Tobit 13

How to read these pages: the text itself comes first, verse by verse, in the volume's own translation. Beneath each verse stands its Meaning — a rendering of what the passage's terms name in the inner life, drawn from the correspondences the text itself uses. The text is never altered; the meaning is offered, not imposed.

King James Version

1Then Tobit wrote a prayer of rejoicing, and said, Blessed be God that liveth for ever, and blessed be his kingdom.

Then Tobit wrote a prayer of rejoicing, and said: Blessed be God who lives for ever, and blessed be His kingdom — His reign within consciousness. The healed state writing its praise: sight restored becoming song.

2For he doth scourge, and hath mercy: he leadeth down to hell, and bringeth up again: neither is there any that can avoid his hand.

For He scourges, and has mercy: He leads down to hell — the shadow-state of faculties asleep in death — and brings up again; neither is there any that can avoid His hand: the one hand in both the scourging and the raising; the state is given over to the disorder it chose, and gathered back by the same order.

3Confess him before the Gentiles, ye children of Israel: for he hath scattered us among them.

Confess Him before the Gentiles — the outer states — you children of Israel, the spiritual man: for He has scattered us among them — confession commanded precisely where the scattering fell.

4There declare his greatness, and extol him before all the living: for he is our Lord, and he is the God our Father for ever.

There declare His greatness, and extol Him before all the living; for He is our Lord, and He is the God our Father for ever — greatness declared in exile, not postponed until the return.

5And he will scourge us for our iniquities, and will have mercy again, and will gather us out of all nations, among whom he hath scattered us.

And He will scourge us for our iniquities, and will have mercy again, and will gather us out of all nations, among whom He has scattered us — the gathering promised on the far side of the scourging, by the same hand.

6If ye turn to him with your whole heart, and with your whole mind, and deal uprightly before him, then will he turn unto you, and will not hide his face from you. Therefore see what he will do with you, and confess him with your whole mouth, and praise the Lord of might, and extol the everlasting King. In the land of my captivity do I praise him, and declare his might and majesty to a sinful nation. O ye sinners, turn and do justice before him: who can tell if he will accept you, and have mercy on you?

If you turn to Him with your whole heart, and with your whole mind, and deal uprightly before Him, then will He turn unto you, and will not hide His face — His Presence — from you. Therefore see what He will do with you, and confess Him with your whole mouth, and praise the Lord of might, and extol the everlasting King. In the land of my captivity — consciousness carried away into a foreign ruling state — do I praise Him, and declare His might and majesty to a sinful nation. O you sinners — you error-bound states — turn and do justice before Him: who can tell if He will accept you, and have mercy on you? Repentance, the turning of the mind, preached from within the captivity itself.

7I will extol my God, and my soul shall praise the King of heaven, and shall rejoice in his greatness.

I will extol my God, and my soul shall praise the King of heaven — the ruling state of the inner realm — and shall rejoice in His greatness.

8Let all men speak, and let all praise him for his righteousness.

Let all men speak, and let all praise Him for His righteousness — for His rightness lived, the divine order made plain in a state.

9O Jerusalem, the holy city, he will scourge thee for thy children’s works, and will have mercy again on the sons of the righteous.

O Jerusalem — the established center of spiritual consciousness, the holy city, the city set apart wholly to the divine order — He will scourge you for your children's works, and will have mercy again on the sons of the righteous: the center itself not spared the scourging, nor refused the mercy.

10Give praise to the Lord, for he is good: and praise the everlasting King, that his tabernacle may be builded in thee again with joy, and let him make joyful there in thee those that are captives, and love in thee for ever those that are miserable.

Give praise to the indwelling LORD, for He is good; and praise the everlasting King, that His tabernacle — the structured dwelling of the Presence pitched in the midst of the camp of consciousness — may be built in you again with joy, and let Him make joyful there in you those that are captives, and love in you for ever those that are miserable: the sanctuary rebuilt at the center, and the captives made joyful inside it.

11Many nations shall come from far to the name of the Lord God with gifts in their hands, even gifts to the King of heaven; all generations shall praise thee with great joy.

Many nations shall come from far to the name of the Lord God with gifts in their hands, even gifts to the King of heaven; all generations shall praise you with great joy — the outer states streaming to the center they once carried captive, bearing gifts.

12Cursed are all they which hate thee, and blessed shall all be which love thee for ever.

Cursed are all they which hate you, and blessed shall all be which love you for ever — the two relations to the center carrying their two consequences within themselves.

13Rejoice and be glad for the children of the just: for they shall be gathered together, and shall bless the Lord of the just.

Rejoice and be glad for the children of the just; for they shall be gathered together, and shall bless the Lord of the just — the gathering sung before it is seen, as faith sings.

14O blessed are they which love thee, for they shall rejoice in thy peace: blessed are they which have been sorrowful for all thy scourges; for they shall rejoice for thee, when they have seen all thy glory, and shall be glad for ever.

O blessed are they which love you, for they shall rejoice in your peace — peace, rest within the order; blessed are they which have been sorrowful for all your scourges; for they shall rejoice for you, when they have seen all your glory — the manifested weight of the Presence — and shall be glad for ever: sorrow for the center repaid in the sight of its glory.

15Let my soul bless God the great King.

Let my soul bless God the great King — the healed man's whole soul gathered into one blessing.

16For Jerusalem shall be built up with sapphires and emeralds, and precious stone: thy walls and towers and battlements with pure gold.

For Jerusalem shall be built up with sapphires and emeralds, and precious stone: your walls and towers and battlements with pure gold — the center rebuilt in the substances of heaven: the stones of understanding and love made architecture.

17And the streets of Jerusalem shall be paved with beryl and carbuncle and stones of Ophir.

And the streets of Jerusalem shall be paved with beryl and carbuncle and stones of Ophir — even the ways of traffic in the restored center laid in precious light.

18And all her streets shall say, Alleluia; and they shall praise him, saying, Blessed be God, which hath extolled it for ever.

And all her streets shall say, Alleluia; and they shall praise Him, saying: Blessed be God, who has extolled it for ever — the city's very streets given a voice, and the voice a single word of praise.

Companion volume to The Why Bible — the King James Apocrypha, rendered in its spiritual meanings. First final edition, October 2026.