et honorem habebis matri tuæ omnibus diebus vitæ ejus:
4 memor enim esse debes, quæ et quanta pericula passa sit propter te in utero suo.
5 Cum autem et ipsa compleverit tempus vitæ suæ, sepelias eam circa me.
6 Omnibus autem diebus vitæ tuæ in mente habeto Deum: et cave ne aliquando peccato consentias, et prætermittas præcepta Domini Dei nostri.
7 Ex substantia tua fac eleemosynam, et noli avertere faciem tuam ab ullo paupere: ita enim fiet ut nec a te avertatur facies Domini.
8 Quomodo potueris, ita esto misericors.
9 Si multum tibi fuerit, abundanter tribue: si exiguum tibi fuerit, etiam exiguum libenter impertiri stude.
10 Præmium enim bonum tibi thesaurizas in die necessitatis:
11 quoniam eleemosyna ab omni peccato et a morte liberat, et non patietur animam ire in tenebras.
12 Fiducia magna erit coram summo Deo, eleemosyna omnibus facientibus eam.
13 Attende tibi, fili mi, ab omni fornicatione, et præter uxorem tuam numquam patiaris crimen scire.
14 Superbiam numquam in tuo sensu aut in tuo verbo dominari permittas: in ipsa enim initium sumpsit omnis perditio.
15 Quicumque tibi aliquid operatus fuerit, statim ei mercedem restitue, et merces mercenarii tui apud te omnino non remaneat.
16 Quod ab alio oderis fieri tibi, vide ne tu aliquando alteri facias.
17 Panem tuum cum esurientibus et egenis comede, et de vestimentis tuis nudos tege.
18 Panem tuum et vinum tuum super sepulturam justi constitue, et noli ex eo manducare et bibere cum peccatoribus.
19 Consilium semper a sapiente perquire.
20 Omni tempore benedic Deum: et pete ab eo ut vias tuas dirigat, et omnia consilia tua in ipso permaneant.
21 Indico etiam tibi, fili mi, dedisse me decem talenta argenti, dum adhuc infantulus esses, Gabelo, in Rages civitate Medorum, et chirographum ejus apud me habeo:
22 et ideo perquire quomodo ad eum pervenias, et recipias ab eo supra memoratum pondus argenti, et restituas ei chirographum suum.
23 Noli timere, fili mi: pauperem quidem vitam gerimus, sed multa bona habebimus si timuerimus Deum, et recesserimus ab omni peccato, et fecerimus bene.
Transcribed as part of the Clementine Vulgate Project
Please notify the original transcriber (little.mouth@soon.com) of any errors in this Latin edition
