Part 516

13:11. Jerusalem, city of God, the Lord hath chastised thee for the works of thy hands.

Jerusalem.... What is prophetically delivered here, and in the following chapter, with relation to Jerusalem, is partly to be understood of the rebuilding of the city after the captivity: and partly of the spiritual Jerusalem, which is the church of Christ, and the eternal Jerusalem in heaven.

13:12. Give glory to the Lord for thy good things, and bless the God eternal that he may rebuild his tabernacle in thee, and may call back all the captives to thee, and thou mayst rejoice for ever and ever.

13:13. Thou shalt shine with a glorious light: and all the ends of the earth shall worship thee,

13:14. Nations from afar shall come to thee: and shall bring gifts, and shall adore the Lord in thee, and shall esteem thy land as holy.

13:15. For they shall call upon the great name in thee,

13:16. They shall be cursed that shall despise thee: and they shall be condemned that shall blaspheme thee: and blessed shall they be that shall build thee up,

13:17. But thou shalt rejoice in thy children, because they shall all be blessed, and shall be gathered together to the Lord.

13:18. Blessed are all they that love thee, and that rejoice in thy peace,

13:19. My soul, bless thou the Lord, because the Lord our God hath delivered Jerusalem his city from all her troubles.

13:20. Happy shall I be if there shall remain of my seed, to see the glory of Jerusalem.

13:21. The gates of Jerusalem shall be built of sapphire, and of emerald, and all the walls thereof round about of precious stones.

13:22. All its streets shall be paved with white and clean stones: and Alleluia shall be sung in its streets,

13:23. Blessed be the Lord, who hath exalted it, and may he reign over it for ever and ever, Amen.

Tobias Chapter 14

Old Tobias dieth at the age of a hundred and two years, after exhorting his son and grandsons to piety, foreshewing that Ninive shall be destroyed, and Jerusalem rebuilt. The younger Tobias returneth with his family to Raguel, and dieth happily as he had lived.

14:1. And the words of Tobias were ended. And after Tobias was restored to his sight, he lived two and forty years, and saw the children of his grandchildren.

14:2. And after he had lived a hundred and two years, he was buried honorably in Ninive.

14:3. For he was six and fifty years old when he lost the sight of his eyes, and sixty when he recovered it again.

14:4. And the rest of his life was in joy, and with great increase of the fear of God he departed in peace.

14:5. And at the hour of his death he called unto him his son Tobias and his children, seven young men, his grandsons, and said to them:

14:6. The destruction of Ninive is at hand: for the word of the Lord must be fulfilled: and our brethren, that are scattered abroad from the land of Israel, shall return to it.

14:7. And all the land thereof that is desert shall be filled with people, and the house of God which is burnt in it, shall again be rebuilt: and all that fear God shall return thither.

14:8. And the Gentiles shall leave their idols, and shall come into Jerusalem, and shall dwell in it.

14:9. And all the kings of the earth shall rejoice in it, adoring the King of Israel.

14:10. Hearken therefore, my children, to your father: serve the Lord in truth, and seek to do the things that please him:

14:11. And command your children that they do justice and almsdeeds, and that they be mindful of God, and bless him at all times in truth, and with all their power.

14:12. And now, children, hear me, and do not stay here: but as soon as you shall bury your mother by me in one sepulchre, without delay direct your steps to depart hence: