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the king having been grieved at the unlawful decree against the Jews, and having been angered against Haman, Haman himself was beseeching Esther, in the absence of the 56.360 king, bowing and falling at her knees. And the king, having seen Haman touching the feet of the queen, suspecting that he was doing this for a shameful purpose, commanded that Haman himself be hanged on the gallows which he had prepared for Mordecai; and he writes that all the Jews should have relief, and that their enemies should be destroyed by them. And those who were destroyed are fifteen thousand. And a feast was made on the 14th and 15th in the twelfth month, which is called Adar. And this day is called in their own dialect Phura. Therefore on this day the Jews burn Haman, and they celebrate, it being a memorial of their salvation. And with these things the book has its end. The Book of Tobit. The book is called Tobit, because it contains the history concerning Tobit himself. Tobit is from the tribe of Naphtali, and he was in the captivity, and was in Nineveh, merciful and God-fearing. For having been in captivity, he did not eat common bread from the gentiles, but kept himself. And he was also a purveyor for king Enemessar, and he deposited with Gabael in Media 10 talents. This Tobit therefore was diligent in burying the dead of the Jews. But having been accused to king Acherel, he fled. And having returned, and having buried one of the dead, he slept outside the wall, and as he was accustomed to sleep, he had his eyes open, and when sparrows defecated from above into his eyes, he developed white films, and no longer saw. And there was also in Ecbatana a daughter of Raguel his kinsman, named Sarah. The demon Asmodaeus did not permit her to be married; for he killed seven men who took her in succession [and having been greatly grieved; for he killed seven who took her in succession]. And the girl, being greatly grieved, prayed; and God sent the archangel Raphael to her as a helper. Therefore Tobit, having instructed his son Tobias not to take a wife from elsewhere, except from his own tribe and kindred, gives him the bond for the ten talents, and commands him to go and demand it. But the boy, not knowing the way nor the man, goes out to seek a traveling companion. By the providence of God he finds Raphael, standing outside as a man, and hires him, as he said he knew the way. [And the angel accompanies him as a man saying he knew the way.] And the archangel Raphael accompanies him as a man called Azarias. And when they came to the Tigris river, the boy wanted to go down