Wedding reading
Tobit 8:5–8
King James Bible
“Tobit 8:5–8” by King James Bible is a scripture reading read at a wedding ceremony. It takes about 40 seconds read aloud, usually by a guest reader. It is in the public domain, so the full text is printed on this page and goes straight into a ceremony script.
The full text
Then began Tobias to say, Blessed art thou, O God of our fathers, and blessed is thy holy and glorious name for ever; let the heavens bless thee, and all thy creatures. Thou madest Adam, and gavest him Eve his wife for an helper and stay: of them came mankind: thou hast said, It is not good that man should be alone; let us make unto him an aid like unto himself. And now, O Lord, I take not this my sister for lust, but uprightly: therefore mercifully ordain that we may become aged together. And she said with him, Amen.
Public domain, so these words can be printed in a ceremony script or an order of service.
What it is about
The Catholic favourite — "that we may become aged together."
Read at a wedding ceremony. Themes: growing old together · a prayer on the wedding night · the deuterocanonical wedding reading.
Questions about reading it aloud
How long does “Tobit 8:5–8” take to read aloud?
“Tobit 8:5–8” takes about 40 seconds read aloud at a ceremony pace, which is slower than conversation — roughly 130 words a minute. That is the figure the run-sheet uses when it works out the timing for the whole service.
Who usually reads “Tobit 8:5–8”?
Usually a guest reader rather than the officiant. “Tobit 8:5–8” runs about 40 seconds, which is a manageable amount to hand to a friend or family member. Give them a printed copy of their own, in a size they can read without their glasses, and tell them where to stand and how you will introduce them.
Can “Tobit 8:5–8” be printed in a ceremony script?
Yes. It is in the public domain, so the full text is on this page and can be printed in a script or an order of service.
Where this text was checked
Checked word for word against a full-text edition that is itself the authority — a Project Gutenberg or Wikisource transcription, a publisher’s own edition, or the issuing body’s page.
Checked
A reading is two minutes of the hour.
The rest is the welcome, the vows, the ring exchange, the pronouncement — and the timing that holds them together. Answer some questions about the couple and get the whole ceremony, written out, with this reading in its place.