TOBIT'S PRAYER


Then with much grief and anguish of heart I wept, and with groaning began to pray:

You are righteous, O Lord
and all your deeds are just;
all your ways are mercy and truth;
you judge the
world.
And now, O Lord, remember me
and look favourably upon me.
Do not punish me for my sins
and for my unwitting offences 
and those that my ancestors
committed before you.
They sinned against you,
and disobeyed your
commandments.
So you gave us over to plunder, exile,
and death,
to become the talk, the byword,
and an object of reproach,
among all the nations among
whom you have dispersed us.
And now your many judgements are
true
in exacting penalty from me for
my sins.
For we have not kept your
commandments
and have not walked in 
accordance with truth before 
you.
So now deal with me as you will;
command my spirit to be taken
from me,
so that I may be released from the 
face of the earth and become
dust.
For it is better for me to die than to 
live,
because I have had to listen to 
undeserved insults,
and great is the sorrow within me.
Command, O Lord, that I be released 
from this distress;
release me to go to the eternal
home,
and do not, O Lord, turn your face
away from me.
For it is better for me to die
than to see so much distress in my
life
and to listen to insults.
(Tobit 3 : 1-6)