Tobias 4

¹Therefore when Tobias thought his prayer to be heard that he might have died, he called to him Tobias his son,

²and said to him: Hear my son the words of my mouth, and lay them as a foundation in thy heart.

³When God shall take my soul, bury my body: & thou shalt do honour to thy mother all the days of her life:

⁴for thou must be mindful what perils, and how great she suffered for thee in her womb.

⁵And when she also shall have accomplished the time of her life, bury her beside me.

⁶And all the days of thy life have God in thy mind: and beware thou consent not to sin at any time, and pretermit the precepts of our Lord God.

⁷Of thy substance give alms, & turn not away thy face from any poor person: for so it shall come to pass that neither the face of our Lord shall be turned from thee.

⁸As thou shalt be able, so be merciful.

⁹If thou have much, give aboundantly: if thou have little, study to impart also a little willingly.

¹⁰For thou doest treasure up to thyself a good reward in the day of necessity.

¹¹Because alms delivereth from all sin, and from death, and will not suffer the soul to go into darkness.

¹²Great confidence before God most high shall alms be to all them that do it.

¹³Take heed to thyself my son of all fornication, and beside thy wife never abide to know crime,

¹⁴Never permit pride to rule in thy word: for in it all perdition took his beginning.

¹⁵Whosoever hath wrought any thing for thee, pay him his hire immediately, and let not the hire of thy hired servant remain with thee at all.

¹⁶That which thou hatest to be done to thee by another, see thou do it not to another at any time.

¹⁷Eat thy bread with the hungry & needy, and of thy garments cover the naked.

¹⁸Set thy bread, and thy wine upon the burial of a just man, and do not eat and drink thereof with sinners.

¹⁹Seek counsel always of a wise man.

²⁰At all time bless God: and desire of him, that he direct thy ways, and that all thy counsels remain in him.

²¹I tell thee also my son that I gave ten talents of silver, whiles thou wast yet a child, to Gabelus, in Rages a city of the Medes, & I have a bill of his hand with me:

²²and therefore inquire how thou mayst come to him, and receive of him the foresaid weight of silver, and restore him the bill of his hand.

²³Fear not my son: we lead indeed a poor life, but we shall have many good things if we fear God, and depart from all sin, and do well.