⁴ When 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 deserted the house of David and Jerusalem. This city had been chosen from among all the tribes of Israel, where all the tribes of Israel should offer sacrifice and where the temple, the dwelling of God, had been consecrated and established for all generations forever.^(A)

⁵ All my kindred and my ancestral house of Naphtali sacrificed upon all the mountains of Galilee to the calf that King Jeroboam of Israel had erected in Dan and on all the mountains of Galilee.^{(B) 6} But I alone went often to Jerusalem for the festivals, as it is prescribed for all Israel by an everlasting decree. I would hurry off to Jerusalem with the first fruits of the crops and the firstlings of the flock, the tithes of the cattle, and the first shearings of the sheep.^{(C) 7} I would give these to the priests, the sons of Aaron, at the altar, likewise the tenth of the grain, wine, olive oil, pomegranates, figs, and the rest of the fruits to the sons of Levi who ministered at Jerusalem. Also every six years I would save up a second tenth in money and go and distribute it each year in Jerusalem,^{(D) 8} giving it to the orphans and widows and to the converts who had attached themselves to the Israelites. In the third year I would bring it and give it to them, and we would eat it according to the ordinance decreed concerning it in the law of Moses and according to the instructions of Deborah, the mother of my father Tobiel,^[a] for my father had died and left me an orphan.^{(E) 9} When I became a man I married a woman,^[b] a member of our own family, and by her I became the father of a son whom I named Tobias.^(F)

Tobit Becomes Blind

⁷ When the sun had set, I went and dug a grave and buried him.^{(A) 8} And my neighbors laughed and said, “Is he still not afraid? He has already been hunted down to be put to death for doing this, and he ran away, yet here he is again burying the dead!”^{(B) 9} That same night I washed myself and went into my courtyard and lay down by the wall of the courtyard; my face was uncovered because of the heat.^{(C) 10} I did not know that there were sparrows on the wall; their fresh droppings fell into my eyes and produced white films. I went to physicians to be healed, but the more they treated me with ointments, the more my vision was obscured by the white films, until I became completely blind. For four years I remained unable to see. All my kindred were sorry for me, and Ahikar took care of me for two years before he went to Elymais.^(D)

Tobit’s Prayer

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

Homeward Journey

11 When they came near to Kaserin, which is opposite Nineveh, Raphael said,^{(A) 2} “You are aware of how we left your father. ³ Let us run ahead of your wife and prepare the house while they are still on the way.” ⁴ As they went on together, Raphael^[a] said to him, “Have the gall ready in your hand.” And the dog^[b] went along behind them.^(B)

⁵ Meanwhile Anna sat looking intently down the road by which her son would come.^{(C) 6} When she caught sight of him coming, she said to his father, “Look, your son is coming, and the man who went with him!”

Tobit’s Sight Restored

⁷ Raphael said to Tobias before he had approached his father, “I know that his eyes will be opened.^{(D) 8} Smear the gall of the fish on his eyes; the medicine will make the white films shrink and peel off from his eyes, and your father will regain his sight and see the light.”^(E)

⁹ Then Anna ran up to her son and threw her arms around her son, saying, “Now that I have seen you, my son, I am ready to die.” And she wept.^{(F) 10} Then Tobit got up and came stumbling out through the courtyard door. Tobias went up to him, ¹¹ with the gall of the fish in his hand, and blew it into his eyes, then took hold of him, saying, “Take courage, father.” With this he applied the medicine on his eyes,^{(G) 12} and it stung.^{[c] 13} Next, with both his hands he peeled off the white films from the corners of his eyes. Then Tobit^[d] threw his arms around him,^{(H) 14} and he wept and said to him, “I see you, my son, the light of my eyes!” Then he said,

So Tobit went in rejoicing and praising God at the top of his voice. Tobias reported to his father that his journey had been successful, that he had brought the money, that he had married Raguel’s daughter Sarah, and that she was, indeed, on her way there, very near to the gate of Nineveh.^(J)