1The book of the words of Tobit, son of Tobiel, son of Hananiel, son of Aduel, son of Gabael, son of Raphael, son of Raguel, from the descendants of Asiel, of the tribe of Naphtali,
2who was taken captive in the days of Enemessar king of the Assyrians from Thisbe, which is south of Kedesh of Naphtali in Upper Galilee, above Asher, to the west, and north of Phogor.
3I, Tobit, walked in the ways of truth and righteousness all the days of my life. I performed many acts of charity for my brothers and my people who went with me into captivity to the land of the Assyrians, to Nineveh.
4When I was in my own country, in the land of Israel, while I was still a young man, the whole tribe of my ancestor Naphtali fell away from the house of my ancestor David and from Jerusalem. This was the city chosen from all the tribes of Israel for all the tribes to sacrifice in, where the temple of God’s dwelling had been consecrated and built for all generations forever.
5All my brothers and the house of my ancestor Naphtali sacrificed to the calf that Jeroboam king of Israel had made in Dan, on all the mountains of Galilee.
6But I alone would often go to Jerusalem for the feasts, as is written for all Israel as an everlasting decree. I would take the firstfruits, the firstborn, the tithes of the livestock, and the first shearings of the sheep, and hasten to Jerusalem.
7I would give them to the priests, the sons of Aaron, for the altar. The tithe of the wine, grain, olives, pomegranates, and other fruit I gave to the sons of Levi who ministered in Jerusalem. And the second tithe I would convert to money for the six years, and I would go and spend it in Jerusalem each year.
8And the third tithe I would give to the orphans, the widows, and the proselytes who had joined the sons of Israel. I would bring it and give it to them in the third year, and we would eat it according to the decree commanded in the Law of Moses and according to the commands of Deborah, the mother of our ancestor Hananiel, because my own father died and left me an orphan.
9When I became a man, I took a wife from the descendants of our own family line, and by her I fathered a son, and I called his name Tobias.
10After I was taken captive to Assyria and went to Nineveh, all my brothers and my kinsmen ate the food of the Gentiles.
11But I kept myself from eating the food of the Gentiles.
12And because I was mindful of my God with my whole soul,
13the Most High gave me grace and favor in the sight of Enemessar, and I became his purveyor.
14I used to travel to Media and make purchases for him there until he died. And I deposited with Gabael, the brother of Gabri, in the country of Media, purses containing ten talents of silver.
15When Enemessar died, Sennacherib his son reigned in his place, and the roads to Media became unsafe, so I could no longer travel to Media.
16In the days of Enemessar, I performed many acts of charity for my brothers and my kinsmen.
17I would give my bread to the hungry and my garments to the naked. And if I saw one of my people who had died and been thrown behind the wall of Nineveh, I would bury him.
18And if Sennacherib killed anyone—when he returned as a fugitive from Judea in the days of the judgment that the King of heaven brought upon him for the blasphemies he had uttered—I buried them. For he killed many of the sons of Israel in his rage, and I would steal their bodies and bury them. Sennacherib searched for the bodies but did not find them.
19Then one of the Ninevites went and informed the king about me, that I was burying them, so I hid. When I learned that the king knew about me and that I was being sought to be put to death, I became frightened and fled.
20All my possessions were seized, and nothing was left to me that was not taken into the royal treasury, except for my wife Anna and my son Tobias.
21Not forty days passed before his two sons killed him and fled to the mountains of Ararat. Sacherdonos his son reigned after him, and he appointed Achiacharus, the son of my brother Hanael, over all the accounts of his kingdom, and he had authority over the entire administration.
22Then Achiacharus interceded for me, and I returned to Nineveh. For Achiacharus had been the chief cupbearer, keeper of the signet ring, administrator, and chief accountant under Sennacherib king of the Assyrians, and Sacherdonos reappointed him. He was my nephew and from my own kindred.
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