¹ And during the time of King Esar-haddon I came back to my house, and my wife Anna and my son Tobias were restored to me. And at our Feast of Pentecost, which is a sacred festival of seven days, a good meal was prepared for me and I reclined to eat.

² A table was set before me, and an abundance of cooked food was set before me, and I said to my son Tobias, “Child, go about and, bring back any poor person whom you might find among our kindred, from among the captives of Nineveh, who is mindful with all his heart, so that he might eat together with us. Behold, child, I will wait until you return.”

³ So Tobias went to seek out any poor person from among our kindred. When he returned he said, “Father!” And I said, “Here I am, child!” And he, replying, said, “Behold, father! One from our nation has been murdered and thrown into the market-place, and now he lies there strangled.”

⁴ So leaping up, I left my meal before I had tasted it and took the body out of the street and set it in one of my rooms until the sun set and I could bury it.

⁵ And when I returned, I washed myself and began to eat my food in sorrow.

⁶ And I remembered the word of the prophet, what things Amos spoke against Bethel, saying: “Your feasts shall be turned into mourning, and all your songs into lamentation.” And I wept.

Tobit Becomes Blind

⁷ When the sun had set I went out, dug a grave, and buried him.

⁸ And my neighbours were mocking me, saying, “Is he no longer afraid? For he was already sought out to be put to death for doing this deed, and he ran away. Now behold! He is back to burying the dead!”

⁹ On the same night I washed myself and I went out into my courtyard and fell asleep beside the courtyard wall, and my face was uncovered because of the heat.

¹⁰ I did not know that there were sparrows on the wall above me, and their warm droppings fell into my eyes and brought on white films. I went to the physicians to be healed, but the more they anointed me with their potions, the more my eyes were blinded by the white films until I was completely blind. For four years I had no use of my eyes. All my relatives grieved over me and Ahikar took care of me for two years, before he went to Elymais.

Tobit’s Wife Earns Their Livelihood

¹¹ At that time my wife Anna earned money at women’s work.

¹² She used to send the products to their employers and they would pay her wages. On the seventh of Dystros, she cut off a woven piece and sent it to the employers and they paid her the whole price and gave her a kid from the herd to take home.

¹³ When she returned to me the kid began to bleat. So I called her and said, “Where did you get this goat? It is not stolen, is it? Return it to its owners, for we do not have the right to eat anything stolen.”

¹⁴ And she said to me, “It was given to me as a gift in addition to my wage.” But I did not believe her and kept telling her to return it to the owners, and I became flushed over this on her account. Then she replied to me, “And where are your deeds of mercy? Where are your righteous deeds? Behold! these things are known about you!”