13:1 Then Tobit wrote a prayer of rejoicing, and said, Blessed be God that lives forever, and blessed be his kingdom. 2 For he does scourge, and has mercy: he leads down to hell, and brings up again: neither is there any that can avoid his hand. 3 Confess him before the Gentiles, you children of Israel: for he has scattered us among them. 4 There declare his greatness, and extol him before all the living: for he is our Lord, and he is the God our Father forever. 5 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.

BEDE. Then opening his mouth, the elder Tobit blessed God. Acknowledging God’s severity and mercy, he reminded the faithful always to proclaim the benefits and fear the scourges of God. And filled with the spirit of prophecy he sang in praise of many things concerning our mother the heavenly Jerusalem. Likewise, when the Jewish people have converted to the faith at the end of the age, they will have many teachers and prophetic men who will rouse the minds of their kindred towards heavenly desires until the heavenly homeland homeland’s eternal joys resound in abundance for them. [Bede the Venerable, Allegorica interpretatio in Tobiam, PL 91.935C ]’°

AMBROSE. In our distress we ought to love God, and not depart from him. For joy of distress often comes after, and the joy of distresses. Blessed is he who is distressed and yet not forsaken, and who follows the law. [Ambrose, Enarationes in XII psalmos Davidicos, PL 14.34.940C ]

CHRYSOSTOM. Truly, hardship is a great and excellent means to test a man and to teach him the virtue of patience, and indeed there are various forms of afflictions: one man is tested through continuous illness, another through severe poverty, another through violence and injustice; one man is tormented with perpetual and continuous losses of children and relatives, another is rejected by all and considered worthy of nothing, and yet another is afflicted in another way. [John Chrysostom, The Providence of God and To Stagirius Troubled by a Demon]’’

13:6 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 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 you sinners, turn and do justice before him: who can tell if he will accept you, and have mercy on you

CYPRIAN. It was before predicted that the world would hold us in abhorrence, and that it would stir up persecutions against us, and that no new thing is happening to the Christians, since from the beginning of the world the good have suffered, and the righteous have been oppressed and slain by the unrighteous… And Daniel, devoted to God, and filled with the Holy Spirit, exclaims and says: “I worship nothing but the Lord my God, who founded the heaven and the earth.” (Bel and Dragon 5) Tobias also, although under a royal and tyrannical slavery, yet in feeling and spirit free, maintains his confession to God, and sublimely announces both the divine power and majesty, saying: “In the land of my captivity do I praise him, and declare his might and majesty to a sinful nation.” (Tob. 13:6) [Cyprian of Carthage, Treatise 11.11 ANF v.5]

13:7 I will extol my God, and my soul shall praise the King of heaven, and shall rejoice in his greatness. 8 Let all men speak, and let all praise him for his righteousness. 9 O Jerusalem, the holy city, he will scourge you for your children’s works, and will have mercy again on the sons of the righteous. 10 Give praise to the Lord, for he is good: and praise the everlasting King, that his tabernacle may be built in you again with joy, and let him make joyful there in you those that are captives, and love in you forever those that are miserable. 11 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. 12 Cursed are all they which hate you, and blessed shall all be which love you forever. 13 Rejoice and be glad for the children of the just: for they shall be gathered together, and shall bless the Lord of the just. 14 O blessed are they which love you, for they shall rejoice in your peace: blessed are they which have been sorrowful for all your scourges; for they shall rejoice for you, when they have seen all your glory, and shall be glad forever. 15 Let my soul bless God the great King. 16 For Jerusalem shall be built up with sapphires and emeralds, and precious stone: your walls and towers and battlements with pure gold. 17 And the streets of Jerusalem shall be paved with beryl and carbuncle and stones of Ophir. 18 And all her streets shall say, Alleluia; and they shall praise him, saying, Blessed be God, which has extolled it forever.