Then Tobias sighed, and began to pray with tears,

Atque his et aliis hujuscemodi verbis exprobrabat ei.

So at last Tobias fell a-sighing, and he prayed still, but wept as he prayed.

Saying: Thou art just, O Lord, and all thy judgments are just, and all thy ways mercy, and truth, and judgment:

Tunc Tobias ingemuit, et cœpit orare cum lacrimis,

Lord, he said, thou hast right on thy side; no award of thine but is deserved, no act of thine but tells of mercy, of faithfulness, and of justice.

And now, O Lord, think of me, and take not revenge of my sins, neither remember my offences, nor those of my parents.

dicens: Justus es, Domine, et omnia judicia tua justa sunt, et omnes viæ tuæ, misericordia, et veritas, et judicium.

Yet bethink thee, Lord, of my case; leave my sins unpunished, my guilt, and the guilt of my parents, forgotten.

For we have not obeyed thy commandments, therefore are we delivered to spoil and to captivity, and death, and are made a fable, and a reproach to all nations, amongst which thou hast scattered us.

Et nunc Domine, memor esto mei, et ne vindictam sumas de peccatis meis, neque reminiscaris delicta mea, vel parentum meorum.

If we are doomed to loss, to banishment and to death, if thou hast made us a by-word and a laughing-stock in all the countries to which thou hast banished us, it is because we have defied thy commandments;

And now, O Lord, great are thy judgments, because we have not done according to thy precepts, and have not walked sincerely before thee:

Quoniam non obedivimus præceptis tuis, ideo traditi sumus in direptionem, et captivitatem, et mortem, et in fabulam, et in improperium omnibus nationibus in quibus dispersisti nos.

it was fitting punishment, Lord, for the men who neglected thy bidding, and were half-hearted followers of thine.

And now, O Lord, do with me according to thy will, and command my spirit to be received in peace: for it is better for me to die, than to live.

Et nunc Domine, magna judicia tua, quia non egimus secundum præcepta tua, et non ambulavimus sinceriter coram te.

And now, Lord, do with me as thy will is, give the word, and take my spirit to thyself in peace; for me, death is more welcome than life.

Now it happened on the same day, that Sara daughter of Raguel, in Rages a city of the Medes, received a reproach from one of her father’s servant maids,

Et nunc Domine, secundum voluntatem tuam fac mecum, et præcipe in pace recipi spiritum meum: expedit enim mihi mori magis quam vivere.

Now turn we to Rages, a city in Media, and another soul that must undergo taunts on this same day, Sara, the daughter of Raguel. It was one of her father’s maid-servants that taunted her;

Because she had been given to seven husbands, and a devil named Asmodeus had killed them, at their first going in unto her.

Eadem itaque die, contigit ut Sara filia Raguelis in Rages civitate Medorum et ipsa audiret improperium ab una ex ancillis patris sui,

and the ground of it was that she had been married seven times, but each of her husbands in turn had been killed, at the time of his bedding with her, by an evil spirit that was named Asmodaeus.

So when she reproved the maid for her fault, she answered her, saying: May we never see son, or daughter of thee upon the earth, thou murderer of thy husbands.

quoniam tradita fuerat septem viris, et dæmonium nomine Asmodæus occiderat eos, mox ut ingressi fuissent ad eam.

This maid, then, upon being reproved for some fault, had answered, God send we never see son or daughter of thine brought to light! Murderess, where are those husbands of thine?

Wilt thou kill me also, as thou hast already killed seven husbands? At these words she went into an upper chamber of her house: and for three days and three nights did neither eat nor drink:

Ergo cum pro culpa sua increparet puellam, respondit ei, dicens: Amplius ex te non videamus filium aut filiam super terram, interfectrix virorum tuorum.

Wouldst thou make as short work with me as thou didst with those seven? At that, Sara withdrew to an upper room of the house, and for three days and nights would neither eat nor drink;

But continuing in prayer with tears besought God, that he would deliver her from this reproach.

Numquid et occidere me vis, sicut jam occidisti septem viros? Ad hanc vocem perrexit in superius cubiculum domus suæ: et tribus diebus, et tribus noctibus non manducavit, neque bibit:

all this time she spent in prayer, begging with tears that God would free her of the suspicion.

