Good News [1976], GOOD NEWS BIBLE WITH DEUTEROCANONICALS / APOCRYPHA Today's English Version (AMERICAN BIBLE SOCIETY, New York) [word count] [B15000].
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1 I am Tobit and this is the story
of my life. My father was Tobiel,
my grandfather was Ananiel, and
my great-grandfather was Aduel.
Aduel's father was Gabael; his
grandfather was Raphael; and his
great-grandfather was Raguel, who
belonged to the clan of Asiel, a part
of the tribe of Naphtali. note
2 During the
time that Shalmaneser was emperor
of Assyria, I was taken captive in my
hometown of Thisbe, located in
northern Galilee, south of Kadesh in
Naphtali, northwest of Hazor, and
north of Phogor.
Tobit's Early Life
3 All my life I have been honest
and have tried to do what was right.
I often gave money to help needy
relatives and fellow Jews who had
been deported with me to Nineveh,
the capital of Assyria.
4 When I was young, I lived in
northern Israel. All the tribes in Israel
were supposed to offer sacrifices
in Jerusalem. It was the one
city that God had chosen from
among all the Israelite cities as the
place where his Temple was to be
built for his holy and eternal home.
But my entire tribe of Naphtali rejected
the city of Jerusalem and the
kings descended from David.
5 Like
everyone else in this tribe, my own
family used to go to the city of Dan
in the mountains of northern Galilee
to offer sacrifices to the gold bull-calf
which King Jeroboam of Israel
had set up there. note
Tobit's Faithfulness to His Religion
6 I was the only one in my family
who regularly went to Jerusalem to
celebrate the religious festivals, as
-- --
the Law of Moses commands everyone
to do. I would hurry off to Jerusalem
with the first part of my harvest,
the first-born of my animals,
a tenth of my cattle, and the freshly
clipped wool from my sheep. Then I
would stand before the altar in the
Temple, and give these offerings to
the priests, the descendants of Aaron. note
7 I would give a tenth of my
grain, wine, olive oil, pomegranates,
figs, and other fruits to the Levites
who served God in Jerusalem. Every
year, except the seventh year when
the land was at rest, note I would sell a
second tenth of my possessions and
spend the money in Jerusalem on
the festival meal.
8 But every third year, I would
give a third tithe note to widows and orphans
and to foreigners living
among my people, and we would eat
the festival meal together. I did this
in keeping with the Law of Moses,
which Deborah, the mother of my
grandfather Ananiel, had taught me
to obey. (I had been left an orphan
when my father died.)
Tobit's Faithfulness in Exile
9 When I grew up, I married
Anna, a member of my own tribe.
We had a son and named him Tobias.
10 Later, I was taken captive and
deported to Assyria, and that is how
I came to live in Nineveh.
10 While we lived in Nineveh, all my
relatives and fellow Jews used to eat
the same kind of food as the other
people who lived there,
11 but I refused
to do so.
12 Since I took seriously
the commands of the Most
High God,
13 he made Emperor Shalmaneser
respect me, and I was
placed in charge of purchasing all
the emperor's supplies.
14 Before the emperor died, I made
regular trips to the land of Media to
buy things for him there. Once,
when I was in the city of Rages in
Media, I left some bags of money
there with Gabael, Gabrias' brother,
and asked him to keep them for me.
There were more than 600 pounds of
silver coins in those bags.
15 When
Shalmaneser died, his son Sennacherib
succeeded him as emperor. It
soon became so dangerous to travel
on the roads in Media that I could no
longer go there.
Tobit Buries the Dead
16 While Shalmaneser was still emperor,
I took good care of my fellow
Jews whenever they were in need.
17 If they were hungry, I shared my
food with them; if they needed
clothes, I gave them some of my
own. Whenever I saw that the dead
body of one of my people had been
thrown outside the city wall, I gave
it a decent burial. note
18 One day Sennacherib cursed
God, the King of Heaven; God punished
him, and Sennacherib had to
retreat from Judah. On his way back
to Media he was so furious that he
killed many Israelites. But I secretly
removed the bodies and buried
them; and when Sennacherib later
searched for the bodies, he could not
find them.
19 Then someone from Nineveh
told the emperor that I was the one
who had been burying his victims.
As soon as I realized that the emperor
knew all about me and that my
life was in danger, I became frightened.
-- --
So I ran away and hid.
20 Everything I owned was seized
and put in the royal treasury. My
wife Anna and my son Tobias were
all I had left.
Tobit's Nephew Rescues Him
21 About six weeks later, two of
Sennacherib's sons assassinated him
and then escaped to the mountains
of Ararat. Another son, Esarhaddon,
became emperor and put Ahikar, my
brother Anael's son, in charge of all
the financial affairs of the empire.
22 This was actually the second time
Ahikar was appointed to this position,
for when Sennacherib was emperor
of Assyria, Ahikar had been
wine steward, treasurer, and accountant,
and had been in charge of
the official seal. Since Ahikar was
my nephew, he put in a good word
for me with the emperor, and I was
allowed to return to Nineveh.
Good News [1976], GOOD NEWS BIBLE WITH DEUTEROCANONICALS / APOCRYPHA Today's English Version (AMERICAN BIBLE SOCIETY, New York) [word count] [B15000].
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