Глава 13

1–18. Prayer of gratitude (προσευχή) Tobit to the Lord for His mercies towards him, his hope for a better future for the people of God and Jerusalem. Tob.13:1 In joy, Tobit wrote a prayer in these words: Blessed is God who lives forever, and blessed is His kingdom! 1. Tobit accurately fulfills the command of the Angel (XII:20) to perpetuate the wondrous deeds of God. Tov.13:2 For He punishes and has mercy, brings down to hell and raises up, and there is no one who escapes from His hand. Comrade 13:3 Children of Israel! glorify Him before the pagans, for He has scattered us among them. Tov.13:4 There proclaim His greatness, exalt Him before all living, for He is our Lord and God, our Father forever: Comrade 13:5 He will punish us for our iniquities, and will again have mercy and gather us from all nations, wherever you may be scattered among them. Tov.13:6 If you turn to Him with all your heart and with all your soul, to do what is right before Him, then He will turn to you and will not hide His face from you. See what He will do to you. Glorify Him with all the words of your mouth and bless the Lord of righteousness and exalt the King of the ages. In the land of my captivity I glorify Him and preach His power and greatness to a people of sinners. Turn, you sinners, and do righteousness before Him. Who knows, maybe He will be pleased with you and show you mercy? Comrade 13:7 I exalt my God, and my soul is the Heavenly King, and rejoices in His greatness. Comrade 13:8 Let everyone proclaim Him and glorify Him in Jerusalem. Comrade 13:9 Jerusalem, holy city! He will punish you for the deeds of your sons and will again have mercy on the sons of the righteous. Comrade 13:10 Praise the Lord diligently and bless the King of the ages, so that His tabernacle may be built again in you with joy, so that He may bring joy to the captives among you and love the unfortunate in you throughout all generations of the age. Comrade 13:11 Many nations from afar will come to the name of the Lord God with gifts in their hands, with gifts to the King of Heaven; the generations of generations will praise you with shouts of joy. 2–11. From his personal pious feelings and experiences, Tobit, as a true righteous man and a true bearer of the covenants of Israel, turns his spiritual gaze to the destinies of the entire people of God and teaches its members lessons of edification drawn from the terrible punishment (captivity) that befell both Jewish kingdoms, of which he focuses more on the more important in the destinies of the Old Testament church, the kingdom of Judah with its capital - Jerusalem, and predicts for Jerusalem in the future - after the Babylonian captivity - a complete restoration together with the sanctuary of the city and people - the church (vv. 9-10), and in addition, the glorification of the religion of Israel among other nations (vv. 11-14). This cannot be considered a prophecy in the proper sense, since in the entire book Tobit is never called a prophet and, on the contrary, bases his judgments on previous prophecies (II: 6; XIV: 5) and generally speaks as if he had carefully studied all the Holy Scriptures of the prophets. Comrade 13:12 Cursed are all who hate you, blessed will be all who love you forever! Tov.13:13 Rejoice and be glad over the sons of the righteous, for they will gather together and bless the Lord of the righteous. Tov.13:14 Oh, blessed are those who love you! they will rejoice in your peace. Blessed are those who mourn over all your troubles, for they will rejoice over you when they see all your glory, and they will rejoice forever. Comrade 13:15 Let my soul bless God, the great King, Comrade 13:16 For Jerusalem will be built of sapphire and emerald and of costly stones; your walls, towers and fortifications are of pure gold; Comrade 13:17 And the squares of Jerusalem will be paved with beryl, anthrax and stone from Ophir. Comrade 13:18 In all its streets they will hear: Hallelujah, and they will praise, saying: Blessed is God, who has exalted Jerusalem forever! 15–18. The image of the glory of the future Jerusalem has a mystical and symbolic character; many features of this image are not applicable to historical post-exilic Jerusalem; on the contrary, they have a great resemblance to the image of Jerusalem descending from heaven in the Apocalypse of the Ap. John (Rev. 21:10–24).