And it came to pass on the third day, when she was making an end of her prayer, blessing the Lord,

sed in oratione persistens cum lacrimis deprecabatur Deum, ut ab isto improperio liberaret eam.

And at last on the third day, her time of prayer ended, she blessed the name of the Lord after this fashion:

She said: Blessed is thy name, O God of our fathers: who when thou hast been angry, wilt shew mercy, and in the time of tribulation forgivest the sins of them that call upon thee.

Factum est autem die tertia, dum compleret orationem, benedicens Dominum

Blessed is thy name, O God of our fathers, who, though thy anger be roused, shewest mercy still, who dost pardon the sinner that cries out to thee in time of need!

To thee, O Lord, I turn my face, to thee I direct my eyes.

dixit: Benedictum est nomen tuum, Deus patrum nostrorum: qui cum iratus fueris, misericordiam facies, et in tempore tribulationis peccata dimittis his qui invocant te.

To thee, Lord, I turn; on thee my eyes are fixed;

I beg, O Lord, that thou loose me from the bond of this reproach, or else take me away from the earth.

Ad te, Domine, faciem meam converto; ad te oculos meos dirigo.

and, Lord, my prayer is that thou wouldst either rid me of this clogging suspicion, or else take me away from earth.

Thou knowest, O Lord, that I never coveted a husband, and have kept my soul clean from all lust.

Peto, Domine, ut de vinculo improperii hujus absolvas me, aut certe desuper terram eripias me.

Thou, Lord, canst bear me witness that I lusted never after man; still have I guarded my soul from shameful desire,

Never have I joined myself with them that play: neither have I made myself partaker with them that walk in lightness.

Tu scis, Domine, quia numquam concupivi virum, et mundam servavi animam meam ab omni concupiscentia.

nor kept company with the wanton, nor cast in my lot with the lovers of dalliance.

But a husband I consented to take, with thy fear, not with my lust.

Numquam cum ludentibus miscui me, neque cum his qui in levitate ambulant, participem me præbui.

If I consented to take a husband, law of thine was my rule, not lust of mine.

And either I was unworthy of them, or they perhaps were not worthy of me: because perhaps thou hast kept me for another man.

Virum autem cum timore tuo, non cum libidine mea, consensi suscipere.

It seems I was unworthy of these men’s love, or perhaps they of mine; it may be thou wast reserving me for another husband;

For thy counsel is not in man’s power.

Et, aut ego indigna fui illis, aut illi forsitan me non fuerunt digni, quia forsitan viro alii conservasti me.

thy designs are beyond our human reach.

But this every one is sure of that worshippeth thee, that his life, if it be under trial, shall be crowned: and if it be under tribulation, it shall be delivered: and if it be under correction, it shall be allowed to come to thy mercy.

Non est enim in hominis potestate consilium tuum.

But this at least all thy true worshippers know; never was a life of trials but had its crown; never distress from which thou couldst not save; never punishment but left a gateway to thy mercy.

For thou art not delighted in our being lost: because after a storm thou makest a calm, and after tears and weeping thou pourest in joyfulness.

Hoc autem pro certo habet omnis qui te colit: quod vita ejus, si in probatione fuerit, coronabitur; si autem in tribulatione fuerit, liberabitur; et si in correptione fuerit, ad misericordiam tuam venire licebit.

Not thine to plot eagerly for our undoing; the storm passes, and thou grantest clear weather again; tears and sighs are over, and thou fillest the cup with rejoicing;

Be thy name, O God of Israel, blessed for ever.

Non enim delectaris in perditionibus nostris: quia post tempestatem tranquillum facis, et post lacrimationem et fletum, exultationem infundis.

blessed be thy name, God of Israel, for ever!

At that time the prayers of them both were heard in the sight of the glory of the most high God:

Sit nomen tuum, Deus Israël, benedictum in sæcula.

Two prayers that day reached the bright presence of the most high God;

And the holy angel of the Lord, Raphael was sent to heal them both, whose prayers at one time were rehearsed in the sight of the Lord.

In illo tempore exauditæ sunt preces amborum in conspectu gloriæ summi Dei:

and Raphael, one of the Lord’s holy angels, was sent out, bearing common deliverance to the suppliants of a single hour.