Tobias and the Fish

As Tobias travelled on, he and the angel came by evening to the river Tigris and stayed there. Tobias went down to wash himself, but a fish leaped out of the river and lunged at him. The angel told him to grab it, and Tobias hauled it up onto the land.

Then the angel told Tobias to cut the fish open and keep three parts: the heart, the liver, and the bile. Tobias did as he was told. They roasted the fish, ate it, and went on their way until they drew near to Ecbatana.

Tobias asked why those parts of the fish mattered. The angel said that if a demon or evil spirit troubled someone, the heart and liver could be burned to make smoke, and the affliction would flee. The bile, he said, could be put on a person's eyes when white films covered them, and that person would be healed.

When they drew near to Rages, the angel spoke about Raguel, Tobias's kinsman, and Raguel's only daughter, Sarah. He said he would speak to her father so she could be given to Tobias as a wife, because the inheritance belonged to him and not to another relative.

Tobias was afraid. He had heard that seven men had died after being given to Sarah, and he feared bringing deep sorrow to his parents, who had no other son. The angel reminded him of his father's command to marry within his kindred and told him not to fear.

He said Sarah would become his wife, and that Tobias should burn incense with some of the fish's heart and liver, then both of them should rise and cry out to God for mercy. The angel said God would save them, and Tobias's heart was drawn to Sarah.