into it and bathe, and immediately a great fish leaped at the little boy. But the angel told him to seize the fish and cut it open and take its liver and its heart and the gall, and to keep these. Then when the boy asked for what these were useful, he said: The liver and the heart, when burned as incense, will drive out the demon; and the gall will clear the white films. The boy therefore, by the counsel and cooperation of the angel, takes Raguel's daughter Sarah as his wife, the de 56.361 mon having been driven out by this incense, and having been bound in the upper parts of Egypt by the angel. And Tobias, remaining with his wife, sends Azarias, as though he were a man, to Media, and after he demanded the ten talents, he returned with his wife and the angel himself to his father. And when the boy returned, he anoints his father's eyes with the gall of the fish, and the scales fall off, and immediately he regained his sight. When Tobit was blinded, he was 58 years old, and when he regained his sight, he was 60 years old. And then when he could see, the angel revealed himself, that he was not a man, but was sent from God for the help of both them and Sarah. And when Tobit grew old, he instructed his son Tobias to depart to Media because of the coming destruction of Nineveh according to the word of Jonah the

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βασιλέως λυπηθέντος ἐπὶ τῷ παρανόμῳ προστάγματι τῷ κατὰ τῶν Ἰουδαίων, καὶ ὀργισθέντος κατὰ τοῦ Ἀμὰν, αὐτὸς ὁ Ἀμὰν παρεκάλει τὴν Ἐσθὴρ, ἀπόντος τοῦ 56.360 βασιλέως, ἐπικύπτων καὶ προσκυνῶν τὰ γόνατα αὐτῆς. Ὁ δὲ βασιλεὺς καὶ ἑωρακὼς τὸν Ἀμὰν ἁπτόμενον τῶν ἰχνῶν τῆς βασιλίσσης, ὑπονοήσας αἰσχρῶς αὐτὸν τοῦτο ποιεῖν, ἐκέλευσεν αὐτὸν μὲν τὸν Ἀμὰν εἰς τὸ ξύλον, ὅπερ ἦν ἑτοιμάσας τῷ Μαρδοχαίῳ, κρεμασθῆναι· γράφει δὲ ἄνεσιν μὲν ἔχειν πάντας τοὺς Ἰουδαίους, τοὺς δὲ ἐχθροὺς αὐτῶν ἀναιρεθῆναι παρ' αὐτῶν. Καὶ οἱ μὲν ἀναιρεθέντες εἰσὶ μύριοι πεντακισχίλιοι. Γέγονε δὲ ἑορτὴ τῇ ιδʹ καὶ ιεʹ ἐν τῷ μηνὶ τῷ δωδεκάτῳ, ὅστις καλεῖται Ἄδαρ. Καλεῖται δὲ ἡ ἡμέρα αὕτη τῇ ἰδίᾳ διαλέκτῳ αὐτῶν Φουρά. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο κατὰ τὴν ἡμέραν ταύτην καίουσιν οἱ Ἰουδαῖοι τὸν Ἀμὰν, καὶ ἑορτάζουσι, μνημόσυνον οὖσαν τῆς σωτηρίας αὐτῶν. Καὶ ἐν τούτοις τέλος ἔχει τὸ βιβλίον. Τωβὶτ βιβλίον. Τωβὶτ καλεῖται τὸ βιβλίον, ἐπειδὴ τὴν περὶ αὐτοῦ τοῦ Τωβὶτ ἱστορίαν περιέχει. Ἔστι δὲ ὁ Τωβὶτ ἀπὸ μὲν φυλῆς Νεφθαλεὶμ, γέγονε δὲ ἐν τῇ αἰχμαλωσίᾳ, καὶ ἦν ἐν τῇ Νινευῒ ἐλεήμων καὶ θεοσεβής. Καὶ γὰρ ἐν τῇ αἰχμαλωσίᾳ γενόμενος, οὐκ ἤσθιε κοινὸν ἄρτον ἀπὸ τῶν ἐθνῶν, ἀλλ' ἑαυτὸν συνετήρησε. Ἦν δὲ καὶ ἀγοραστὴς τοῦ βασιλέως Ἐνεμασάρου, καὶ παρέθετο ἐν τῇ Μηδείᾳ Γαβαὴλ τάλαντα ιʹ. Οὗτος οὖν ὁ Τωβὶτ σπουδὴν εἶχε θάπτειν τοὺς ἀποθνήσκοντας τῶν Ἰουδαίων. ∆ιαβληθεὶς δὲ τῷ βασιλεῖ Ἀχειρὴλ, ἔφυγε. Καὶ ἐπανελθὼν, καὶ θάψας τινὰ τῶν ἀποθανόντων, ἐκοιμήθη ἔξω τοῦ τείχους, καὶ ὡς εἴωθε κοιμώμενος, ἀνεῳγμένους εἶχε τοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς, στρουθίων δὲ ἀφοδευσάντων ἄνωθεν εἰς τοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς αὐτοῦ, λευκώματα ἔσχε, καὶ οὐκέτι ἔβλεπεν. Ἦν δὲ καὶ ἐν Ἐκβατάνοις θυγάτηρ τοῦ Ῥαγουὴλ συγγενοῦς αὐτοῦ Σάῤῥα ὀνόματι. Ταύτην γαμηθῆναι οὐκ ἐπέτρεπεν ὁ δαίμων Ἀσμοδαῖος· ἑπτὰ γοῦν ἑξῆς λαβόντας αὐτὴν ἀπέκτεινε [καὶ πάνυ λυπηθεῖσα· ἑπτὰ γὰρ λαβόντας ἑξῆς αὐτὴν ἀπέκτεινε]. Καὶ πάνυ λυπηθεῖσα ἡ παῖς ηὔξατο· καὶ ἀπέστειλεν αὐτῇ βοηθὸν ὁ Θεὸς τὸν ἀρχάγγελον Ῥαφαήλ. Ὁ τοίνυν Τωβὶτ παραγγείλας τῷ υἱῷ αὐτοῦ Τωβίᾳ μὴ λαβεῖν ἀλλαχόθεν γυναῖκα, εἰ μὴ ἐκ τῆς φυλῆς αὐτοῦ καὶ τοῦ γένους, δίδωσιν αὐτῷ τὸ χειρόγραφον τῶν δέκα ταλάντων, καὶ ἐντέλλεται αὐτῷ ἀπελθεῖν καὶ ἀπαιτῆσαι. Ἀγνοῶν δὲ ὁ παῖς τὴν ὁδὸν καὶ τὸν ἄνθρωπον, ἐξέρχεται ζητῆσαι συνοδοιπόρον. Κατὰ Θεοῦ πρόνοιαν εὑρίσκει τὸν Ῥαφαὴλ, ὡς ἄνθρωπον ἑστῶτα ἔξω, καὶ μισθοῦται αὐτὸν λέγοντα εἰδέναι τὴν ὁδόν. [Καὶ συνοδεύει αὐτῷ ὁ ἄγγελος ὡς ἄνθρωπον λέγοντα εἰδέναι τὴν ὁδόν.] Καὶ συνοδεύει αὐτῷ ὁ ἀρχάγγελος Ῥαφαὴλ ὡς ἄνθρωπος λεγόμενος Ἀζαρίας. Ἐλθόντων δὲ αὐτῶν εἰς τὸν Τίγρην ποταμὸν, ἠθέλησεν ὁ παῖς εἰς αὐτὸν καταβῆναι καὶ λούσασθαι, καὶ εὐθὺς ἰχθὺς ἐπεπήδησε τῷ παιδαρίῳ μέγας. Ὁ δὲ ἄγγελος εἶπεν αὐτῷ ἐπιλαβέσθαι τοῦ ἰχθύος καὶ τεμεῖν αὐτὸν καὶ λαβεῖν τό τε ἧπαρ καὶ τὴν καρδίαν αὐτοῦ καὶ τὴν χολὴν, καὶ ταῦτα τηρεῖν. Εἶτα πυνθανομένου τοῦ παιδὸς, εἰς τί χρήσιμα ταῦτα, ἐκεῖνος ἔφη· Τὸ ἧπαρ καὶ ἡ καρδία θυμιώμενα διώξει τὸν δαίμονα· ἡ δὲ χολὴ καθαρίσει τὰ λευκώματα. Ὁ μὲν οὖν παῖς συμβουλίᾳ καὶ συνεργίᾳ τοῦ ἀγγέλου λαμβάνει τὴν τοῦ Ῥαγουὴλ θυγατέρα τὴν Σάῤῥαν γυναῖκα, διωχθέντος τοῦ δαι 56.361 μονίου ἐν τῷ θυμιάματι τούτῳ, καὶ δεθέντος εἰς τὰ ἀνώτερα μέρη Αἰγύπτου ὑπὸ τοῦ ἀγγέλου. Μείνας δὲ μετὰ τῆς γυναικὸς ὁ Τωβίας, ἀποστέλλει τὸν Ἀζαρίαν, ὡς ἄνθρωπον ὄντα, εἰς τὴν Μηδίαν, καὶ ἀπαιτήσας ἐκεῖνος τὰ δέκα τάλαντα ὑπέστρεψε μετὰ τῆς γυναικὸς καὶ αὐτοῦ τοῦ ἀγγέλου πρὸς τὸν πατέρα. Ὑποστρέψας δὲ ὁ παῖς, ἐγχρίει τῇ χολῇ τοῦ ἰχθύος τοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς τοῦ πατρὸς, καὶ ἀποπίπτουσιν αἱ λεπίδες, καὶ εὐθὺς ἀνέβλεψε. Ὅτε μὲν ἐτυφλώθη ὁ Τωβὶτ, ἦν ἐτῶν νηʹ, ὅτε δὲ ἀνέβλεψε, ἦν ἐτῶν ξʹ. Καὶ λοιπὸν βλέψαντος αὐτοῦ, ἐφανέρωσεν ἑαυτὸν ὁ ἄγγελος, ὅτι οὐκ ἄνθρωπος ἦν, ἀλλὰ παρὰ τοῦ Θεοῦ ἀπεστάλη εἰς βοήθειαν αὐτῶν τε καὶ τῆς Σάῤῥα. Γηράσας δὲ ὁ Τωβὶτ, παρήγγειλε τῷ υἱῷ αὐτοῦ Τωβίᾳ, ἀπελθεῖν εἰς τὴν Μηδίαν διὰ τὴν ἐσομένην καταστροφὴν τῆς Νινευῒ κατὰ τὸ ῥῆμα Ἰωνᾶ τοῦ