1On that day Tobit remembered the silver that he had entrusted to Gabael in Rages of Media.
2And he said to himself, “Behold, I have asked for death. Why should I not call my son Tobias and inform him about this silver before I die?”
3So he called his son Tobias, and he came to him. And he said to him, “Bury me properly, and honor your mother. Do not abandon her all the days of her life; do what is pleasing in her sight and do not grieve her spirit in any matter.
4Remember her, child, that she faced many dangers for you in her womb. And when she dies, bury her beside me in one tomb.
5All your days, child, remember the Lord, and do not be willing to sin or to transgress his commandments. Practice righteousness all the days of your life, and do not walk in the ways of unrighteousness.
6because those who practice truth will prosper in their works. And to all those who practice righteousness,
7give alms from your possessions, and do not let your eye be grudging when you give alms. Do not turn your face away from any poor person, and the face of God will not be turned away from you.
8Give alms from your possessions in proportion to your abundance; if you have little, do not be afraid to give alms according to that little.
9For you are storing up a good treasure for yourself for a day of need.
10because almsgiving delivers from death and will not allow one to enter into the darkness.
11For almsgiving is a good gift for all who practice it in the sight of the Most High.
12Watch yourself, child, from all sexual immorality. And above all, take a wife from the descendants of your fathers. Do not take a foreign wife who is not from your father’s tribe, because we are sons of prophets. Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob—our fathers from of old—remember, child, that they all took wives from among their relatives, and they were blessed in their children, and their descendants will inherit the land.
13And now, child, love your kinsmen. Do not be arrogant in your heart toward your kinsmen, the sons and daughters of your people, and refuse to take a wife for yourself from among them. For in arrogance there is destruction and great instability, and in worthlessness there is loss and great poverty; for worthlessness is the mother of famine.
14Do not let the wage of any person who works for you remain with you overnight, but pay it to him immediately. If you serve God, you will be repaid. Watch yourself, child, in all your works, and be disciplined in all your conduct.
15And what you hate, do to no one. Do not drink wine to the point of drunkenness, and do not let drunkenness go with you on your way.
16Give of your bread to the hungry, and of your garments to the naked. From all your abundance, give alms, and do not let your eye be grudging when you give alms.
17Pour out your bread on the tomb of the righteous, but do not give to sinners.
18Seek counsel from every sensible person, and do not despise any useful counsel.
19The Lord will give them good counsel; and whomever the Lord wishes, he humbles down to the lowest parts of Hades. And now, child, remember these commandments, and do not let them be erased from your heart.
20And now, child, I inform you that I deposited ten talents of silver with Gabael the son of Gabri in Rages of Media.
21And do not be afraid, child, that we have become poor. You have great wealth, if you fear God and flee from all sin and do what is good in the sight of the Lord your God.
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